Hello, I’ve been having some issues with my USB-A expansion cards on my Framework Laptop 13 as of late, and I was hoping for some help from the community. From time to time when copying data to an external storage device (USB SD Card adapter, USB hard drive, SSD, etc), I find that the connection tends to drop if the cable is barely nudged by my hand. I have a feeling this is due to the expansion card and less the storage medium itself, as I do not encounter any such behaviors on other devices. So my question is, how could I remedy this issue, should I try cleaning the contacts on the card itself? If so, how? Has anyone else had an issue similar to this? And why on earth are the USB-A plugs so damn short lol. There’s at least a quarter of my USB-A cable sticking out of the receptacle, no doubt partially contributing to the issue.
I look forward to any responses.
I had one USB-A quit working. I finally decided to reboot to see if that fixed it, and it did. I am running Linux Mint, and do not reboot often. The longest was I think, 56 days. Had to reboot then for system updates. Lately reboots have been more often, so I have not seen this USB problem recently.
4 months later and I am still encountering this issue. Does anyone else know what could cause this, or why?
Bump? I would like to know if this is a board level issue or just the USB C to USB A expansion cards causing issues.
It could be a physical connectivity problem. I had one, and I’ve lately tried sanding the board so that the male USB-C presses further into the port on the mainboard and it’s helped quite a bit.
A good way to test if it’s a viable solution for you is to plug the board in alone (without the housing) and see if you have issues. If you see an improvement it might be something to consider.
I get being squeamish about sanding a board, even a expansion slot. The way I see it, a broken card is no better than a broken card. You need to take precautions. Make sure to clean things thoroughly afterwards (metal dust,) and also don’t force it in. As long as you do that, you’ll probably be fine.