Two of my expansion slots are not working with any expansion card
System: AMD Ryzen™ 5 7640U
WiFi: RZ616 WiFi
Memory: DDR5-5600 - 32GB (2 x 16GB)
Storage: WD_BLACK™ SN770 NVMe™- M.2 2280 - 1TB
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro (Download)
Purchased October 18th
I bought a Framework 13. I purchased the following expansion slots: 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, Ethernet, HDMI.
The two back slots are working with all of the expansion cards. The front two slots are not working with any of my expansion cards.
Four days ago, I plugged my iPad into the front right port to charge my iPad, which did work. I have not used the front right port until this morning. I tried plugging in a flash drive and the port would not work. I took the card out and tried another port, still didn’t work. Testing all three other ports and found that the front left port is doing the same thing - no card works, nothing is read.
I have a SUITOK RGB NVMe cloning device that lights up when it is plugged into a port. I tested this on both the right and the left front ports. The lights on the RGB cloning device do light up to indicate that power goes through. Though the cloner with an M.2 hard drive in it - with stuff on the hard drive - is not read in File Explorer, Disk Management, or diskpart.
I am going to try the procedure for fully resetting the motherboard next. I also plan to take the battery out to see if maybe my ipad presented a bad power source? Though that was on the right side so I don’t have any reason why the left front port is having a similar issue.
I am currently looking for ways to maybe reset or turn on usb ports?
What would anybody else recommend? Is this a case of needing a new motherboard for my barely 1-month-old laptop?
If it’s anything like the AMD board for the 16, did you try powering it off for at least 2 minutes? Remove battery and mainboard reset would indeed be the next thing to try after that.
Welcome to the community. If not already done so, start a ticket with support about the Framework Laptop 13. They have the best information for diagnosing and resolving issues. We are other users here on the forum.
Apple devices do not play well with Framework devices (or most other devies that are not Apple) they tend to flood the bus connected to with messages and garbage which often times results in ports shutting down.
After powering off the device, unplug the charger to the laptop and wait about a minute for the embedded controller (EC) to fully shut itself down. Then try powering it back on and see if anything is different.
A mainboard reset followed by going into the BIOS and loading the default values would be the next step to try and reset the electronics side of things to see if the port comes back to life. Again, support is the best source of information and guidance. Hope it turns out ok for you or that support can resolve things for you quickly.
Update:
Last night, I took the battery out and tucked it away.
Today I have my laptop with me at work, and I am able to work from it just fine without the battery. All four ports are working. I was able to read a flash drive, an NVMe reader with a hard drive in it, and an external drive.
Tonight I plan to get home and reinstall my battery.
Last update:
The computer is doing well. Have not had any issues with the expansion cards or their usb-c connections. Taking the battery out for about 24 hours, and working from the laptop while it was plugged in (no battery), seemed to do the trick.
Lesson learned: I will avoid charging any other devices from this computer - this includes my iphone or ipad.