For a lot of users, USB type-C represents uncharted waters, so it’s been great to see Google’s Benson Leung wading out into them on our behalf, testing all the type-C cables he can lay his hands on, and sounding the warning when manufacturers are caught selling cables that don’t quite hit the right specifications. Leung already got OnePlus to admit that its cables weren’t up to muster and offered shoppers refunds, but now the work Leung does has hit a little snag, as a bad cable has utterly destroyed his testing rig, leaving him unable to evaluate new cables for the time being.

Leung shares the bad news on Google+, reporting that the cable in question fried his whole testing setup, including his Chromebook Pixel.

Further down in the comments he links to the Amazon entry for the faulty cable, identified as the “SurjTech® 3M USB 3.1 Type C to Standard Type A USB 3.0 Male Charge & Sync Data Adapter Cable.” In his (understandably) one-star Amazon review, Leung goes into some more detail about what went wrong, including the cable frying the USB Power Delivery packet sniffer (above) used to analyze the power negotiation process.

The bad SurjTech cable ruined two of these sniffers in addition to the pricy Chromebook Pixel. A further analysis of the cable revealed it was straight-up wired incorrectly, with the ground pin of one of its connectors routed to a power connector on the other – and vice versa.

On the one hand, we’re grateful that Leung was able to identify this issue and let us know to avoid the company’s cables. On the other, he’s paid a pretty high price for that knowledge, and we’re hopeful that he’s able to get himself back up and running as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Source: Benson Leung (Google+), Amazon

Via: Phandroid