Ah damn! @Gregor_Schram you put me on the right path… I noticed that the small OLED somehow had lifted from the board after some usage. I thought this was due to bad glue and just added some epoxy, glued it down again and ok. Then after some testing, it became lose again. I really will need to see how warm it is getting, because if it becomes too hot, this will definitely be the reason why it became lose on two occasions … Maybe they are applying too much power to the OLED, would need to check…
1 Like
yes for me this was also the case, but it was already that way from the factory but indeed they might be overpowering it.
I tried it with mine but even after one hour it did not get warm at all. My board is directly attached via a short (20 cm) USB cable to the Framework Laptop and I am using the display at maximum brightness. However, this test of mine does NOT prove that there is no problem with the board. Obviously @Gregor_Schram had issues and this should be taken seriously. However, it is still to be seen whether this is due to an actual design flaw of the board or if this was a one-off problem. It could have been that there was some solder bridge as these boards are not built to highest standards, so for everyone getting a new one it might be interesting to check all connections and the overall board for solderbridges and other issues :). Thanks again Gregor for reporting 
1 Like
What is the reasoning for needing a new cable instead of the one provided with the display that ships with a Framework kit?
@lamp The cable included with the Framework Laptop has a a custom pinout, not a “straight” connection. While it is possible that the “Display end” of the Framework cable could just be plugged into the named module and could work, it is not described which pinout exactly the module uses - so you could basically risk frying the module and your Framework Laptop. Hence it would be needed to carefully check the pinout and maybe need to manufacture your own cabling to make up for potential discrepancies in the custom pinout of the Framework Laptop eDP connector and the module.
1 Like
I guess so too, however, one would need to disconnect the powerlines from the module, because otherwise both the Framework eDP and the USB module will start backfeeding power e.g. for display backlight into each other, which won’t be a good thing.
And also, as you said, one would need to carefully check the pinout to make sure nothing goes wrong.
I guess the best solution would be to take your documentation of the Framework eDP connector and manufacture a small board with the Framework IPEX connector and a normal Display Port connector - while excluding all pins not needed (e.g. probably the normal DP connector will not have a Blacklight Power line attached to it etc). As a nice feature one could also connect a simple USB 2.0 port to the board as additional treat (correct me if I am wrong, but I think 31 USB_DP and 32 USB_DN are just USB 2.0 Data + and USB 2.0 Data - pins, so a normal USB connector. Adding an additional step down converter of… lets say 6-20V to 5V to the BL_POWER lines and grounding it as well to the 11 GND will then give a board which plugs right into the eDP port on the Framework Laptop and deliveres a “normal” Display Port connector with an included USB 2.0 port (type A, C, Micro B - whatever floats your boat ;)) - so you could directly connect a normal Display Port Monitor with Touchscreen via USB.
Hm, like the idea of the project, maybe I will do this one day … to the backlog with that 
3 Likes
Anybody had any luck trying to adapt the Mainboard eDP? I see good progress on adapting the Display but I’d think that adapting the Mainboard would be at least as useful (especially after the Mainboard leaves the laptop chassis, you wouldn’t want it chained to a 13" display as a “desktop” necessarily)
1 Like
@Edward_Nguyen1 it has been posted multiple times in this thread here, here is the direct link: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/33046726903.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.788f18028HAngg&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu
1 Like
Quick question, does anyone have a source for the female version of the connector used here?
I’d like to try to get the Acer Swift SF313-53’s touch display panel working on the Framework, and I need to make a breakout board to go in between the display and the Swift in order to figure out the pinout for the Swift screen (and so I can design a converter to eventually go inside the Framework for that purpose).
Thanks!
3 Likes
See the last section here, you can find plenty of them on Ali, there’s a LCSC link, and Mouser/Digikey oughta stock them.
so AFAIU it uses the same NE135FBM-N41 panel that Framework has, which leads me to believe you wouldn’t need an in-between adapter - as it would be using a separate touch panel connector then. Got a link to the specific touch display panel, or even better, some pictures? (Asking specifically because I can’t find any touch options for SF313.)
