I have a keyboard with a long non-detachable USB-A cable that I would like to replace with a USB-C female connector. My end goal is being able to detach the keyboard like a portable device and use it with any USB-C cable.
The original cable has a standard USB-A male plug on one side and 5-pin JST connector and O-ring on the other side. It contains 4 standard USB 2.0 wires (D+/D- and V+/V-) and one extra wire that is connected to the shielding/case of the actual USB-A plug. The pinout on the keyboard side is as follows:
I have a new cable with the same 5-pin JST connector and O-ring pinout, but with a USB-C female connector on the other side. I am going to open a hole in keyboard's casing in order to have this USB-C connector be reachable in order to plug a standard USB-C cable in it.
USB-C has many pins but the breakout board that I am using has the required 4 USB 2.0 pins I need apart the Shield pin. It is exactly that pin I have issues with since the original cable had a whole separate wire running from one side of the cable to the other and standard USB cables do not have this wire. So even if I connected a wire directly to the shielding/case of the USB-C connector, the case itself is not connected through the cable to the other side.
I have read through many articles but could not find a definitive answer on how to connect the Shield pin. These are the possibilities:
- Do not connect Shield to anything (I feel like this is a bad idea)
- Connect Shield to GND (V-) through a resistor, capacitor or ferrite bead (I want to do this, but am not sure if its safe)
- Connect Shield directly to GND (V-) (also feels like a bad idea)
I would really appreciate some directions on how to do this as I do not want the keyboard to get damaged.