USB B Fem to USB A Fem adapter. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2022, 03:13:41 am
content: I have a number of old USB printer cables that out-lived the printers they came with. Thought I'd get a few adapters for the printer end of the cable and turn them into short USB 2 A(M/F) extenders.Can't find to many of what I want but there are many USB B male to USB A male adapters. My question is why? I thought I idea of USB B was in going and for outgoing you provided USB A , yet the majority of these adapters seem wrong. Or am I wrong?This is what I mean. The USB B is the wrong gender for what I want. But why would you use this adapter?https://www.amazon.com.au/Electop-Female-Print-Adapter-Converter/dp/B014RESWU4

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2022, 03:45:32 am
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on January 31, 2022, 03:13:41 amThe whole point of the USB-A and USB-B connectors in the very beginning was to ensure that the user could not plug a host into another host, or a device into another device. USB-A is always host side, USB-B is always device side.There was never any need for gender changers or USB-A to USB-A adapters or USB-B to USB-B adapters because the USB specification specifically precluded them.Why are these adapters made? Who knows. They have no use, unless you're making something custom for your own use, and ... you shouldn't bogart a USB connector for use in something that's not USB.Anyway, by "USB Printer Cable" do you mean USB to Centronics Parallel? Because otherwise a "USB printer cable" is nothing more than the standard sort of USB cable.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2022, 04:53:53 am
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on January 31, 2022, 03:45:32 amNo. Not Centronics. I want to convert standard USB appliance cables(1) into USB extension cables(2).(1)https://www.amazon.com.au/UGREEN-Printer-Scanner-Lexmark-Samsung/dp/B00P0FO1P0/(2)https://www.amazon.com.au/AmazonBasics-Male-Female-Extension-Cable/dp/B00NH11R3I/

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2022, 08:13:01 am
content: Extension cables and all those adapters are not compliant with the USB spec, although nothing technically stops you from making them and some people do.The ones you found could be used to plug cables with male A on both ends into printers. I'm surprised that somebody even bothered making them. Male A-A cables are not very common and obviously not compliant too, but they were sometimes used by small (flat) devices like 2.5" HDD enclosures which didn't want the bulk of the original B socket before mini- and micro- became widespread.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2022, 10:11:05 pm
content: https://www.l-com.com/usb-usb-adapter-b-a-blackI would send you some but its probably cheaper to just buy extension cables. Especially to AUS.

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2022, 10:26:25 pm
content: The only legitimate USB "extension" cables are the short pigtails that used to often come with USB flash drives that were too big to plug into a standard stacked pair of USB ports when the other side was in use. These are not needed much any more because flash drives are physically smaller.There are legit active USB extension cables but these are 1 port bus powered USB hubs.The device (2) you linked to an the suggested device you want to make are not and never have been legitimate USB cables. While as you have found some people did make USB A->A extension cables and they do usually work, there is very little use for the B->A adapter you are suggesting.The B->A adapter you linked to in your original post is also not a compliant adapter. Likely the purpose of this was for a specific non-compliant device. It says it is for a printer, so my guess is that there were printers that would use the same physical port for a USB device port for standard printing or a USB host port to connect a mass storage device. Essentially a crappy non-compliant version of USB-OTG.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2022, 12:04:00 am
content: Quote from: thm_w on January 31, 2022, 10:11:05 pmShould point out that it's mainly for use in charging batteries, phones, and torches and dashcams I wanted these. So not terribly worried about protocol maybe volt drop but in the edge cases or where sending data will use the real McCoy.as thm_w suggested, prolly better off just getting a few of the right thing. And the USB F once wrapped in an enclosure is too big and bulky for a cable anyway.