alt Hacker NewsIn my big box of cables I have, among other things, a double-ended USB-A cable. I understand that this is absolutely not standards compliant, and I have absolutely no idea of where I got it from. I have never used it. But it is a thing that exists.
Getting rid of almost 10 different proprietary charging cables for pre-smart phones and some old laptops felt great though :P
Replies
Double-ended USB A cables were popular in the 2000s/early 2010s for powering external hard drives or USB DVD drives.
Put a USB C to A adapter on each end and you’ve got yourself a perfectly serviceable USBC cable.
This came with a double-ended USB-A for charging: https://www.rei.com/product/248291/biolite-luci-original-cle...
I had one of those to charge a bicycle headlight. I gave it away with the bicycle, but in the span of time I had it, one visiting guest borrowed it to recharge a portable generic USB battery pack. So there you go, two product categories known to use that sort of cable!
There are also cables that look exactly like a double-ended USB-A cable but aren't. https://ftdichip.com/products/usb-nmc-2-5m/
You and the other responders are probably familiar with it, but you made me look up this decent StackExchange answer again, coming from a search for "the forbidden usb cable" :)
I installed some HP slide-out rackmount keyboard/monitor units that used these as the host connection. This was back in the days when PS/2 was still around so they usually weren't used.
mine came from a USB charger spycam
> double-ended USB-A cable.
Decades ago, I purchased a usb external hard drive case with a usb-a for the connection to the computer. Returned that pretty quick because eww.
I have a few of those too. My laser cutter needs one. I've seen lots of "expensive equipment" use USB A-to-A cables, for some odd reason.