Hello all. I have an external blu ray disk player that I want to use with my framework laptop on the go. Any idea if the framework laptop would be able to power this thing
with a single connection? Right now it has a cable with two usb-a connectors and I’m wondering if it’s possible to get that down to one. I would love to not have to order another usb-a for my framework.
Not with USB-A, but if you get a USB-C cable for it, then it probably would be able to. USB-A isn’t able to handle both data and power to a point and so you’ve got a dedicated power and data usb connection.
The worst case is that the BluRay drive will need 1.8A (USB 3.0 spec is 0.9A per port when it comes to non-dedicated charging ports)…i.e. 0.9A x 2.
If you plug one end into the USB-C port on the Framework that supports up to 2.5A…then plugging in just one of the two will be fine.
Having said that. The two-ends thing came along when people were in the middle of switching from USB 2 to USB 3. Going from 0.5A to 0.9A per port. It was original meant for backward compatibility…in case you’re still using USB 2.0 ports.
Looking at Blu Ray specs, play back speed of 1x is only 4.5MB/s, so that’s within USB 2.0 territory. I’m guessing that your drive will be fine with just one end / single connection to the host *. (i.e. It’s designed to be USB 2.0 compatible)
- Host in this case is the Framework laptop, as it has 2 x 1.5A ports, and 2 x 2.5A ports. The speed mentioned here only relevant before I looked up the model. I was my guestimation into whether it’s a USB 2 or 3 compatible device.
If my eyes are good enough, this is what you have… up to 6x with burner capability…and says USB 2.0 compatible.
https://www.amazon.ca/Archgon-Aluminum-External-MD-3102-U3-Cyberlink/dp/B00E6ZAZ8W
Meaning, worst case would be 0.5A x 2 instead of 0.9A x 2.
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I don’t know all the details of your blue ray player, but it appears that the cable you currently have plugs into the player with USB micro-b 3.0 connector and the computer with a USB 3.0, and a USB 2.0. There is a possibility that you could buy a USB micro-b 3.0 to USB-c cable, and eliminate the need of the second port? I found this, which you could buy and test out, and return if it doesn’t work. I may be wrong and it might not work, but with the amazon return policy it couldn’t hurt to try, though there are many other solutions presented in this thread.
Thanks for the help! I’ve ordered a short usb-c to micro-b cable since I only plan on using the drive on my Framework laptop, I’ll let you know how it goes. Which two ports on the Framework laptop have 2.5A output? Is this noted somewhere in the Framework literature that I can reference?
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The usb-c to micro-b cable worked like a charm, thanks for the help guys
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With digital there is always usually a cable solution.
I didn’t buy a HDMI card for the Framework cos I have a USC C to HDMI cable that works fine.
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