Thunderbolt (4) is an impressive technology - PCIe, Display Port, USB 3.2 all over the same cable and Power Delivery to. However, when issues occur, what tools exist to diagnose whether the problem is the laptop (Framework 13, 12th gen Intel) or the device (Dell U4025QW Monitor)?
I have a problem with the above pairing where the display and all peripherals will suddenly disconnect from the laptop (I can hear the USB device connect/disconnect beeps) . 10 to 15 seconds later the display and peripherals re-connect.
It strikes me that this wonderful technology has advanced quicker than the (user-land) tools necessary to isolate the faulty/marginally performing components.
I love my Framework 13. It is my daily workhorse and it has served me very well since I first took a chance on the company. I’m now hoping that Framework can have one of their Technical Team offer some advice to a fellow Electronic Engineer wishing to get to the bottom of the Thunderbolt issues once and for all!
Best regards,
Alex
P.S. I have updated the Framework to the very latest drivers, BIOS, and re-timer firmware etc.
I have done quite a lot of analysis with the usb ports.
Although I have not done thunderbolt analysis, the first thing I would suspect would be the cable or an intermittent fault on the usb-c slot card.
Some people have seen reliability improvements by removing the usb-c slot card, and plugging the device directly into the internal usb-c socket at the back of the slot. If that fixes your problem, then the cause is most likely some extra noise introduced by the slot card.
If that does fix the problem for you, I would suggest FW need to redesign their usb-c slot cards to be less noisy. The current design of the usb-c slot cards does not appear to be well shielded itself, but maybe some other method is being used to shield it from noise.
The other possible fix might be getting a higher quality usb thunderbolt cable.