Re: What does a blue USB port mean? I learned the truth behind all the colors, and it's wild

The Root Aka Rootbrian

Not all ports in terms of speeds, are going to match the colours of said cables (especially if cheaped or junked out), especially if manufacturers don't care about it. Link to article below (manufacturers could go against those colourful standards): https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-does-your-usb-port-color-mean/

Transcript

00:00Ah! Hello Internets! Port color on USB ports. Yeah, if that actually applies.

00:11Some manufacturers don't care about the color of the ports.

00:16And they will just wire them up as it is during the manufacturer process.

00:21Now, yes, I did read about that article. I did read about that. I've known about that for a while.

00:27However, not all is what it seems on every single computer.

00:32On desktop, you would expect that those ports be proper.

00:38You know, to reflect the actual speeds they're supposed to be delivering.

00:42Blue, 3.0. Yellow, 3.0. Red, 10 to 20 gigabits. Black, 2.0. White, 1.0.

00:56Or the slowest. However, some of them aren't wired at all like that.

01:02I came across machines that had blue ports and they were all wired just for 2.0.

01:08There was no way around it. That's just what it was.

01:11A benchmark test on a USB SSD actually confirmed that.

01:18And, yep, on some desktops, it's just that way too.

01:23They can label them whatever they want.

01:26But if they're not going to be delivering 3.0 speeds based on the color,

01:33in which the hurdle could be a little bit misinforming, that's a disappointment.

01:39And, yes, they're all backwards compatible.

01:41But still, it can be a disappointment when you realize it.

01:46So, any fast SSD such as this can do USB 3.0.

01:54And I have 3.0 ports on this machine.

01:57However, some of them don't behave like 3.0 ports.

02:01So, that's one or two of them.

02:04They only deliver max 2.0 despite being blue.

02:09Now, if you check the ports on laptops, they do a benchmark test, you know,

02:14outside of Windows with a USB Linux distribution.

02:18You can just do that with a live USB.

02:20And it tops it at 480.

02:22There you go.

02:24That's how you can confirm.

02:26It doesn't matter if it's Type C or Standard Type A.

02:31If the speeds do not match those ports, then at least you know.

02:37Yes, the cache on the SSD can show you literally the top maximum speed until you exceed it.

02:42But that's one way to verify.

02:45So, you shouldn't take the colors to be at face value unless you do a fucking benchmark test on the port itself.

02:53That's the only way you're going to do it.

02:55That's the only way you're going to find out if it's actually done properly.

02:59If it's actually been sold on properly.

03:02And you know, everything else is wired correctly.

03:05All the pins match and all.

03:07If they don't match or if they're not wired properly.

03:11And yes, it's difficult to check this by looking at it.

03:14And you'd have to literally remove the shielding on desktop to see if that's done properly.

03:22Which nobody wants to do because it could damage a motherboard.

03:26If you do it the wrong way.

03:28And you don't want to break soldering on something that if the shielding is soldered.

03:33You got a bit of a mess to clean up.

03:35I'm not saying you should do that.

03:37But not all the colors respect the actual speeds.

03:42That's what I'm trying to get at.

03:44And I've encountered that plenty of times.

03:46Even the cables.

03:48They don't necessarily match the proper speeds.

03:50It could be a cheap 2.0 cable.

03:52Labeled as blue, orange, or red, or yellow.

03:56Same thing.

03:57I have plenty of those.

03:59And they're not 3.0 speeds.

04:01So what can you do?

04:05Really nothing.

04:06Look at the cable.

04:07Do a benchmark test.

04:09With an SSD.

04:11Either it uses the double progged micro type.

04:14Which I've seen.

04:15That's standard for 2.0 or 3.0 drives.

04:18Such as this.

04:22And there's also the type C ones which simplifies it.

04:28So yeah.

04:29A benchmark test will verify that it's actually a 3.0 port.

04:34Or plug.

04:35Because the color does not always determine that.

04:38Sometimes anyway.

04:40Okay.

04:41Yeah.

04:42I know this goes against the article and all that.

04:45But you gotta figure shit out for yourself.

04:47You have to check shit out for yourself.

04:49Just to make sure it actually is what it is.

04:52Before you go out and purchase that machine.

04:55Or the cable.

04:56Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

04:57You know what I'm talking about.

04:59So.

05:02Use that knowledge wisely.

05:05While the article does highlight the corresponding colors and speeds associated with them.

05:11What the manufacturer decides to do when they build something.

05:15They can completely disregard that.

05:18And throw everything off or out the window.

05:21Okay.

05:22That's about all.

05:25Thanks for watchin'.

05:28That's about all.

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