USB-C to -A Converter oddity

[lindsay]

So for the first time I wanted to upgrade the firmware on my Olympus OM-D E-M1MkII. As the supplied cable comes with a USB-A connector for the computer end, I plugged it into my iMac and no matter what I did, the Camera Updater software would not recognise the camera, but eventually Olympus Workspace did recognise it for the purpose of downloading images from the memory card (I'll use a card reader next time).
So I connected the camera and USB-A connector to my Win10 laptop using a little USB-A to USB-C converter off the bay, which has worked for everything else fine, and again Camera Updater couldn't find the camera. I tried all possible selection s on the camera. Being a tester for a profession, I then plugged the USB-A into the Dell converter that came with the laptop, and it worked straight away.

I don't know why these two converters are different, it's a mystery to me. At least I now have a solution for firmware updating, but I am curious.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Somebody decided USB wasn't complicated enough. There are several things that all look the same but aren't or as Wikipedia puts it " the Type-C connector is common to several technologies while mandating only a few of them."

Frankly, it's a mess.

USB-C - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's possible the converter that doesn't work doesn't have alternate mode.

 

[Snapsh0t]

When a USB-C connection doesn't work, try turning it over. Seriously.

 

[lindsay]

I had that thought @Snapsh0t but didn't work in this instance. Good tip though.