Full Power Magnetic Charging Card

Creators & Developers Expansion Card
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I tried using one of these magnetic USB-C connectors with my Framework, and it did initially work great, but after just a handful of times removing and re-connecting the cable I must have gotten unlucky and damaged some part of the USB-C interface on the Framework mainboard side.

Only the port I was plugging into is affected, but that port no longer works for any USB connections (even USB-A)–it now only works as a power input. Any USB devices are completely ignored.

I don’t necessarily need all 4 ports for USB-C (yet) so I’m willing to accept the damage from my own risk-taking, but I did want to provide anecdotal evidence that there is a very real risk of damaging your mainboard with these connectors.

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Hi and welcome to the forum.

Which magnetic USB-C connector?

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Not releasing something because someone else might benefit from it doesn’t sound like the spirit of sharing to me. Framework themselves are sharing lots of specs so others can offer commercial products that work well with the Framework laptop.
Anyway, I’d like to pay someone else for good quality components since im not in the hardware creator space myself, and as the Framework community grows we need a scalable way to create stuff, and that means a good commercial way of doing business among ourselves.

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Thank you for sharing this! Worth reading for everyone considering a 3rd party magnetic connector.

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@Geert_Schuring

Who are you to determine how someone should feel about their own work? It can take a lot of time and effort to create or design some of these projects, and if people are good enough to release them in “good faith” then you need to honour that sentiment, not tell people they’re wrong to feel the way they do and it’s fine for other people to take that work and make a profit from it. It’s easy to complain and condemn someone, when you haven’t put any work or effort in to something yourself.

Framework have released information and files that suit it’s business model. The more modules and add-ons, the more appealing a framework laptop is, making more money for Framework. They haven’t released schematics, because, they can’t be sure no-one will take that work and use it to make boards that are cheaper and sell them or alter them to add features that might appeal to people.

I dont blame moe_wigs for feeling the way he does. I wouldn’t like it if someone took something I’d maybe taken days to create and then used that work to “line their own pockets” and neither would most people, including you, I suspect. I mean no-one is going to make a huge amount of money out of this, but, there is a principal involved. In Britain, at least, some pretty decent people have set up stores where less well off and needy people can access a weeks worth of shopping for £5, imagine if someone got that and then sold it on for £20. Not illegal, but, certainly unscrupulous and immoral. How would the people who set up that shop to help the more vulnerable feel? And what if someone hinted they were rediculous, why not exploit that good nature?

Because of the attitude of a few people, I’ve a feeling he wont be posting any more files and wont be frequenting the forums.

I’m actually pretty disappointed, I thought there would be hundreds of people making mods and add ons, but only two or three people seem to have any ideas. And you want to chase them away with a selfish and insulting attitude.

So, well done. Maybe I’m over reacting but, I think peoples ideals, if they’re well intentioned, need to be respected more and not taken advantage of.

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That isn’t why at all, don’t spread misinformation. They are perfectly willing to share schematics and have done so. They are limited by NDAs as to whom they can be shared with. Check Louis Rossman for more info.

Some of the most vocal backers of this project will be found in the FOSS community. Just because something can be found for “free” doesn’t mean that somebody can’t make a profit. Nor do I begrudge someone trying to make a profit. I’m with @Geert_Schuring, it is in the spirit of this community to release schematics. Doesn’t mean that you can’t sell what you make. The entire reason for being of this company is doing what doesn’t make financial sense for other companies to do.

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Well, you made my point for me. Certain NDAs, which I presume means “non disclosure”, I’m not spreading misinformation, I obviously mean’t they haven’t released them into general circulation. I haven’t got a copy but I’d like one.

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NDAs imposed on framework by intel. Not framework’s choice to restrict access.

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That doesn’t make sense. There are hundreds of schematics available with Intel chips. It wouldn’t necessarily impinge on Intels IP in any way. It sounds a bit like the issue of 11th gen boards needing a complete reset when they’ve entered a bad state, an Intel problem, apparently, but only seems to affect Framework.
If the schematics were released “into the wild” and given a healthy market for framework machines, some of these huge, mostly Chinese companies, that replicate existing designs, could release boards with AMD processors and DDR5 memory, among other additions. That would be real innovation. Who knows where it could end.

