Compatible USB-C Cable for 1.33

[saseba]

Hi,

just finished soldering the USB-C 1.33 Version of lotus58 and all worked well expect for the link between the halfs.
Long Troubleshooting and Research yielded that there was no electrical link between the halfs...
Long Story Short: Ordinary USB-C Cables don't seem to have SBU Wires which are used by the Lotus in 1.33. today I noticed that for that reason the link is changed to D+/- in 1.40...

But for time beeing people with 1.33 will need to use USB-C Cable which supports SBU :(
As USB-C Specification is really confusing:

Q: Is there any Keyword that helps to identify cables that are Compatible with 1.33?

[TweetyDaBird]

Unfortunately the USB C cable standards is a jungle to start with, and then cable manufacturers simply disregard the standards half the time anyways.

So yeah, challenging, which is why it was changed, despite according to spec, that is what the SBU pins should be used for.

USB 2.0 compatible cables do not contain the SBU pins. Neither does PD/QC compatible ones. Other than that, they should contain the SBU pins. Unfortunately they rarely do.
Cables marked as Thunderbolt 3 compatible, but not TB4 (those contain a chipset) is a good bet.

Other than that, it's trial-error unfortunately.

[saseba]

Do you think it would be an Good Idea to bridge SBU2 (A8) with CC2 (B5) and SBU1 (B8) with CC1 (A5) via Solder or alternativly only SBU2(A8) to D+ (B6), for SBU1(B8) to connect ot D-(B7, would require to "jump" over A5)?

These Pins are next to each other on the PCB, so this would be an easy fix/mod which doesn't require to invest an additional 20+ € on new cables and also stay compatible with most of USB-C cables out there.

[TweetyDaBird]

No, the CC1/CC2 pins is a bad idea unfortunately as they are the sense pins for the hub devices.

Using them means plugging into any USB hub device by accident causes a short that likely destroys both devices.

But bridging to d+- is very much a viable idea if you can solder that fine pins.

But then again. You can technically bridge them all and use them like that for your own usage. It's just a very,very bad idea to accidentally mix up cables and ports, so don't build them for others or lend them out.

[saseba]

Happily writing this with lotus58 now!

I now bridget SBU1 with D+ on B6 on both halfes. It was easier as it seems. The tricky part was to verify it working.
There are 8 combinations on how the usb-c cable can be plugged, but only 2 out of it will work.
I labeled one side L/X (Top/Bottom Side "A") and the other side R/Y (Top/Bottom Side "B"), left letter is left hand side, right is right hand side:

X - Y nok
X - R nok

L - Y nok
L - R ok

Y - L nok
Y - X ok

R - X nok
R - L nok

Thats a little bit annoying, but it works!

[TweetyDaBird]

If you bridge it to the second D+ as well, it works regardless of connector orientation.