Nintendo: our newer stuff is also not USB-C compliant.
There’s a special place in hell for this company.
Edit: to be clear I mean the charging standard. Although regular USB-C docks shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. I had some issues with one on Linux back in 2019 but just the HDMI and I ended up fixing it.
As far as I know, the charging is mostly just regular USB C PD, although with some odd power profiles (weird voltages that most non-PPS chargers don’t support) and Switch 1’s charger technically violating the spec through no 9V profile (the dock also does, but that’s to allow the drop in functionality without the regular USB C click). Switch 2’s charger complies and has a 9V profile though. This standardisation means I can power the Switch 2 dock with my Lenovo laptop charger no worries since it has a 20 volt profile at 3+ amps. Similar story for any power supply with a 20 volt profile, or one with PPS that can work in that range.
My Switch 2 Pro Controller and Joy Con 1 charging grip both charge fine off a Samsung 25W charger with an IKEA USB C to C cable (on a sidenote, IKEA of all places do great chargers and cables, way better prices too), as well as a Samsung USB C to A cable connected to my PC’s front ports. Perhaps the cables he was using were old or defective in some way? Although that stream did make me think the whole time that Nintendo (and also Sony) should just use regular AA batteries like the Xbox controllers.
The Switch 1 Pro Controller also worked fine in the past with a third party cable (it was some sort of phone charger, I can’t remember the exact model). I haven’t got one at the moment, but if I get the opportunity I will let you know how it goes. However, it is likely going to work due to my Switch 1 Joy Con charging grip charging fine off all the random cables in my house in addition to the one that comes in the box.
It is still just using regular USB-C. I took inspiration from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btwqt-w85Vk and used a similar cable to connect other devices of mine to the Switch 2 dock and they just work. Switch 2 seems to check the hardware ID. I’m sure if there is some kind of way to fake the hardware ID, Switch 2 would just work with other docks as well.
I can later do an “lsusb” command on Linux using the dock2 and read its hardware ID. The one I currenty use just says xxxxxxxx USB Type-C Digital AV Adapter
(1)(deck@steamdeck ~)$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 057e:200c Nintendo Co., Ltd CRD-001 USB2.0
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 04f2:1338 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd USB Wireless HID Receiver
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 057e:200c Nintendo Co., Ltd CRD-001 USB3.0
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 057e:2065 Nintendo Co., Ltd USB 10/100/1000 LAN
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 28de:1205 Valve Software Steam Controller
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Nintendo: our newer stuff is also not USB-C compliant.
There’s a special place in hell for this company.
Edit: to be clear I mean the charging standard. Although regular USB-C docks shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. I had some issues with one on Linux back in 2019 but just the HDMI and I ended up fixing it.
As far as I know, the charging is mostly just regular USB C PD, although with some odd power profiles (weird voltages that most non-PPS chargers don’t support) and Switch 1’s charger technically violating the spec through no 9V profile (the dock also does, but that’s to allow the drop in functionality without the regular USB C click). Switch 2’s charger complies and has a 9V profile though. This standardisation means I can power the Switch 2 dock with my Lenovo laptop charger no worries since it has a 20 volt profile at 3+ amps. Similar story for any power supply with a 20 volt profile, or one with PPS that can work in that range.
All I remember is RT Game’s controller not charging until he used a Nintendo branded cable.
My Switch 2 Pro Controller and Joy Con 1 charging grip both charge fine off a Samsung 25W charger with an IKEA USB C to C cable (on a sidenote, IKEA of all places do great chargers and cables, way better prices too), as well as a Samsung USB C to A cable connected to my PC’s front ports. Perhaps the cables he was using were old or defective in some way? Although that stream did make me think the whole time that Nintendo (and also Sony) should just use regular AA batteries like the Xbox controllers.
That was for the switch 1.
The Switch 1 Pro Controller also worked fine in the past with a third party cable (it was some sort of phone charger, I can’t remember the exact model). I haven’t got one at the moment, but if I get the opportunity I will let you know how it goes. However, it is likely going to work due to my Switch 1 Joy Con charging grip charging fine off all the random cables in my house in addition to the one that comes in the box.
It is still just using regular USB-C. I took inspiration from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btwqt-w85Vk and used a similar cable to connect other devices of mine to the Switch 2 dock and they just work. Switch 2 seems to check the hardware ID. I’m sure if there is some kind of way to fake the hardware ID, Switch 2 would just work with other docks as well.
I can later do an “lsusb” command on Linux using the dock2 and read its hardware ID. The one I currenty use just says
xxxxxxxx USB Type-C Digital AV Adapter(1)(deck@steamdeck ~)$ lsusb Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 008: ID 057e:200c Nintendo Co., Ltd CRD-001 USB2.0 Bus 001 Device 009: ID 04f2:1338 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd USB Wireless HID Receiver Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub Bus 002 Device 006: ID 057e:200c Nintendo Co., Ltd CRD-001 USB3.0 Bus 002 Device 007: ID 057e:2065 Nintendo Co., Ltd USB 10/100/1000 LAN Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 003 Device 002: ID 28de:1205 Valve Software Steam Controller Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub