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Today’s kids don’t have to worry about turning off your PC before you can unplug your mouse or keyboard (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[–] 61 points 5 months ago* (26 children)

I spent two hours today explaining the difference between USBC plugs meaning USB 3 — USB 3.1, USB 3.2, and thunderbolt 4,and the differences between all of that, and how they would affect the performance when my buddy was shopping for an external drive bay enclosure. (You bought a server with TB4 ports, get that TB4 enclosure! Those drives are set up in parallel, so let’s eat that speed!)

I literally had to explain the differences to him for two hours. Not because he was stupid, but because it’s absurdly complicated.

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  • [–] 16 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (15 children)

    Tell me about it. I've been trying, unsuccessfully for over a month to find a proper USB-C adapter that will give me both USB-A 2.0 and a 4K 120Hz output from my phone via HDMI. (It has to be USB 2 because 3.0 and up ports steal bandwidth from the HDMI port on the adapter). You'd think it would be a simple task, but even the adapters that claim to support 4K @ 144Hz still drop the connection down to 30Hz every time I increase the resolution beyond 1440p. Hell, at this, point, I'd just be happy with 60hz.

    All I need is a simple adapter that will allow me to use my phone as a PC at a decent refresh rate, until I finally find the time and patience to sit down and figure out why the hell my PC won't POST after I replaced the CMOS battery. Yet this has proven to be an impossible task.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago* (1 child)

    Does your PC have DDR5? Do you get a black screen and spinning fans when you power it on? If so, let it sit powered on the black screen for literally 30+ min. It may be memory training and they, for some absurd reason, give zero indication they are doing so.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (8 children)

    OK, so my first reaction to reading your post was “what the fuck”, and my second reaction was “there’s gotta be a better way to try to do this”.

    What are you trying to do? Because whatever it is, you’re trying to do, I think the best way to solve your problem. Is to rethink your approach. There’s gotta be a better way to go at this.

    I’m a tech guy (I’m sure that applies to pretty much anyone on Lemmy) so maybe an outside view will help you solve this problem

    Again, what are you trying to do? What problem are you trying to solve? Because, from what you’re telling me, you haven’t been able to solve the problem, so maybe trying to come at it from a different angle will present you with different solutions.

    I get that you’re trying to output 4K video from your phone, but what are you trying to output that video too? And is outputting video from your phone the best option? Can you output video from another device to the end device?

    What is your total solution here? What is your end solution? What is this all look like in your final video set up? Is there a better solution than using your phone?

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago* (7 children)

    All I want is a simple USB-C adapter with these ports:

    1. A USB 2.0 port (or two) so that I can connect my wired mouse and keyboard
    2. A HDMI 2.1 port that supports 4K 120Hz
    3. A USB-C pass-through port charge the phone.

    Modern Android smartphones will go into a PC-like desktop mode when they detect that an external monitor is connected (complete with a taskbar, and apps running in a window, just like a PC). Therefore I want to do that with my phone so that I can have something that resembles a desktop PC until I find the time to fix my rig.

    The problem is that I can find no such adaptor. They all revert to 30Hz at resolutions above 2560x1440. I've been told that a workaround is to get a simple USB-C to DP adapter, then a HDMI to DP adapter, then just use a BT mouse and KB. I don't want to invest in a new mouse and keyboard just for that, plus converting the signal to DP means I'll lose ARC and then my home theater speakers won't work, forcing me to use Bluetooth for audio as well. I don't want to go investing in bunch of Bluetooth crap just for a temporary fix. All I need is a simple adapter that just works with my existing equipment.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago* (1 child)

    Ok, I get this. My first question is:

    Why?

    Why is your solution for such an advanced video output setup to use your phone as an output device? Can you not use something else that is much better suited as an output device? Is that not an option?

    If not, we can move forward. I’m just curious, and asking for practical reasons.

    You can simply answer that it is simply necessary, and we can move on to the next steps

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

    Well like I stated in my initial comment, my PC won't POST after I replaced my CMOS battery and I simply don't have the free time to tinker with it right now (Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master and it just gets stuck @ status code 7b or 99).  

    So I figured that I could just pick up a $50 adapter that I can use my phone as a PC in the meantime, until I get the time (and money if it's a hardware failure) to address the issue. I just wanted a quick $50 fix that I can plug my existing mouse, keyboard, display, and home theater system into, and carry on business as usual to hold me off. Not invest in Bluetooth fucking everything just for a temporary solution.   Problem is that the temporary solution I thought would be simple is actually a lot more difficult in the era of USB-C, thus proving the original point of this post. You have hundreds of different incompatible standards, all plugging into the same thing.

    The fact that my comments are confusing even a tech-savvy social media network such as Lemmy says it all. Things were a lot easier in the old days. If it wasn't compatible, the cable physically would not fit. That is no longer the case in the era of USB-C.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    So your point about adapters is legit. That concept should be simple but I guess there isn't much demand for it.

