Always.
50/50 chance and I don't think I have ever had the luxury of putting a USB-A device in the correct way. Then when I reverse it, it sometimes also doesn’t go in. What is this sorcery?
Does this ever happen to you?
Just sometimes I would like to be right!!
Lol peasants I still use a PS/2 port
You futurist. I still use a DB9 serial port
Pure luxury! I still use SCSI for everything, well, my scanner. One day I'll tag a CD-ROM along the cable when I sort out the addressing properly
Maybe not always, but certainly I get it wrong far more than 50% of the time. That's why I prefer USB-C these days.
It only seems to happen when I'm in a hurry
I read an article on a tech website a couple years ago, and it was mentioned that there's usually a USB symbol printed, etched or moulded onto the USB-A plug which denotes that should be the side facing up. Life changing moment for me.
If you look at the metal part of the USB-A plug, the bit where the metal piece wraps around and joins itself is always the bottom.
How do you go on a powerbank ratio wise?
PS Thanks for the tip
This is a good tip. Though often neutered when the USB port itself is hidden from view (say, the back of a PC case or iMac).
I find that very handy, but then my PC has the slots vertically, so I can't remember which side corresponds to up.
I have got some USB A to C cables that are double sided on the USB A side (ie both sides are hollow) but I still seem to get them wrong sometimes and retry the other side before realising it just needs to be pushed a bit harder.
50/50 chance
The times when it takes me 3 goes defy your statistical odds :)
There's one in every group. You are the chosen one.
It's a scientific fact that it takes three tries to plug in a USB connector https://imgur.com/gallery/cSNMVdu
Hence USB-C to enable a 100% success rate.
I always finger the hole first. It helps but still I’ve only got about a 70% success rate.
One finger or two? (or the whole hand??)
Just one but I really get in there and feel around.
Mine's even better. I plug in my phone's USB C cable and it's on the wrong side!
NB: For whatever reason , my dodgy amazon cable only charges my phone on one orientation of the usb c
I discovered the ancient technique of looking and have found it to be very successful.
Do You Always Put USB-A plug in The Wrong Way?
Yes… they take 3 attempts to plug in. You have to keep flipping them over till they fit ;)
It's not luck, it's all skill. /s
The USB logo on the cable indicates "up" and motherboards and PC cases have a standard "up" direction the plugs face.
This allows me a pretty high success rate, with the failing being mostly either PC cases front connectors I'm unfamiliar with, and the Samsung flash drive on my keychain that doesn't have the USB logo on it.
I usually super glue one port to piss pr0 like you
I find it pretty easy to know which side is which;
The side that should be facing up has a small hole/notch above the 2 squares.
The side that should be facing downwards has a jagged line running down the middle.
All good until you're doing a reach around… to the back of a computer or TV.
The suggestions about which side should be the "top" or "bottom" don't help when the socket is mounted vertically, as is the case with all the sockets on my desktop PC.
Sounds like a Steve Price Twitter post.
The probability says you should be unlucky 50% of the time, but it's not true.
Several of my portable hard disks seem to have the cable manufactured so that it wants to be the wrong way up - and the cables are fairly short.
So the best way I've found is to reverse the odds and assume the cable is going to be a pain - and automatically turn it.
Strange, but works a treat.
It's the same with condoms. Won't go on the first time so flip it around, still won't go on, turn it back the original way and it works.
I've never done it. Probably because I know the ports on the back of my PC face upwards (or right from the ground)
Try it one way, it doesn’t fit. Try it the other way, it doesn’t fit. Peer into the slot, try it the first way again with a jiggle, it fits. Nearly 100% of the time
Confirmation bias.
If you note down how many times it happens you will find it’s not as often as you think.
laptops (All as it's a standard) have the USB "A" ports oriented so that if you look at the USB male plug you will see there's a side with plastic up against to the 2 square holes and a side with no plastic directly behind the 2 square holes, the side with no plastic is up, if you're plugging into anything else take not of which side the 2 holes with no plastic behind them are and you can insert correctly each time, there's other indicators such as lines on the metal and the way they are manufactured according to the standard and the USB symbol always orientated the same but those I mentioned first seem easiest to see even in low light as you can normally see some light through the holes.
I just apologise and try again.
The people that designed all USB plugs until C should be hunted down and beaten to death.
Some plugs have the USB symbol to indicate the open side.
There are some 2 sided USB cables available EG Amazon, Ebay as I have purchased some.
Confirming. A USB A connector attempt:
1) Correct but feels wrong
2) Incorrect, visual proves it
3) Try 1) again which will connect.
Look into the end of the A cable connector, see the plastic? Black, whit, blue… on a horizontal socket the plastic goes in at the bottom. Vertically to the back. Vertical on the back away from the edge.
There is a good Utube demo that helps you remember
Of course. USB-A exists in a weird quantum state that requires trying 3 times before you actually get it in.
Yes 50% of time I am unlucky