January 1, 2022

USB-C adapters feedback

Thanks to the boom of USB-C connector, it is now possible to find a number of useful adapters on the market. Some of them even support Thunderbolt 3, allowing us to setup network, displays and power delivery from a single port.

For a few years now, I really liked Dell DA200, DA300 and now DA310, which replaces the previous references. These adapters are often well supported, compared to the "huge" docks like Dell WD15 or WD19TB. DA200 & DA300 are also functional on macOS. Unfortunately, it is currently very hard, to not say impossible, to buy DA310 nowadays, as Dell says me it is temporarily out of stock. Maybe it is related to the COVID-19.

As always, I had to find an alternative and I found it. Let me introduce Startech DKT31CHDVCM adapter. Usually, Startech products are well supported by Linux, but I was not sure with this one, as I was unable to find user feedback. After plugging it to a laptop running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, it is perfectly recognized by the kernel (5.4 LTS). Here the dmesg output from my personal computer running 5.15 LTS :

usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 19 using xhci_hcd
usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=05e3, idProduct=0610, bcdDevice=72.46
usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-2: Product: USB2.1 Hub
usb 1-2: Manufacturer: GenesysLogic
hub 1-2:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-2:1.0: 5 ports detected
usb 2-2: new SuperSpeed Plus Gen 2x1 USB device number 12 using xhci_hcd
usb 2-2: New USB device found, idVendor=05e3, idProduct=0625, bcdDevice=72.46
usb 2-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 2-2: Product: USB3.2 Hub
usb 2-2: Manufacturer: GenesysLogic
hub 2-2:1.0: USB hub found
hub 2-2:1.0: 4 ports detected
usb 1-2.5: new full-speed USB device number 20 using xhci_hcd
usb 1-2.5: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
usb 1-2.5: New USB device found, idVendor=05e3, idProduct=0f01, bcdDevice= 1.00
usb 1-2.5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 1-2.5: Product: Billboard Device
usb 1-2.5: Manufacturer: Generic
usb 1-2.5: SerialNumber: 0001
usb 2-2.3: new SuperSpeed USB device number 13 using xhci_hcd
usb 2-2.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8153, bcdDevice=31.00
usb 2-2.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=6
usb 2-2.3: Product: USB 10/100/1000 LAN
usb 2-2.3: Manufacturer: Realtek
usb 2-2.3: SerialNumber: 001000001
usb 2-2.3: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 13 using xhci_hcd
r8152 2-2.3:1.0: load rtl8153b-2 v1 10/23/19 successfully
r8152 2-2.3:1.0 eth0: v1.12.11
r8152 2-2.3:1.0 enp0s20f0u2u3: renamed from eth0

The USB-A 3.1 ports, the VGA port and the ethernet port were successfully tested. As we can see, the RTL8153B firmware is loaded for the network interface. If it proves to be enough reliable, I'll probably purchase a dozen and replace the "huge" docks.

When I have to buy MacBooks for my infrastructure, I also take a Gigabit ethernet adapter so the users can connect on the wired network. We could choose numerous references, but the certified Apple vendor only sell Satechi brand, in addition to official Apple adapters. It is the Satechi ST-TCENS.

Anyway, I was bored because many people reported malfunctions on macOS, even though the hardware is brand new. I usually apply the rule number one, which is "never trust what the user says", but here it was simply not detected on macOS and on Linux. I tought it was indeed defective, despite the blue LED turned on.

The solution came out of the blue when I was finally able to obtain the following dmesg output. The adapter has to be plugged in a specific direction in the USB-C connector, it won't work on both. I agree, it is strange. Luckily, macOS detects it now.

usb 2-2: new SuperSpeed USB device number 14 using xhci_hcd
usb 2-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8153, bcdDevice=30.00
usb 2-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=6
usb 2-2: Product: USB 10/100/1000 LAN
usb 2-2: Manufacturer: Realtek
usb 2-2: SerialNumber: 000001
usb 2-2: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 14 using xhci_hcd
r8152 2-2:1.0: load rtl8153a-4 v2 02/07/20 successfully
r8152 2-2:1.0 eth0: v1.12.11
r8152 2-2:1.0 enp0s20f0u2: renamed from eth0

lsusb output :

Bus 002 Device 014: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

Simple, right ?