I bought this to be a USB to Serial cable. It's not detected by Windows or Linux. There were no attempts, by either operating system, at recognizing it as a device at all. No semi-satisfying Windows "ba-dump" sound followed by a "We know you plugged something in but we have no idea what it is yet" Windows error. Not even a twitch, almost as if it's not even plugged in. Just out of curiosity, I plugged in another USB-Serial cable (it serves a far less nefarious purpose than what I had envisioned for this one) and Bam! I was instantly greeted with results; therefore, I am reasonably certain that it is in fact this cable and not my computers that are at fault. I would attempt to return this cable, if I had not already disassembled the USBusiness end in an attempt to glean further information from the circuit board within. Unfortunately, it seems to be completely encased in, what appears to be, glue.I expect the garbage man won't be able to detect this cable any better than Windows or Linux. It is for the best.If you can read this (or even if you can't), buy something else. Please.