The Raspberry Pi 4 has been all the rage ever since it launched. The board features some fantastic features for its size and price. However, just as with any new hardware, it has its fair share of failures.
One of the most striking features of the Pi 4 is the USB type C port. The port allows the Pi to get more power more stably while upgrading the port to match today’s standards.
However, there is one major glitch with it that is breaking the experience for a lot of early adaptors. Read on to find out
Type C issues with the Pi 4
Some people that bought the Pi 4 weren’t able to use their existing Type C cables to charge or power up their Pis. Naturally, the first assumption in such a case would be that the board is broken. However, the issue is a lot more complicated than that.
Turns out that some Type C chargers, specifically the electronically marked ones or E-marked chargers won’t detect the Pi and in turn, won’t supply any power to it. Instead, they register the Pi as an audio accessory.
The root cause turned out to be the architecture behind the port. You see, instead of each of the two pins on the port having their separate resistors, they share a single one. On E-marked chargers, this causes the charger to wrongly identify the port as an audio accessory and hence the issue.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has acknowledged the issue and have issued a statement saying that it’ll be fixed in the next revision of the board, due for launch in a couple of months. They also are supposedly working on a firmware update to fix the issue.
How to fix the USB Type C issue on Pi 4?
In the meantime, if you happen to be facing this problem, you can use one of the rather simple workarounds to fix the issue.
- You can use the cheaper crop of Type C chargers. These generally include cheap aftermarket chargers or chargers that are typically supplied with phones.
- You can get the official Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply.
- You can try using a different cable if your charger supports it.
Also read: How to install Android on a Raspberry Pi
