I've been using a TinyBee board as a CNC controller (with FluidNC) for quite some time and in general I am really happy about it.
I've been wondering from the start though why the board would only get recognised when using the supplied USB-C -> USB-A cable, but not with any USB-C -> USB-C cable. Upon further inspection, I could make it work with a couple of adapters: USB-C (computer) -> USB-C-to-A adapter -> USB-A-to-C adapter -> USB-C cable -> USB-C (board).
After a bit more digging, I managed to find the actual reason:
Both CC pins are not connected, which means that the device can not be recognised as a valid USB-C sink because a connected source can not tell that the device is plugged in at all. The easiest way to make it work would be adding a 5k1 pull-down resistor on each CC pin, which would signal the source to provide 5V at 3A max. Here's an example schematic (source):
TL;DR:
The current revision of the board will only work with USB-A cables. USB-C cables will not work (without modification).
In order to make the board work properly with USB-C cables, two 5k1 resistor would need to be added, connecting each CC pin to GND. It would be useful to add them in the next hardware revision.
Some of the "USB not working" issues (#98, #53, #46) might be caused by this issue.
Someone braver than me should try bodging the resistors to the CC pins.
I've been using a TinyBee board as a CNC controller (with FluidNC) for quite some time and in general I am really happy about it.
I've been wondering from the start though why the board would only get recognised when using the supplied USB-C -> USB-A cable, but not with any USB-C -> USB-C cable. Upon further inspection, I could make it work with a couple of adapters: USB-C (computer) -> USB-C-to-A adapter -> USB-A-to-C adapter -> USB-C cable -> USB-C (board).
After a bit more digging, I managed to find the actual reason:
Both CC pins are not connected, which means that the device can not be recognised as a valid USB-C sink because a connected source can not tell that the device is plugged in at all. The easiest way to make it work would be adding a 5k1 pull-down resistor on each CC pin, which would signal the source to provide 5V at 3A max. Here's an example schematic (source):
TL;DR: