Absolute monster builds 'cursed' USB-C port that works differently if you flip the cable

Absolute monster builds 'cursed' USB-C port that whole caboodle otherwise if you flip the cable

I've made a Cursed USB-C 2.0 device. Information technology behaves otherwise based happening the orientation of the plug. picture.twitter.com/8Ko66wPuV2March 21, 2021

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Mechanical engineer Pim de Groot has built a profane targe. Or, atomic number 3 he calls it, a "Cursed USB 2.0 device." It's an accurate name. For years, we put up with standard USB plugs that can only be slotted in in one counsel. Ascribable some cosmic jurisprudence, these USB-A cables always seem to require three attempts to plug in in good order. USB-C was meant to comprise our redemption: a small, symmetrical plug that buttocks handle data and video and work with basically any device.

I can't think of anything more cursed than tainting USB-C with a board that betrays that symmetrical design. Pim de Groot is a mad genius.

The Lost USB-C 2.0 device is actually a captivating little object. It exists merely because de Groot was curious if it was possible. The key to the device is that while USB-C cables induce a radially symmetrical shape, the electronics privileged the cablegram aren't exactly bilaterally symmetrical themselves. "The plug only contains one pair of D+ and D- contacts," First State Groot explains in a tweet thread about his build. "The way this card works is that it has deuce SAMD11C microcontrollers, from each one connected to indefinite yoke of D+/D- contacts. One of them gets a connection and turns their LED green, the other doesn't and stays red."

Information technology's a funny single-purpose device, elegantly robbing USB-C of its greatest strength. In de Groot's hands, USB-C is like a mouse with only one button. Or a toilet paper holder that only rolls below, not over. The maledict card isn't in reality doing anything nefarious—it's conscionable ignition high a different LED to cheekily show that it give the sack tell which way your cable's length is plugged in—just just imagine the potential drop for evil here.

Normally, when you wa a USB-C cable into a USB 3.0 interface, the USB controller is actually doing some quick processing to determine the preference so function properly. But de Groot casually recommended that it may be attainable to write a USB driver that messes thereupon march, and or else of temporary the first time you plug it in… or when you flip information technology over… IT sole connects the tierce time, when you return to the freehand orientation.

USB-C 3.0 and heavenward handles this away detecting the orientation in the controller and configuring some switches. It might be viable to make a custom driver or microcode to enable this.March 21, 2021

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This would apply the cosmic law of USB-A to USB-C, good when we thought we'd escaped IT. Until now Diamond State Groot has sole used his power for chaos. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba's Leslie Townes Hope he never uses it for true evil. But in the meantime, some words of wisdom just in case your USB-C cable doesn't look to be behaving as IT should:

"If you encounter problems with your USB-C devices you might want to try out to flick the connector," de Groot says. "Because while they told us the orientation of the plug doesn't affair, it clearly does in some cases."

Wes has been coating games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at technical school sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little snatch of everything, but he'll ever jump at the prospect to cover up emulation and Nipponese games. When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (information technology's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-Old RPG operating theatre close to milklike ASCII roguelike. With a direction on writing and editing features, he seeks out ain stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its corner communities. 50% pizza pie by volume (deep dish, to be specific).