# USB cable - 5 pin?



## Danny McG (Jul 12, 2018)

I was in Wilko's today and spotted a 2metre USB charging cable.

The blurb on the bubble pack said "suitable for android phones (I have a mid range Samsung) to sync and charge " 5 pin USB cable.

I thought "that'll be handy" so I bought it.

It won't work! It plugs in ok at both ends  but that's  it, it doesn't start charging my phone.

Did I mess up?
Is a 5 pin cable no good for an android phone?


----------



## tinkerdan (Jul 13, 2018)

I would guess if it is not expressly made for Samsung then there could be problems

Samsung mobile phone micro usb pinout diagram @ pinoutguide.com
(if your original cable looks like the one pictured then that might be the standard cable.)
However you want to be sure that the new cable coincides with that.

The micro usb connector is always 5 pin but in many cases depending on the configuration of the  other end the extra (id)pin is grounded at the micro side  and floating at the other end.

This might not be the case with your equipment needs because they might have a different way of identifying equipment through the id pin.


usb2 to micro schematic on the page below showing the grounding on extra pin.

Why does micro USB 2.0 have 5 pins, when the A-type only has 4?


----------



## Venusian Broon (Jul 13, 2018)

I've got a bog standard USB connector that I bought off the shelf that charged my old Galaxy phone from the PC....but some of my PC's USB connections don't work, so I would get the same result as you, I feel, if I tried it with them . So maybe try and test them first? Or test whatever your connecting the USB to (if it's not a PC)? 

Unfortunately I can't tell you what sort of USB cable it was that I bought.  

(My new Galaxy S8 needs a specific USB connector, 'cause the phone power/sync input is different now...)


----------

