FW12 can't charge with 5V USB-C

Framework Laptop 12
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I have a USB-C powerbank which supports 5V/3A (15W) output via its USB-C outputs. To my dismay, it cannot charge my 12 because apparently the laptop only charges at 9V and above. I don’t care about actual charging, as I just treat my powerbanks like removable extra batteries; extending runtime is the primary goal. Is there some kind of small voltage converter device I could buy to fix this or a BIOS update?

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Can confirm: Framework 12 USB Charging Database (Your help needed!)
FW12 doesn’t charge with 5V

I bet you can find a USB to USB Boost converter somewhere online, but those are notoriously noisy.
I wouldn’t want to plug one into my laptop.

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Interesting, I though that was an amd only defect.

At least in the case of the amd fw13 the hardware is perfectly capable of doing 5v charging but the pd controller chooses not to.

It can be kind of tricked into doing it by plugging in a valid pd charger, plugging in the 5v source to the same side and then unplugging the valid charger. Not really practical as that requires having a better charger to use the worse one but it helps confirm the hardware can do it just fine. I am holding a faint hope they fix that at some point but it is getting weaker.

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This is most laptops though, right? I’m replacing a Lenovo that also wouldn’t charge from low voltage battery packs and when I tried to charge the framework 12 the same thing happened, no charging.

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Not perfectly capable. According to my previous test, using 5V PD will cause the current to fluctuate and very loud coil whine. Only when the computer is switched off it can change at 5V 2.7(if supply is 3A)/4.5(if supply is 5A)

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That’s not really unexpected, it is the highest voltage difference and demand fluctuations will cause the highest current changes, not really a problem though. It may also bump into the low voltage control loop at some points if the power supply droops enough during fast current changes.

Charging while off is a relatively constant demand so constant draw.

The main problem is the pd controller does not properly select 5v when available unless tricked.

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My contribution is not relevant to 5V charging - my charger actually provides 12V on one of the two USB-C ports. Mistakenly thought it was 5V, because the power meter read 5V on the second USB-C port of the charger, which also does in fact not charge the FW12. When the laptop is running the power meter will read 0W and if the laptop is turned off I also see constant fluctuation (power meter and charging status indicator LED of the laptop constantly turning on and off)

I recently bought the Anker A9215 travel charger. The charging light between the USB ports does not light up, but it is charging with 5V while powered off and also while my FW12 is in use (Ubuntu 25.04 - tested during light use like browsing, watching YouTube videos, etc.).

It does deliver 20W though. I tested several chargers (most 45W or 65W) and strangely only with this specific charger the cheap USB-C power meter did no read any Wattage. Might retry in the future, not sure what’s up with that. It definitely did charge while on a trip to London. Charged it maybe 4 or 5 times from 20% to 80%.

Edit: Those are the specs of the two USB-C outputs of the travel charger taken from their homepage (it has 2x USB-A and 2x USB-C)

  • USB-C1 Output: 5V⎓3A, 15W / 9V⎓2,22A, 20W / 12V⎓1,67A, 20W (20W Max.)
  • USB-C2 Output: 5V⎓3A, 15W (15W Max.); 2-Port / 3-Port / 4-Port: 15W Max. (shared )

Don’t remember which output I used. Will retry to measure some time in the future.
Works only on USB-C1 (20W) - does not charge on USB-C2 (15W).

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