My experience with usb-c as a standard is, the general public expect it to just work. There are many cases in usb-c that that doesn't work, which by creating the "standard" as such is creating a situation where end user confusion and frustration is guaranteed to happen. A lot.Standards are a wonderful thing...there are so many to choose from.Ok - thanks for pointing out the flaw in a piece of hardware that meets the requirements but still won't work.
But how is one meant to know that?
I'd hardly call usb-c a standard when the specs are all over the place and there's no guarantee that even parts that meet the listed specs will work. usb-c is completely non-standard.
Anyways - thanks again for the info, but this still doesn't address the question of the matter.
Just what in the heck does one need to do to actually power this stupid Pi?
What you're facing isn't a problem with the USB-C "standard". It's the extension of that provided by the Power Delivery (PD) standard. PD specifies a means for the power supply and the powered device to "negotiate" on what will be delivered. Simply USB-C is always 5v and limited to 3A. PD includes that, and then extends it to both higher voltages (which the Pi can't/won't use) and higher current, which is what the Pi5 is built to check for.
All that said, you can make configuration changes to the Pi5 so that it will expect 5A without trying to do a PD negotiation. If that is done, then the Pi5 will *assume* that it'll get the full 5A it wants without waiting for any confirmation from you that it won't get it.
tl;dr You assumption about standards isn't so much wrong, as incomplete.
As I found this out, I began to research, and found listed specs, voltages, amps, and such. And even with that, for things other than this, I have made purchases that have the listed specs that my use requires, and it doesn't work as expected.
So perhaps one could debate the semantics of what constitutes a standard. And perhaps in some ways usb-c is something one would have to call a "standard". But I'm find that, even when I do the research, and find the specs, and shop for things that meet the specs, I still frequently run into equipment not working the way the specs suggest they would.
This has resulted in my rather despising the usb-c standard. If I, a seasoned tech support troubleshooter cannot answer the question of what piece of equipment is guaranteed to work, what chance does someone that just wants to pick up something off the shelf and take it home have?
usb-c in my opinion is an awful standard that has been designed in such a way that it guarantees many failures.
One could argue the flexibilities and capabilities built within the standard allow for various applications - but I would argue what use is it if you can't make it work even when you do your homework?
It's an awful standard. But that's just my 2 cents.
Which is what leads me to asking the people that have tinkered with this stuff - what works for you? I'm hoping someone that put a Pi 5 in a car or someplace that requires something other than the precious manufacturer's power supply can chime in with what specifically has worked for them consistently in practice.
Statistics: Posted by ArmyOfQuad — Tue May 27, 2025 12:42 am