Technological Question......

I hope someone here is a tech-savvy person who can help me with this inquiry...

Ok, being the curious crap I am, I looked into the charging port of my Nintendo DS Lite and it looked like I could fit the USB plug of the PSP cable into it. Here's a picture of the PSP USB cable:

The plug at the bottom of that pic, the small end, goes into the USB port on the PSP. The plug above goes into a laptop/PC/whatever that has a normal fat USB port.

I thought I could fit the plug that is meant to go into the PSP, into the charging port of my DS Lite, which looks like this:

I also read there is a USB charging cable for the DS lite, that looks almost exactly like the cable in the first picture above, except the plug on the DS is fatter, because the DS lite has a wider port on it than the PSP does.

So I tried to fit the PSP USB cable into the DS lite but I was not able to, however, it did go in somewhat. I am just wondering if anyone out there would know or have a good idea what would or should happen as a result of this experiment (putting one end of the PSP USB cable into the computer, and the other smaller end into a DS lite, not a PSP as it should). Also, please be honest. Thanks. This has been bugging me for the past two weeks. 🙁

Still wondering.

The PSP uses a standard USB cable... The DS does not...

(Meaning you will have to buy a DS USB charger, it just a way for Nintendo... or a 3rd party to make some more money off you.)

Originally posted by FWahMaN

So I tried to fit the PSP USB cable into the DS lite but I was not able to, however, it did go in somewhat. I am just wondering if anyone out there would know or have a good idea what would or [b]should happen as a result of this experiment (putting one end of the PSP USB cable into the computer, and the other smaller end into a DS lite, not a PSP as it should). Also, please be honest. Thanks. This has been bugging me for the past two weeks. 🙁 [/B]

The best that could happen is nothing. The worst is a broke DS port and a broken USB cable. Like Spoony said, the DS does not use a standard mini USB port, it has its own propreietary format, and you'll have to get an extra cable if you want to charge your DS. However there seem to be third party USB to DS cables, so you could perhaps charge your DS via computer, however I haven't tried that, and do not know how good that is...you should try it though, worst that could happen is that you waste a couple bucks and your DS is broken.

Thanks guys...those seem like honest replies...

So how I understand it, if my laptop was on and it had the PSP USB cable in it, and I try to fit the other end into the charging port of the DS lite...then the worst that could create is a messed up usb cable and a broken DS port.

But sorry if this is a dumb question, what is meant by a broken DS port? Do you mean the port would not work to charge the DS anymore (via the appropriate DS charging cable)? Or could a broken port on the DS cause something else I'm not aware of?

Also since this is a USB cable, there's a clear cut way I can find out if it got affected at all right? I heard that digital cables are different than analog in that a digital cable, much like an HDMI cable, either works or does not work, and that there's no such thing as a "better HDMI cable" due to the fact it's digital. Can this be said about USB cables in the same manner?

Thanks for all your help. You have no idea how much I appreciate it...

EDIT: Sorry for the edit, but, I have this thing in my head where I think, as a result of an ignorant experiment like the one mentioned in the OP, everything that was involved was damaged to an extent. So that means: The DS, the usb cable as well as the laptop itself...

I know this may sound crazy. It's just a mental thing that won't go away. One may ask "how the heck would that mess up your laptop?" Who knows, but the usb cable being inside one of it's ports during the experiment just makes me think so. 🙁

It would not mess up your Laptop/PC, just the DS charging port and/or the DS itself, as long as all you did was to insert the USB cable in a USB port in your laptop

You can find out if the usb cable works if you use it afterwards with any device that works with it (like the PSP). It would be clear whether it's still functional or not.

The USB cable is used to communicate a device with you computer and vice-versa (some allow for charging as well). If the device you use it with does not use an USB port for communication, nothing will happen... other than you having to force something into some other thing it was never meant to fit... and messing it up in the process.

Not all USB cables are the same, There are plain USB cables like the one you posted, that will pretty much work with anything it can fit in, but there are some Serial USB cables (you could say they are Proprietary Cables in a way) that will only work with the device it was built for, and with nothing else. These are less common nowadays.

Wish Nintendo just made a normal USB slot for the charging port, that or make it look blatantly different. The fact it looked so similar to a standard USB port is what caused this...(my "hmm" moments that is 🙁)

By the way when you guys say that this could only have messed up the USB cable and the DS port, and/or the DS itself, do you just mean in the physical sense? Meaning, the worst that could happen is the port on the DS getting warped or the usb plug getting warped? Or is there something else inside the DS or the cable, their circuitry, etc. that could have been affected?

Blah. Cannot believe 6 years after a dumb experiment (putting PS2 RCA cables in the back of a 3.5mm pair of computer speakers - was told could only damage cable and speakers) I do this dumb shit! I mean, I would be ok in the head if the usb wasn't inside the laptop at the time...but then again I am being told this could not have affected my laptop...

