h a l f b a k e r yThere goes my teleportation concept.
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Paint It Black
The underside of the USB plug, that is. Make the reflectivity different to the top. | |
All USB plugs should have the underside of the metal poking bit painted black, so that it is immediately visually apparent which way round they go. I've just destroyed about the fourth usb hub by forcing a USB cable in the wrong way up, breaking both the plug and the socket as usual.
If it were apparent
which way up they go, in the dark areas where plugs and sockets go (ie, the slightly raised embossed usb logo on the plug is not sufficient - it's invisible, and on half of my usb cables, there's simply two different types of usb logo - one on each side - which encourages forcing in the wrong way round because it actually says USB if there was enough light to see it back there) then it'd be more straightforward to attempt plugging in, in one take.
If one (standard agreed) surface of the metal plug was black, and therefore non-reflective, it'd be quite easy to wingle it around a bit and see if it catches any light, or not, and whichever side does is the top side (the top being the side that doesn't have the plastic connector substrate in the plug, but is mating with a plastic connector substrate in the socket).
Shameless elf promotion
Paint_20Them_20Black
[Texticle, Dec 03 2008]
This next song is dedicated to Ian's USB port
http://www.youtube....watch?v=GNk0HC6Xc3U
[MikeD, Dec 08 2008]
Going Up?
http://www.buy.com/.../101/204734600.html
You got problems if you paint your bottom. [Amos Kito, Dec 08 2008]
[link]
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What if the socket is vertical orientation? Does black mean left or right? |
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Forcing sensitive electronics is seldom a good idea. |
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[+] But even better perhaps, or additionally, one side could be rough/dimpled and the other smooth, so you can tell which way up you have it from sense of touch alone. |
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On most there's a vertical line on the bottom where the metal is folded together. It's hard to feel it if you're feeling around for it but its easier to listen for it if you scrape around with a fingernail. |
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Forcing a USB connector, the wrong way around, into one computer (at work) used to cause it to reboot. Not any longer. Now that front USB socket just doesn't work. |
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Why would you force a USB connector so hard? If it won't go in then just turn it up the other way! |
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I'm with [UB] on this one - a small wiggle will tell you if your USB is the right way up, even in the dark.
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v Hoi! No sniggering down there! |
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"...Darling, - is that USB 2.0 or 1.1?" |
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I never could understand why these damned things can not be made so that they plug in either way up. + for your pain |
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I'd like to have a special hammer for forcing those things in. Half the time they won't go. |
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ampersandnbspsemicolon, shirley? |
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women have a gentler touch <cough> |
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And irrespective of how chaste they profess to have been they always seem to manage to fit the jumbo connector plug, in my experience. :) |
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//jumbo connector plug// - always modest, is [UnaBubba] |
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It has been my experience (even though YMMV) is that the side of the plug that has the universal USB logo is the "up" side. |
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/I'd like to have a special hammer for forcing those things in/ |
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Yes. This hammer would also be useful for travel abroad, in foreign countries, where the walls are full of all sorts of strange orifices it can be hard to get a good American plug into. |
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dimples are cute - winks at DrBob! |
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//I've just destroyed about the fourth usb hub by forcing a USB // |
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Maybe some people just shouldn't use computers.. |
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Maybe some people shouldn't design plugs and sockets (glaring glaringly at the French, for inventing the swear-inducing SCART) |
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Never seen a scart, methinks the word alone would be unwelcome at the dinner table. |
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Nobody's ever seen one. That's the point. You can only attempt to feel for them at uncomfortable outstretched reach, behind the telly. |
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//useful for travel abroad, in foreign countries, where the walls are full of all sorts of strange orifices// |
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Bungco should market a universal power cord, with bobby-pin prongs that could be bent to fit any foreign orifice. |
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I was under the impression everything was invented by someone French... |
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[Ian Tindale]... Whilst I agree that when scrabbling round the back of a computer, the USB connection has a habit of getting lost and the wrong way up, most of the time anything you're plugging in regularly should go in the front of the computer. I think this would be a good idea (although the rough/smooth idea is probably better [imaginality]), but not for the reasons you're suggesting. |
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If you're managing to break the plug by forcing it so hard when it's the wrong way round, then either I shouldn't be insulting you (i.e. you're built like a house on steroids, and can be excused for hamfistedness, due to most USB connections being crushed between your fingers when you gently pick them up), or you need to learn to respect the equipment you work with! |
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I'm all for brute force and ignorance if the need arises, but getting the square peg through the round hole, and the round peg through the square hole using a sledge-hammer isn't going to leave either square or round for the next person using the right hole for each! |
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Would you campaign for more obvious garage walls if you kept writing your car off and damaging the garage trying to drive out the back, rather than the front? |
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<Conway Twitty>
[Ian], believe me, I understand, when it comes to USB ports; You want a slow hand.
<CT/> |
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A friend who used to work for a modem manufacturer once told me of the modem returned to factory because someone mated a 25-way D-type upside-down.
Now *that* takes some strength. |
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//underside of the metal poking bit painted black//
Which way is the underside? See [Link]. |
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On an unrelated topic --- my mother plugged a USB flashdrive into a serial port. And it fit onto those little pins. |
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There's a good reason why [Ian Tindale] doesn't drive a car at all, [Skrewloose]. |
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//dimples are cute - winks at DrBob!//
Ooh, err! |
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