Do Framework's first party storage expansion cards act as flashdrives?

If I wanted to get data off my machine, Could I save what I wanted to an expansion card, take it out, and put it in any computer with normal USB C?

seems like it would be neat to essentially have a 256 GB flashdrive with me at all times

1 Like

I don’t have one yet - Santa might bring one to me - but I’m certain the answer is yes.

It uses a Phison U17 flash controller.

https://www.phison.com/en/u17-u18

It’s a USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 USB flash controller and would present as a USB flash drive to the OS.

1 Like

Yes, I have done exactly that. Sneaker-net.
Both sizes present as a drive.
I even used a USB-C to USB-A adapter with one of them. The old PC didn’t have a USB-C port

5 Likes

Yes they are effectively flash drives.

I haven’t tried plugging my device in yet to my Windows desktop, but my linux install treats it as an ejectable drive. This was one of the reasons I chose to keep all of my personal files on this instead of the internal hard drive (backed up to an external as well, of course.) In the event my laptop were to die, I could still access all of my data on another computer.

Edit: Maybe another way to answer your question is also: it is not proprietary. It just functions over USB-C like any other external hard drive or flash drive. So yes, I am 99.9% sure that you could plug it into “any computer with normal USB C”. I have also already successfully used my USB-A expansion card as an adapter for a Macbook.

7 Likes