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"David Looser" wrote in message
...
"Don Pearce" wrote

What I'm saying
is that I don't understand how any designer could ever have a problem
with a few feet of cable. I'm astounded.


Here here!


Try 'Hear, hear!' next time....

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"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:13:50 -0000, "David Looser"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote

Separate clock only really works for short connections. Anything
longer and it is likely to lose phase with the signal - bad news.
Clock recovery from a data stream is so easy, and guaranteed to be
timed right, that I'm surprised that HDMI uses a separate clock line.


HDMI is intended for short distances, such from a set-top-box or BD player
to a TV, and it was developed from the DVI system intended to connect a
monitor to a computer, so possibly the developers felt that using a
separate
clock line made sense.

Unfortunately HDMI has ended up with no fewer than 6 separate pairs in the
cable: 3 data pairs, one clock pair, the EDID pair which allows the
exchange
of information on the capabilities of the sink, and the CEC pair for
optional control signals. Oh, and there's a 5V power supply pair as well.
The result is the need for a 19-pin plug with "early" and "late" mating
contacts. A complicated thing like that is either going to be expensive,
or
unreliable. The HDMI developers went for unreliable. And because it's so
small it's near-enough impossible to replace in the field. So you have to
junk your expensive HD TV when the HDMI socket fails. :-(

That will be why new TVs tend to provide several HDMI inputs. You just
move on to the next when one has failed.



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

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"Keith G" wrote in message



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

No reason why that has to be true. The parts in question are just PC board
mounted USB ports. They can be soldered to any PC board. Just about
everything of substance has a PC board in it.

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"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

No reason why that has to be true.


Tell that to a Grundig PVR I had and on which No. 1 (out of 3) USB socket
failed.

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"Keith G" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

No reason why that has to be true.

Tell that to a Grundig PVR I had and on which No. 1 (out
of 3) USB socket failed.

Two possibilities:

(1) It was a crap USB jack in world of really-pretty-good ones. Read what I
wrote - I allowed for that possibility.

(2) The USB jack was abused.

I admit it, I've carelessly abused the #@!! out of USB jacks but in my case
they kept on ticking. My *slickest move* to date was brushing my foot
against a USB flash drive that was plugged into the front of a PC that was
sitting under a desk. The flash drive broke in half and was ruined. The USB
port took the licking and kept on ticking (as the legacy Timex watch ad
said.)

ASA and Russ Andrews again;!...
 

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

No reason why that has to be true.

Tell that to a Grundig PVR I had and on which No. 1 (out
of 3) USB socket failed.

Two possibilities:

(1) It was a crap USB jack in world of really-pretty-good ones. Read what
I wrote - I allowed for that possibility.

(2) The USB jack was abused.

I admit it, I've carelessly abused the #@!! out of USB jacks but in my
case they kept on ticking. My *slickest move* to date was brushing my
foot against a USB flash drive that was plugged into the front of a PC
that was sitting under a desk. The flash drive broke in half and was
ruined. The USB port took the licking and kept on ticking (as the legacy
Timex watch ad said.)



Nope, no abuse - it just stopped working.

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"Keith G" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

No reason why that has to be true.

Tell that to a Grundig PVR I had and on which No. 1 (out
of 3) USB socket failed.

Two possibilities:

(1) It was a crap USB jack in world of
really-pretty-good ones. Read what I wrote - I allowed
for that possibility.

(2) The USB jack was abused.

I admit it, I've carelessly abused the #@!! out of USB
jacks but in my case they kept on ticking. My *slickest
move* to date was brushing my foot against a USB flash
drive that was plugged into the front of a PC that was
sitting under a desk. The flash drive broke in half and
was ruined. The USB port took the licking and kept on
ticking (as the legacy Timex watch ad said.)

Nope, no abuse - it just stopped working.

Rarely these days does anything "just stop working". There is a cause.
Perhaps an event that was too subtle to notice all by itself. On a PC
things are getting to be so integrated that failures aren't *that*
isolated.

Perhaps the abuse was electrical, not mechanical. Common problem - extreme
overcurrent draw and an internal fuse blows. Normal overcurrent situations
are usually handled more gracefully. But, some USB ports don't conform to
all of the standards.

ASA and Russ Andrews again;!...
 

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Keith G" wrote in message



Same with USB sockets on kit other than PCs.

No reason why that has to be true.

Tell that to a Grundig PVR I had and on which No. 1 (out
of 3) USB socket failed.

Two possibilities:

(1) It was a crap USB jack in world of
really-pretty-good ones. Read what I wrote - I allowed
for that possibility.

(2) The USB jack was abused.

I admit it, I've carelessly abused the #@!! out of USB
jacks but in my case they kept on ticking. My *slickest
move* to date was brushing my foot against a USB flash
drive that was plugged into the front of a PC that was
sitting under a desk. The flash drive broke in half and
was ruined. The USB port took the licking and kept on
ticking (as the legacy Timex watch ad said.)

Nope, no abuse - it just stopped working.

Rarely these days does anything "just stop working". There is a cause.
Perhaps an event that was too subtle to notice all by itself. On a PC
things are getting to be so integrated that failures aren't *that*
isolated.

Perhaps the abuse was electrical, not mechanical. Common problem -
extreme overcurrent draw and an internal fuse blows. Normal overcurrent
situations are usually handled more gracefully. But, some USB ports don't
conform to all of the standards.


Here's a Web photo (not mine) of the offending article - note how the USB
sticks stick out in a very vulnerable way:

http://img199.imageshack.us/i/grundig.jpg/


But I'm starting to wonder now if perhaps there wasn't an incident when the
first USB stick got some downward pressure...??

ASA and Russ Andrews again;!...
 

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

Here's a Web photo (not mine) of the offending article - note how the USB
sticks stick out in a very vulnerable way:

http://img199.imageshack.us/i/grundig.jpg/

But I'm starting to wonder now if perhaps there wasn't an incident when
the first USB stick got some downward pressure...??

Could be. Connectors with long stiff shanks, and connectors with adapators
have always presented many opportunities for damaging the jacks they are
inserted into.

USB memory sticks are often even longer and thus have even greater potential
for causing damage. I have a really short USB memory stick that avoids this
problem - it is actually a converter for a uSDHC memory chip.