How to tell older USB 1.1 cables from 2.0?

M

MLJ_osxcom

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Are the USB cables themselves different between older 1.1 & newer 2.0?

I have an assortment of older 1.0 & 1.1 cables and some newer ones clearly labeled as 2.0. I know what some of them are, but uncertain on a number of them.

How can you tell the difference between a 1.1 cable and the newer USB 2.0 ones? Other than exhaustive testing with a 2.0 device and measuring transfer rates (with what?)?

Thanks for comments.
 
There is no difference between a USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 cable. USB 2.0 is designed to be backward-compatible with 1.1. For marketing reasons, all new USB cables on sale are labeled USB 2.0, but they will work just fine on with 1.1.
 
USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 cables are identical, in fact the USB specification does not ditinguish the two cables, thats purely a marketing ploy by some manufacturers. Its only the USB interface on the devices themselves that is different.
 
symphonix said:
USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 cables are identical, in fact the USB specification does not ditinguish the two cables, thats purely a marketing ploy by some manufacturers. Its only the USB interface on the devices themselves that is different.
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the comments. I was afraid there might be impedence, capacitance or shielding differences between the old & new cables..

All my USB devices were 1.0 or 1.1 until recently a few USB 2.0 devices (most notably 5th Gen iPod) appeared in my hardware collection.

The random assortment of USB cabling was beginning to become unclear as to its chronological origin. Glad it all is 2.0 capable and of equal quality.

I had explored and could find no real commentary on the current USB 2.0 labeling as HIGH SPEED cables. I know there are difficulties mixing 1.1 & 1.0 devices with 2.0 on same chain. I was just afraid I might also be adding complexity with older & new USB 2.0 cables.

thanks to all.

PS note:
Adding PCI USB 2.0 cards to older Macs introduced another annoyance at Apple abandoning (at least for 5th Gen iPods) Firewire & going USB 2.0. Neither of my PCI USB 2.0 cards allow SLEEP if anything is connected & powered on the USB 2.0 card. I have to FORCE POWER off and reboot as the computer won't WAKE up. NUTS to that. Otherwse the PCI USB 2.0 cards work fine, just can't SLEEP them.
 
MLJ_osxcom said:
PS note:
Adding PCI USB 2.0 cards to older Macs introduced another annoyance at Apple abandoning (at least for 5th Gen iPods) Firewire & going USB 2.0. Neither of my PCI USB 2.0 cards allow SLEEP if anything is connected & powered on the USB 2.0 card. I have to FORCE POWER off and reboot as the computer won't WAKE up. NUTS to that. Otherwse the PCI USB 2.0 cards work fine, just can't SLEEP them.
Click to expand...
Yep, this is more of the card manufacturer's fault, which is a pity... I would seriously recommend never hard-powering-off your system -- critical routines and maintenance procedures are run during startup and shutdown, and if those processes are interrupted or bypassed, you can hose your entire OS X installation, causing even more problems.

I would recommend setting your computer to never sleep so you don't run into the "can't wake from sleep" problem, or purchasing a USB 2.0 PCI card that is known to support deep sleep.
 
you know, i have never had any luck with deep sleep on macs, period. so i just make them insomniacs and never worry. it saves me from much lost time and hassles, and i have never really found a need for sleep anyway.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Yep, this is more of the card manufacturer's fault, which is a pity... I would seriously recommend never hard-powering-off your system -- critical routines and maintenance procedures are run during startup and shutdown, and if those processes are interrupted or bypassed, you can hose your entire OS X installation, causing even more problems.

I would recommend setting your computer to never sleep so you don't run into the "can't wake from sleep" problem, or purchasing a USB 2.0 PCI card that is known to support deep sleep.
Click to expand...


MY PCI USB 2.0 cards work fine, but I want to SLEEP the Mac I must either disconnect devices or power them off, THEN the Mac will SLEEP & WAKE okay. Otherwise, if anything is connected & powered when SLEEP enabled, Mac will NOT WAKE requiring FORCED POWER off & reboot, which of course I agree I don't like at all.

My understanding is that it is a BUG in not just OSX Tiger but PCI itself that it can't signal properly it has awakened. I have found no real solution for older Macs without USB 2.0 built in.

I have not tested this on my 17 inch G4 iMac 1.25GHz which has USB 2.0 built in. Some vague references of success may be ONLY on later Macs with USB 2.0 built in NOT via PCI add on.

All comments much appreciated.
 
MLJ_osxcom said:
MY PCI USB 2.0 cards work fine, but I want to SLEEP the Mac I must either disconnect devices or power them off, THEN the Mac will SLEEP & WAKE okay. Otherwise, if anything is connected & powered when SLEEP enabled, Mac will NOT WAKE requiring FORCED POWER off & reboot, which of course I agree I don't like at all.

My understanding is that it is a BUG in not just OSX Tiger but PCI itself that it can't signal properly it has awakened. I have found no real solution for older Macs without USB 2.0 built in.

I have not tested this on my 17 inch G4 iMac 1.25GHz which has USB 2.0 built in. Some vague references of success may be ONLY on later Macs with USB 2.0 built in NOT via PCI add on.

All comments much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Just for those inquiring minds that might want to know:

Just tested the external USB 2.0 enclosure with a 60GB Seagate drive in it on the 17 inch G4 iMac (witch has built in USB 2.0 ) and YES it does allow SLEEP and even spins down the hard drive in the external enclosure. On WAKING the iMac it sent some signal down to the external (a thunk noise) and then the hard drive spun up to speed.

Trying this same thing with the PCI cards in older G4 desktop towers and both failed when enclosure connected via USB 2.0 PCI cards. Macs went to SLEEP okay (did not spin down the external drive tho) and on WAKE attempt the Macs did not WAKE requiring FORCED POWER down and REBOOT.

Curiously, this same external case has FIREWIRE and when connected via FIREWIRE all works as it is supposed to on all my G4 Macs.

SO the USB 2.0 problem lies with PCI itself (as most card from various manufacturers fail the SLEEP/WAKE test) not Tiger OSX. USB 2.0 in Tiger might be part of the problem but as it works on the iMac okay that seems to rule that out.
 
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