If so, is it a proprietary design or standard type of cable?
If it's a standard type of cable, what is the proper term for it?
Windows Phone Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for enthusiasts and power users of Windows Phone OS. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityIf so, is it a proprietary design or standard type of cable?
If it's a standard type of cable, what is the proper term for it?
The MicroUSB cables that we use for our phones have 5 pins. Basically, all usb cables use the outer two pins for power, that's why you'll find that they charge your phone, however the inner three are used for data. Windows Phones use #2 and #3 for data transfer.
In the case for Nokia devices, they are known for doing things a little differently, they like to confirm the wiring of a cable before committing to a connection (as seen in this diagram ). Pin #4 needs to be shorted to Pin #5, not all cables do this, so the computer may not detect a Nokia device with that type of cable.
In most cases the cable will work. If it doesn't this is probably why. I haven't tested this with a bunch of cables though, so this is an educated guess from a small set of tests.
[UPDATE]
With the Windows 10 Mobile devices like the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, Microsoft has introduced USB Type C connector. This supports USB 3.1 comms and has fast-charge capability.
Microsoft has not shed any light on this USB issue.
The USB cable that works with most mobile devices is known as Micro USB.
After some research I found that the most of the cases phone works normally with any Micro USB but in some cases the computer does not recognize the phone but it only charges the phone.
I found a question at microsoft forum ,asking about USB cable.(you might find this useful)
There is something different about the supplied USB cable that came with my Nokia Lumia 800, as other cables (or power adaptors with attached cables) fail to recharge the phone once it has run empty.
While other USB cables do work if the battery has not fully depleted, the current supplied is usually a lot less than with the supplied cable (when comparing using the same power source and Nokia Diagnostics).
This situation is annoying, as I want spare USB cables for my car and at work, that perform as well as the supplied one. The Nokia cable cost around £30 last time I looked.
Yes I tried several USB cables to connect my phone with my PC without any success, until I found one that came with a Samsung digital camera and that worked just fine for transferring my data either way.. No apparent visible difference between any them