{"id":355,"date":"2017-11-24T09:47:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T09:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/clusters\/technical-services\/?p=355"},"modified":"2020-10-01T09:56:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T09:56:36","slug":"the-a-b-of-usb-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/blog\/2017\/11\/the-a-b-of-usb-c\/","title":{"rendered":"The A-B of USB-C"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/clusters\/technical-services\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/USB-C.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-784\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is USB-C? \u00af\\_(\u30c4)_\/\u00af<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many new devices are now sporting the shiny new USB-C (USB Type-C) ports, consolidating power, external displays and data over a single, reversible connector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>However, not all USB-C devices are created equal. USB-C refers to the port\/cable itself and, unlike previous generations of USB, supports an armful of different protocols such as USB, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and HDMI. These are referred to as alternative or \u2018alt\u2019 modes and can cause some confusion and performance issues as not all devices support all modes or protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">USB-C and Thunderbolt 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Thunderbolt 3 is the superstar of the USB-C show, allowing the use of sparkly Thunderbolt 3 hubs, docks, multiple monitor connections and speedy data transfer. However, Thunderbolt 3 requires a supported device such as the latest generation of MacBook Pro (2016). Many more manufacturers (such as Dell) are now supporting this, but a USB-C port doesn\u2019t guarantee Thunderbolt 3 compatibility. The 2015 (single port) MacBook is a good example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">USB-C at EMBL-EBI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While we have welcomed our new USB-C overlords with open arms at EMBL-EBI, this hasn\u2019t been without some teething problems. Some staff have had issues connecting external displays, both in offices and meeting rooms. These issues are often intermittent and tricky to resolve but here are a few things to try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Connect your USB-C adapter to your laptop before connecting the display cable.<\/li><li>Make sure you have the latest adapter update.<\/li><li>Call the super friendly Desktop team \ud83d\ude42<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Desktop team tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Buy cheap &#8211; buy twice!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>While there are some bargains to be had, we have found that the cheaper adaptors tend to work for a little while and then just stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check the specs! <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Which USB-C protocols does the adapter\/device\/cable support? If in doubt contact the Desktop team \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Help us, help you!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Please report any issues as this can help prevent problems for others in the future (ideally when the problem occurs, not afterwards). Some of the issues are extremely difficult to reproduce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Update everything!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure you keep your OS up to date and install any updates for your USB-C adapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended reading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-gb\/HT204360\">Apple Support Document<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/marco.org\/2017\/10\/14\/impossible-dream-of-usb-c\">The Impossible Dream of USB-C<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thewirecutter.com\/reviews\/best-thunderbolt-dock\/\">The Best Thunderbolt 3 Docks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em>Written by: Sam Hester (Audio Visual &amp; Desktop Support) &amp; Ben Reilly (OS X Systems Administrator)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is USB-C? \u00af\\_(\u30c4)_\/\u00af Many new devices are now sporting the shiny new USB-C (USB Type-C) ports, consolidating power, external displays and data over a single, reversible connector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051,2062],"tags":[2072,2064,2076,2071,2073,2074,2075],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-visual","category-it-support","tag-hdmi","tag-itsupport","tag-macbook","tag-support","tag-thunderbolt","tag-type-c","tag-usb"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/teams\/its\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}