Hi everyone, just a quick update... I managed to plug in that eBay USB-MIDI cable that I bought for 0.99 USD on eBay (like the one pictured above which has had some notes about working out of the box) and it works! I used "dmesg" and "lsusb" commands on Ubuntu and it registered as follows:
[ 1491.759850] usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a86, idProduct=752d
[ 1491.759856] usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 1491.759860] usb 3-1: Product: USB2.0-MIDI
And lsusb revealed this:
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 1a86:752d QinHeng Electronics CH345 MIDI adapter
The system detected the device and I confirmed MIDI messages were getting received by installing "kmidimon". Then I opened up RoseGarden (MIDI Sequencer on Ubuntu) and set up a General MIDI device and in RoseGarden settings set recording and playback (under "Manage MIDI Devices") to 20:0 CH345 MIDI 1 (Duplex) which is what it is being marked as in the system.
Now I have the job of setting up my banks in the system for my keyboard Yamaha PSR-E323 which I am using for both MIDI control and also I can use some of the sound-banks in it (drum kits, instruments). Otherwise I can also use internal Software Synths... will have to see. Besides the music it is a big job just getting the entire system configured and set up.
Anyways, I wanted to confirm that at least for BASIC MIDI data flow, this 0.99 USB (delivered total cost) cable seems to work!