Hello. On my Arcade Stick’s PCB, there are 4 solder points for the USB connection, however my USB cable has 5 wires (two of which seem to be ground wires). I asked my friend who is much more savvy than I am, and he thinks that the additional black wire is for the cable’s shielding, but he does not know if it needs to be connected. What I would like to know is: can I completely ignore this shielding wire (leave it off the PCB entirely)? Should I even bother attempting to solder it to the other ground and into the single ground connection point on the PCB?
Use the sticky threads next time instead of making new ones.
To answer your question, you can ignore it. My TE had 5 wires in its cable, but after cutting the cable to a shorter length, there was none of the thicker black wire left. Soldered the remaining 4 wires to a board and everything was fine.
It’s recommended soldering it to gnd so it can help with static build up and block EM and RF interference. Should still work without connecting it though.