[HN Gopher] Twonkie: A USB-PD sniffer/injector/sink based on Goo...
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Twonkie: A USB-PD sniffer/injector/sink based on Google's Twinkie
open hardware
Author : transpute
Score : 150 points
Date : 2024-06-25 01:55 UTC (21 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| normie3000 wrote:
| > This one "sniffs" the link just for the Power Delivery
| negotiations that happen at the lowest electrical levels. If a
| device or cable is misbehaving, a knowledgeable person should be
| able to replicate the problem and see it happening with the
| sniffer. They could see which component was not following spec,
| and most importantly, exactly what it was doing wrong. > > Even
| if your computer is participating in Power Delivery, it can't see
| its own PD traffic because all that is handled at a low level by
| ASIC chips in your USB port. Hence the need for a separate
| physical device to see the signals that are actually being sent
| on the wire.
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/qmz9uz/twonki...
| transpute wrote:
| Equivalent commercial PD analyer is ~$200,
| https://www.infineon.com/cms/en/product/evaluation-boards/cy...
|
| _> records traffic passively on the Configuration Channel (CC)
| and allows users to analyze and debug USB Power Delivery
| communication.. acts as a pass-through for VBUS, VCONN, USB
| 3.1, USB 2.0 and USB-PD traffic_
|
| Total Phase / Google Twinkie device with Sigrok Pulseview
| software, https://www.totalphase.com/blog/2015/10/usb-power-
| delivery-a...
| nimish wrote:
| More like $60, or charger lab has a nicer one for about the
| same price. https://estore.st.com/en/products/evaluation-
| tools/product-e...
| Panzer04 wrote:
| Nicer in what way? I've used the one referenced in the
| first comment (CY4500) and it worked quite well. I'm not
| entirely sure what could be done better.
|
| Nice to know that cheaper ones exist though - is the
| supporting SW any good (reading out packets, recording etc)
| nimish wrote:
| Nicer in that it has a good HMI. Anandtech has a nice
| review: https://www.anandtech.com/show/18944/usbc-power-
| metering-wit...
| transpute wrote:
| _> charger lab has a nicer one_
|
| Power-Z KM003C? https://www.amazon.com/ChargerLAB-
| KM003C-Portable-Charging-V...
| crote wrote:
| The big question is how it performs with high-speed data.
| Google's Twinkie and this Twonkie clone use a design which
| messes with the data lines as little as possible so they'll
| probably still work with USB4 if you're lucky, but the
| linked ST device is routing those traces all over the
| board. No issue with USB2, might work with 10Gbps USB3, but
| anything more? I wouldn't want to bet on it.
| rx_tx wrote:
| ChargerLab's KM003C passes in Thunderbolt 4 correctly at
| least.
|
| (source: I have one and can have it between my macbook
| pro and a TB4 dock and two displays work correctly)
| transpute wrote:
| $6 USB-C breakout for selectable voltage,
| https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-husb238-usb-type-c-power...
|
| _> The HUSB238 USB PD sink chip is neat in that you can either
| use jumpers (really, resistor selection) to set the desired power
| delivery voltage and current or you can use I2C for dynamic
| querying and setting._
| btgeekboy wrote:
| I combined one of those cheap breakouts with this variable
| voltage power supply -
| https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0861LGM15 - and a 3d printed
| enclosure to make a benchtop power supply pretty affordably.
| Just use your laptop's power supply and now you can have any
| voltage and limited amperage.
| jwildeboer wrote:
| I am waiting for an updated version that does PD 3.1, so it
| can go to 48V/5A.
| dtx1 wrote:
| That's 240W. You could charge an e-Bike via USB-C with
| that. Insane.
| jwildeboer wrote:
| Yep. That's exactly what I am looking for. Use USB-PD to
| charge small electric vehicles in a standardised way ;)
| See https://jan.wildeboer.net/2024/06/Charging-SEVs-A-
| Modest-Pro... where I describe the concept and
| https://github.com/manuelbl/usb-pd-arduino/wiki where
| there is Open Source code (and schematics) to do PD
| sniffing and sink negotiation.
| rainbowzootsuit wrote:
| The AliExpress search term for similar devices is "trigger
| board" or "decoy board."
|
| I'm seeing them as low as ~10/$.
| schmidtleonard wrote:
| Have these gotten mature enough to actually use? A few years
| ago, every single one I tested would just give you a
| different voltage if it couldn't trigger the correct voltage,
| which is obviously terrible.
| rainbowzootsuit wrote:
| My experience is good so far with them, but it's good to
| get a couple of automobile lights to wire in series or
| parallel to load them.
|
| As the saying goes: "With Ali Express you test, don't
| guess!"
| Eisenstein wrote:
| They go to the next lowest voltage, because some PD capable
| supplies don't provide all the voltages. Most are missing
| 12V, unfortunately.
| kube-system wrote:
| The electronics are small enough to put into a USBC connector
| -- which is also a handy form factor:
|
| https://www.amazon.com/Euogeudel-4-9ft-Trigger-
| Input-2-5mm/d...
| RockRobotRock wrote:
| There is a very useful cheap device "TC66C" you can buy on
| aliexpress which acts as a multimeter and lets you test/trigger
| PD and the older protocols like Qualcomm quick charge.
| eggy1 wrote:
| I'm twinkie, and I'm twonkie, and we're the sniffer brothers
| ComputerGuru wrote:
| Link to original Twinkie is dead, here's an archived copy:
| https://archive.is/EGxFi
| denimnerd42 wrote:
| https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-library/guide...
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(page generated 2024-06-25 23:01 UTC)