A few month ago, my Framework 13 (12th gen) started having intermittent issues with USB ports - ports would stop charging or working at all. Eventually this escalated to a boot failure.
Framework support couldn’t identify the cause, and a local repair shop rejected my repair request. The technician said that “it is fried in too many places to fix”, suggesting that the repair would cost nearly as much as a replacement of the motherboard. He mentioned that USB ports and the BIOS chip were damaged (short-circuited).
I suspect the culprit might be a Kingston USB-C hub which I used when both my Framework and my work laptop failed. The work laptop also just stopped booting suddenly one day, thought it didn’t have any USB port issues prior to that. Alternatively it could be related to the Framework expansions I bought during that time or even the laptop case itself could’ve caused it.
I want to replace the motherboard with AMD 7040U mode, but I am afraid to waste $600 if the issue is still there.
Could you give me an advice of what to do in this situation?
The mainbaird comes with everything hardware wise. So on top of buying a new mainboard and the fact two laptops stopped working after using the same hub tells me to get rid of the bad hub and cables that were used.
Could have just been a bad hub, maybe a short internally on the cable, though something was causing damage to the point of mainbaord failure of both laptops.
Personally I would start with a new mainboard, hub, and for sure ensuring a quality USB power source is used.
The 12th board is still a great board speed wise, the new ones are even faster and more efficient. Unless the laptop is also a workstation the higher end processors are not gaining as much performance for the dollars.
Be glad you have a Framework for it’s ease of repair and reuse!
I do not know of anyone collecting donor boards. You could list it on the Framework Marketplace with the description clearly stating it is damaged and for parts only.
