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Dodgy USB Type-C cable fries vigilante engineer's $1,000 laptop
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3029368/hardware/dodgy-usb-type-c-cable-fries-vigilante-engineers-1000-laptop.htmlBenson Leung’s good intentions have finally caught up with him. The Google engineer who launched a crusade against bad USB-C cables in late 2015 just uncovered another sub-standard USB-C cable—and this time it’s cost him a $1,000 laptop.
The Google engineer recently tested Surjtech’s 3M USB 3.1 Type-C to standard Type-A USB 3.0 adapter cable, but those tests didn’t get very far at all. Leung said that as soon as he connected the cable to his Chromebook Pixel, via a small USB power delivery (PD) analyzer, both the PD and his laptop ceased working properly.
“On my Pixel, both USB Type-C ports stopped responding immediately,” Leung said in his Amazon review of the Surjtech cable. “Upon rebooting my Pixel, the system came up in recovery mode because it could not verify the Embedded Controller on the system. No amount of software recovery could revive the EC. Upon closer analysis, serious damage has been done to components related to charging and managing the USB Type-C port's capabilities.”
The problem with the Surjtech cable in question, according to Leung, was that the device was completely miswired and had other design issues. The offending cable is currently unavailable on Amazon.
