Electronic – Does MicroUSB B have 5 seperate lines

connectorusbusb devicewiring

I am working on a project that requires a 5 pin connector but it seems like the USB cable is causing some issues. I am using a microUSB B male-male cord to transfer some power and data. Through further research, I am seeing that Micro USB B may be more complex than a simple 5 wire cord. I found the following quote online:

"Contrary to popular belief, D+ and D- operate together; they are not separate simplex connections."

http://pinouts.ru/PortableDevices/micro_usb_pinout.shtml

What does this mean? Is there a way I can use this cable as 5 separate lines?

Best Answer

You should expect 4 wires in the cable. Ground and the shield will be connected together at one (possibly both) ends. The 5th ID pin is there to tell you what sort of cable it is. The only male to male cables in the standard are OTG cables which will have ID open circuit at one end and connected to ground at the other.