Changing Expansion Cards On The Fly

Creators & Developers Expansion Card
1

Am thinking of getting a 16 but this question is for the expansion cards in general. The laptop will be running Linux, distro undetermined at this time, but am leaning towards MX Linux, and if anyone here has any negative experience with non-Ubuntu distro on their Framework laptop, I would appreciate any advice.

But my question about the expansion cards is: Can I swap out the cards on the fly, as in WHILE am using the laptop?

For examples…

  1. I will be using at least one HDMI card for an external monitor, so can I swap any other card for a 2nd or even 3rd HDMI card without shutting down the laptop?

  2. What if I need another USB port?

  3. If I swap out the ethernet card, will the laptop running Linux switches over to wi-fi with no hassles?

Essentially, can I swap the expansion cards on the fly as needed? Thanks for any answer.

Roderick

2
  1. Yes.
  2. Yes.
  3. Yes.
4 Likes
3

To elaborate, the expansion cards are USB-C based devices, of which, USB and other alternate signaling modes supported by USB-C (Thunderbolt, HDMI, DisplayPort, etc.) are all generally hot swap-able.

See:

4 Likes
4

Be aware that the port capabilites of the FW16 are limited.
Having 3 HMDI cards, and also charging is only possible with one specific expansion card layout. Funktionalität des Erweiterungskartenanschlusses auf dem Framework Laptop 16

5

Are the expansion cards the same for both the FW13 and FW16 (i.e. swapable between them)?

As they are based on USB-C connectors could they be plugged into an external USB-C hub?

TIA

6

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, and yes.
The usb hub would need to support what the particular expansion card needs. For full abilities you’d want a hub with thunderbolt.