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I have an old Megaudio MP3 player with a strange kind of USB port which I have never seen before. So, I just want to know what kind of USB port is this.
And from where i can get cable for this port.

picture of unknown port

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    What makes you think this is a USB port?
    – Blackwood
    Aug 31, 2018 at 4:26
  • It came with a USB cable for trasferring data from PC ,then the cable got misplaced, so, I wanna know what it's called Aug 31, 2018 at 4:59
  • Just because you have a cable with an USB plug on one end doesn't mean the other end is also USB - it's common for "cables" to contain some sort of chip which does protocol conversion. Also, a picture where one could actually see something would help, as would the exact model of the MP3 player.
    – dirkt
    Aug 31, 2018 at 6:07
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    It definitely is a USB port. It was used on many MP3/MP4 players. It's for charging and to move data. I have one in my hand, I'll try to find out more about it.
    – confetti
    Aug 31, 2018 at 6:09
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    @dirkt It's even more common for the other end to be regular USB in some proprietary-shaped connector. E.g. iPod, Nokia, Sony all had their own connectors with USB pins. Chips in the device are cheaper than chips in the cable, I'd think. Aug 31, 2018 at 11:54

2 Answers 2

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It's a USB-MINI4P port.

See the following chart:

USB Ports

It was used a lot for MP3/MP4 players in the past and is also used on a lot of digital cameras. It's indeed just a "regular" USB port used for charging and/or to transfer data. The cables usually don't contain a special chipset or anything like that.

You can get a cable for example from amazon.


A better picture of the connector in question:

enter image description here


As noted by Ale..chenski, this connector is not part of the official USB standards and might not be conform to some stricter USB specifications.

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  • Where did you get this "classification"? Aug 31, 2018 at 23:33
  • @Ale..chenski What do you mean? I own a couple devices with such plug, googling around revealed the name and the chart I attached to my answer. There are plenty of devices with such connector and all of those I found/own have the USB chipset built into the device, not the cable. But I'm sure there are exceptions, that's why I said "usually" in my answer. I've updated my answer to add a better picture of the connector.
    – confetti
    Sep 1, 2018 at 3:46
  • I mean that USB specifications define only Type-A, Type-B, micro/mini variants thereof, and Type-C connectors. The rest are proprietary hacks to fit into their particular formfactors, before the standardization of u-AB connectors. These proprietary connectors don't have rights to be called "USB connectors". For example, I can get any 4-pin 0.1" header, and solder four wires to mating plug. Would you call it also as "USB-0.100" connector? No. That's why I object to calling these proprietary hacks as "USB Connectors". Sep 1, 2018 at 3:59
  • @Ale..chenski I said basically the same in a comment to another answer that got deleted. It's a very common plug that is being used only (as far as I could find) for USB, that's why I compared it to that. But yes, I agree which is why I put the "regular" in quotes. I'd still call them "USB connectors" because after all, that's what you use to connect to it. I'd call Apple's 30-pin a "USB Connector" too, even though we both agree that technically and by standard it's not exactly the case.
    – confetti
    Sep 1, 2018 at 4:04
  • I don't argue that the connectors were not used or else. The problem with that approach (to call every connector used for USB as "USB connector") is that these connectors may not conform to stringent USB-IF certification gauntlet, and have no due process to be certified to use in USB framework. It is like illegally using a valuable trademark. Sep 1, 2018 at 4:12
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USB specifications define only Type-A, Type-B, micro/mini variants thereof, and Type-C connectors. The rest are proprietary solutions invented to fit into older devices in small formfactors, before the standardization of mini and micro-AB connectors. There are many non-standard types of such connectors, aka "Mitsumi connector", "HiRose", Sony-Samsung, Panasonic, etc etc. They also can be found as "Juye Serial / Data Port Jack- USB Special" and "MINI-4P" connector, as "confetti" reported.

enter image description here

That's why you have difficulty to find the name for it, and it will be even more difficult to find and procure a mating plug for it, only by visual match.

The kind of connector shown in the question should be called "proprietary non-standard 4-pin connector" "frequently used in old MP3 players and some cameras". These proprietary connectors don't have formal rights to be called "USB connectors". These connectors may not conform to stringent USB-IF certification gauntlet, and have no due process to be certified to use in USB framework. By using "USB" designation, the quality of real USB connectors are transferred to these by assumption. It is like illegally using a valuable USB trademark.

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