William Sommerwerck wrote:

The A male to A female cables at Dollar Tree can't supply
the current necessary to transfer file from most digital
cameras, power external hard drives or power a USB WiFi
adapter. They work well with a mouse or most thumb drives.

According to what I read a few months back, male-to-female A cables aren't
officially endorsed by the USB gods. Some USB devices aren't able to drive
more than the cable supplied with them. * Adding an extension might result in
erratic or non-behavior.

* Are USB cables transmission lines (as Ethernet cables are)? If so, the
length shouldn't make much difference.


Yes, and they make extender cables with built in repeaters to keep
the timing correct, and the edges of the waveforms clean.


You want to see something really interesting? Take a look at the
'Grass Valley 8937 SDI/ASI Reclocking Equalizing Distribution Amplifier'
They are required in complex digital video processing systems to
maintain proper timing throughout a modern studio. If the timing
changes due to cable length, it all goes to hell. The card cages hold
ten crds, and have a built in web server to allow you to monitor &
control the selected cards.