    That said, I think you'll have a much better experience with a raspberry pi. You don't even need a bleeding edge model, I have a great desktop experience with a raspberry pi 4 model B with 4GB ram. Looks like currently $120 for 4GB ram, $170 for 8GB ram in the US. Not great prices but probably the best deal you could find and probably worth not buying 3x $40 adapters. If you need a temporary PC replacement for mostly web browsing, I recommend giving it a try.

    https://www.sparkfun.com/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-8-gb.html?src=raspberrypi

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago*

    Bluetooth mouse+keyboard or keyboard with integrated track pad. When you remove that as a requirement now you just need 4k120 video with passthru charging, which should be easier to find

    Oops didn't read the full comment.

    I still think there's more reusability with bluetooth peripherals than there would be with specific video cables

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    USB 2.0 supports the bandwidth of a 4k 144Hz HDMI signal lol?

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    No. You misunderstand. I need USB-A 2.0 ports on a USB-C 3.0 adapter because USB-A 3.0 ports will steal bandwidth from the HDMI port on the adapter, causing my 30Hz issue. Therefore I need a USB-C 3.0 adapter that has a USB-A 2.0 port on it for my mouse and keyboard to prevent that from happening, allowing the HDMI port to use the full bandwidth it requires to send a 120Hz signal @ 4K. Problem is that I can't find any such adapters. But all my research says that it should exist.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Oh I think I get it.

    You want a USB 3.0 hub that has only USB 2.0 ports for the peripherals so that all the bandwidth is used for HDMI and not the peripherals.

    I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure USB 3.x never supported 4k at 120hz with HDMI. Only thunderbolt could achieve this nativley.

    There is a way with DP alt mode which worked using some bonus display port protocol magic which is why the suggestion is to use a DP to HDMI adapter.

    Actually I'm pretty sure even DP requires at least 3.2 but I would need to check.

    HDMI 4k @120Hz was added in USB 4.0 which won't work if your phone is only 3.x.

    You need a hub that supports DP alt mode so that it won't downgrade the output: https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/1dahjah/psa_usbc_bus_powered_dock_with_dp_14_alt_mode/

    I think yout phone needs to support it too though, otherwise it won't work.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    By "USB 3.0" I should probably clarify that I meant more like 3.x, or whatever standard supports the DP standard I need to achieve at least 60Hz minimum refresh rate @ 4K (ideally 120hz but I'll take what I can get). You see, I'm old so from my perspective this USB 3+ shit still feels new and confusing for me, even having done a little bit of research. But I digress; you've pretty much got the gist of what I'm trying to say now.

    Anyway I have a Z Fold 7 so I don't think my phone the limitation, here. But yes from what I understand, an adapter that supports either DP Alt Mode or DSC (Display Stream Compression) is what I need. Or both. I'm still not sure, cause one such adapter I tried claimed to support alt mode but my phone still stubbornly refused to go beyond 30hz above 1440p. I'll look into that reddit post; thank you.

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  • [–] 16 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    So this one's like fast, yeah?

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  • [–] 18 points 5 months ago*

    lol

    He came at me with “are 40 people gonna be watching the same 4K movie at once?”

    I honestly had to say “probably not”

    But… Still… One can never be too prepared. He paid for all that bandwidth. It’s a shame not to take advantage of it

    And, really, what’s the point in even having a set up like this if I can’t transfer a 30 TB file from one drive to another in a few seconds? It’s 2026, goddamnit, how dare you make me wait!

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    That's the worst part of USB, but it's also simultaneously the best part.

    You can connect a cable to that HDD, and if the cable fits you'll get something. Might not be the best something; could be super slow and awful. But it will be something. And that's a reassuring capability.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Similar thing with my sister recently ... her work laptop can run a monitor off of the USBC port. She bought a second monitor, and cable for her home PC, and couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. I had to actually pull the specs on her laptop up on HP's site and show her where it stated that the USBC didn't support a monitor.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago* (2 children)

    HP

    You know, I’d really like to say that this is the source of all of her problems, but it isn’t. USB-C is the new universal adapter for everything, but it does not preclude universal adaptability.

    Whether a computer is capable of certain things or not, is something you will have to consult a specific computers tactical manual about. Just because it has a USB-C port, does not mean it can do everything. A USB-C port is capable of doing. That’s up to you to determine.

    I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but…

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    To add to the situation, the age of the device alone led me to believe that it wasn't new enough to support video on USB-C, and I told her as much from the start.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (1 child)

    I've heard self-hosters say USB isn't great for server / NAD drives long term but I don't know where they get that. It actually sounds pretty rad to have a small server plugged into a powerful dedicated enclosure! Especially with those Thunderbolt speeds.

    But wow that IS stupidly complicated. I have all those different USB ports on my motherboard IO and I get the nagging feeling I'm not taking advantage of them but also...whatever, don't care, they do the simple jobs. Lol

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