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@Jason6 It’s not just Intel, every single chip likely has it’s own NDA, Framework has gotten permission that they will gladly share the schematic with you…once you too sign an NDA and they can control access.

Edit: No company needs the schematic to replicate FW’s design. There is nothing inherently patentable regarding it other than perhaps the expansion cards and the related system but that could likely be worked around…not that Chinese companies are known for respecting patent law. Any manufacturer could design a board with a CPU, RAM, Storage, and 4 thunderbolt ports.

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I’m curious, is this on BIOS version 3.10? I faced a similar issue I was able to somewhat fix by downgrading to BIOS 3.07. I’m currently speaking to Framework support trying to fix it.

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EDIT: deleted section that was in discourse’s draft buffer, no longer relevant.

these schematics are not published with Intel’s permission. I appreciate that they’re available, but it’s not something Framework can decide to do. Plus, afaiu it’s not only Intel’s NDA - other chips are also involved, possibly Compal too.

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This is speculation - that’s not a viable path forward. The issue is that’s basically required that you have connections in Intel to get these boards made. Furthermore, all information that an independent hardware designer would need to replicate a Framework motherboard replacement, is already available; we hobbyists are making good use of that. It’s that you basically need to have a working relationship with either Intel or AMD to actually make an x86 replacement board. That’s a pretty limited circle of people.

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I would like to buy or get the plans for a magnetic adapter. But I wasn’t clear who on this list is offering it? Edgar no longer does, but maybe someone else? I have a 3D printer and could print. I there a website with files or purchase info?
Thank You!

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@Henger-SH @Jasters-Legacy
…and everyone else from the EU who’s interested

I got a friend(s brother) from the US to order one from newegg (Are you a human? ; thanks to Jared_Svetlev for finding it!) and send it by airmail inside a simple envelope for 3$ and the shipping to the US is free.
Right now the USB-C is about 9$ on newegg so that’s 12$ to get one to the EU.

So if you know someone who’s currently in the US, that’s a cheap and easy fix?
Or maybe someone here on the forum would be willing to order a few of them and send them over to you? It’s not ideal but it get’s the job done.

Also thanks to obfuscurity for the raft settings & Sean_N for the design! Works flawlessly <3

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This is the connector I used (admittedly a no-name eBay special :stuck_out_tongue:) https://www.ebay.com/itm/154227564588

This is indeed on BIOS 3.10, though I’ve not been able to try downgrading BIOS to see if it is still present.

It would be nice if this was somehow a software issue, I just assumed it was hardware due to the known flaws in USB-C magnetic connectors combined with how the issue first started.

Are there any updates on your diagnosis?

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for what it’s worth I managed to kill my old iPad mini changing circuitry using “volta charging cable”, which is literally same crap. I was naive and believed ad video from linus tech tips lol. after emailing the company and asking for refund (not even asking for compensation!) I was ghosted by them. all these knock offs of proprietary magnetic connections are not safe and have 0 detection of actual connection/disconnection

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Actually the iPad mini is quite different than these. Some iPads support USB-C power negotiation and can charge from a USB-C charger with a USB-C to lightning cable, but others only support 5v charging and the Volta cables come in USB-A and USB-C power source variants, and some of their cables could only charge from USB-C with the connector in a specific orientation relative to the cable.

I actually use Volta cables with Fonken or similar clone right angle USB-C to magnetic USB-C connectors and haven’t had any issues with the Spark series at all. I still use the USB-A cables for all my non-PD accessories as well, though I’ve been picking up clones by NetDot or DigitalAnt on Amazon because they ship faster and are a lot cheaper.

For my Framework I’ve got 3-4 magnetic connectors installed with the Cable Creation extensions and haven’t had any issues, but I only use a port for charging or low power accessories and haven’t tried using the extension plus magnetic connector for a USB-C hub or docking station that would transmit data that I can recall.

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I’m sorry if I missed an earlier comment, I did my best to see if anybody has already solved this issue, but didn’t see anything. I’ve finished printing the housing for this card, but couldn’t find the correct extension anywhere. The amazon link says they are out of stock and don’t know when it will be back and I couldn’t find it anywhere else. If anybody knows where else I can buy the extender or an equivalent and can drop a link here I would be very grateful.

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@Ian_Mcgillivary
It’s expensive but this one seems to be in stock