Alright then, let me put it this way. From your knowledge (you people), would this test be no different had the USB cable not been connected to the laptop? If that makes any sense...so meaning, if I were to try (though not roughly) putting one end of the PSP usb cable, which is a standard USB cable, into the charging port on the DS lite, while the other end was not inserted into my laptop which was on at the time, would it be no different if the USB cable had not been in the up-and-running laptop?

Geezuz, I don't even know what the hell I was thinking at the time....and how it would result into this mental state of bull 🙁. I could've sworn that thing looked identical to a standard USB port...curiosity strikes again, and this time hard.

(LOL @ swoopo ad above for a Nintendo DSi for 24 bucks...yeah and you have a 4% chance of winning that with bids you have to buy...)

The above inquiry is still begging to be answered, not to rush anyone though.

I hate how I'm so tech ignorant, and my members think I'm some kind of computer nerd. It's times like this I wish I was an electrictian/scientist/engineer etc., even when I hate those occupations...

Don't post uselessly just to bump up the thread, especially when you posted last less than a day before.

The DS ports for the AC adapters are not the correct size for a standard USB cable. They're not going to fit, and they're definitely not going to work.

Second sentence I mentioned somewhere in the first post.

Sorry, I'll not post as often...

Not trying to just bump the thread but I had another question...by the way, a standard usb cable could not fit in the port, yes, but you can still make it go in to a degree it you insert it at an angle. This is what I fear may have caused something to at least one of the involved items.

I tried googling it but I couldn't find out if USB cables are digital or something else...are USB cables digital? Like HDMI cables?

Also SDJ said something about "or the DS itself" possibly getting damaged in the process. What do you mean by the DS itself, if you mean other than simply the charging port on the DS? Thanks.

Im pretty sure the USB cable is digital.

I mean the DS as well because you never know what might happen when you do something you're not supposed to do, say: what if by forcing the cable in, you damage the DS charging port and there's no way to fix it, the DS will be unable to charge and you can no longer use it.

The PSP has charging port as well (besides the USB port) you can't fit the USB cable in there as well

the PSP Go doesn't use regular USB cables anymore, it's got a proprietary one-do-it-all cable

Ok so you still mean the port, and no other part of the DS. The reason I'm asking is, about my other PS2 experiment that I did many years ago, someone said the speakers may have been damaged, and defintely the cable (but not the PS2 of course) I guess he meant, affect the quality at which the speakers work, which would not mean its ports or just its ports were damage, but the quality of the speakers as well.

I was just asking if the most that would happen is a non-working DS charging port. If that's all it is then it shouldn't bother me...I just had a feeling it could screw something else up (that's not physically touching the cable) you know, any hardware based problems.

not necesarily, but you could end up short-circuiting the whole thing... though that's unlikely

1. Do you mean short circuiting as in overheating?

2. There's a clear cut way I can determine if that happened even to a degree right? Like say for example if the DS powers on as it should, then there's not even slight "short circuiting" or is there such a thing as an undetectable level of short circuiting. Thanks.

May I ask why you are so determined in finding out the consequences of forcing a cable somewhere it does not belong?

I wasn't forcing it in, reading posts would tell you that...

When I was trying to see if it'll fit I managed to insert it in slightly. You can insert it at an angle to a degree, just deep enough for the inside of the USB plug and the DS port to connect. Like everyone agrees they're not meant to go into each other but since Nintendo retardedly made the DS charging port almost identical in appearance to a standard USB port, curiosity struck, and now I'm just wondering if what I did (insert the USB cable into the DS charging port, albeit to a degree) can cause something or a number of things, and what those things actually are. I don't want to live not knowing for instance if I messed up the quality of my cable, my DS or my laptop, in whatever manner. That's why I'm just asking. I know I was given answers but I just want SDJ to answer my question based on his most recent post.

Ah, understood. I believe that it is technically and physically impossible to break any part of the DS other than the port itself by accidentally inserting a USB cable jack into it. The port should only have circuits and technology around it that have to deal with the battery. The only malfunctions I can think off are either a slower rate of recharge, inability to charge at all, or rarely as already stated a short circuit of the whole DS which would leave it completely disabled and broken

Ah so one possibility is slower rate of recharge. Glad this is going somewhere.

Also from what you said I take it a short circuit is absolute right? Meaning there's no such thing as a short circuit of a smaller degree, or there's no such thing as a worse short circuit. Just want to be certain. Also fyi to everyone I google every question before I ask them. 😄

..........................................

WUT

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=191564

That is basically saying the ports function the same exact way...only the ports are shaped different for God knows what reason 😬. Why did Nintendo choose their personal bullsh1t design anyway? Could've saved me weeks of worrying about something I did.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/17/handy-hack-nintendo-ds-mini-usb/

"The Nintendo DS’s charge port looks a lot like a mini USB plug."

That's what I said on that day! weep

http://surugi.com/projects/DSLiteUSB.html

Kind of like the first link.

.......................I think these are telling me something none of you are. It seems that if the USB cable did manage to go into the DS (yes a what-if situation....) then the DS will simply charge, right?! This is what I'm getting from the links...