1 Like
There are a few touch panel options, googling “NE135FBM-N41 touch” comes up with a lot of results, and if you wade through the ones that don’t support touch, a few claim to come with digitizers. Since the Framework connector has touchscreen I2C on the connector, if I can find a digitizer with the same pins, I can stick a breakout board in between the display and its intended laptop and figure out which signals are which, then design something to route the touch signals into the correct pins on the framework board. Some of these digitizers have different connectors, which is why I asked about the connectors.
For example, in the thread on touch panels, we found a Swift 3 SF313 replacement on Ali claiming to support touch. The Acer Spin 5 also has a display I could do similar things with, along with various other laptops. As long as the proposed screen uses the right signals, and I can fit all the signals required into the single eDP on the Framework in Framework’s pinout, it should work.
Thanks for the link!
2 Likes
yes, but what’s the specific one you’re looking into converting?
On the connector - yes. The cable doesn’t carry I2C or USB for the touchscreen though, they’re available on the mainboard connector, but not on the mainboard-panel cable.
The panel-side pinout is known, it’s the high-res touchless pinout from here.
Yes, which is why I’m asking on which specific you’d like to use, wondering like, which listing are you going to use to get a touch-enabled panel, because I could take a look at the pictures then and give better advice on the connectors required.
1 Like
Since I haven’t pulled the trigger on the project I don’t have anything definite, but here’s a current listing that claims to support touch. It uses a secondary connector for the touch component (would design a board to add those signals to a 40-pin, then use a non-Framework cable that actually has the wires on all necessary pins).
2 Likes
Just FYI, I talked to some seller on Aliexpress and got them to flash one of their monitor driver boards for us
Update: This is not a solution to attach to the Framework Laptop to get two HDMI Output channels, this is just a LCD controller board which will need to be hooked up to the Display and can then receive two Mini HDMI Input / switched between them
Its a dual(!) mini HDMI board including the right eDP cable and it works perfectly. A lot better (and cheaper) than the eDP to Display Port board. I think it even got an audio amplifier on board and a control menu for setting some stuff. Really liking this very much!
8 Likes
This is really cool, would help to save one of the ports for display output.
Now we need to redesign the 3D printed case to fit this and maybe a A-E key ethernet port for a desktop solution.
Sorry @Jieren_Zheng - I think you misunderstood my post and I am going to correct it there. This is NOT an dual HDMI output which can be hooked up to the Framework Laptop. Its a display controller for Frameworks Display Panel. So you can hook up the display directly to it instead of using the other controllers with USB-C or DisplayPort. I think there is no solution yet to use the Framework Laptops internal eDP port except the custom cable of Framework to directly attach the Display to - even though it should be fairly easy to just use this Laptop eDP port to allow for a normal, external DisplayPort port/cable.
I don’t know if I understand this correctly, but eDP is just DP with some additional voltage wires + i2c and I guess the only needed part would be an adapter cable which does transfer the internal (well documented) physical port to an DisplayPort port with the correct wiring and then it could work. But I have not tried that.
2 Likes
I was reading the part about eDP to DP board and got confused. Thanks for clarifying!
I don’t know if this is still of interest to you, but I found these neat little boards sold by Geekworm. They seem to be available on AliExpress.
Given the reviews and the photographic evidence, I think it might work. However, I won’t be able to test them until I’m able to procure an eDP to mainboard cable from somewhere. Bonus, they support 1, 2 and 4 lanes modes, so there’s room for experimentation. The board even gets its power from the eDP cable !
1 Like
Looking real cool to me @iLambda - nice find!
But yeah - I am still really looking for a spare eDP cable for just wiring up my replacement display to my framework laptop… and it looks like one cannot those spare parts without buying a display. I really hope someone comes along somewhen with a spare part for this cable with even an extended length for custom builds…
1 Like