USB resets when trying to mount a Circuit Playground Express

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
1

Which Linux distro are you using? Fedora 43

Which release version?
43

Which kernel are you using? I don’t know the answer to this question.

Which BIOS version are you using? I don’t know this either, but I just updated this week.

Which Framework Laptop 13 model are you using? AMD Ryzen™ AI 300 Series

So I’m trying to play around with a Circuit Playground Express from Adafruit to come up with some projects for my kids during summer break this year. When I plug it in I can see the CPLAYBOOT as expected, but when I try to transfer the new uf2 files it just hangs.

I thought maybe it wasn’t mounting properly and when I try to mount it, both through the file explorer UI and through terminal commands it just hangs. I’m still new to linux so with the help of Claude I was able to look through the logs and it appears the USB is resetting frequently. Nothing I tried got it to work. I eventually plugged it into another computer and it mounts just fine.

I did notice when I first got the laptop I had to move the ports around so that it would boot properly, so maybe there is an issue with BIOS.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Let me know if there is any info that might help debug the issue.

2

Hi @Brian_Barrow,

As of now this sounds to me that your firmware is causing the issue rather than your laptop. I suggest reading this here Downloading and Flashing | Adafruit Circuit Playground Express | Adafruit Learning System . Then use sample code which is confirmed to work like blinky: pxt-adafruit/docs/examples/blinky.md at master · microsoft/pxt-adafruit · GitHub ? use that to flash and let me know what you get!

3

Thanks for the reply. I can flash the device just fine with any program if I do it from another computer. The issue only occurs on the framework laptop. When trying to mount it the dmesg logs show that the USB repeatedly resets.

I can’t even get it to a point where I can flash the device from the laptop. Whenever I try it just hangs.

4

Interesting.. Thank you for confirming it works on another computer.

  1. Can you try to remove the expansion card and directly plugin to the laptop (USB-C)
  2. Is the other computer you confirmed it works on also running Fedora?

Could you also share the dmesg logs?

5

@Brian_Barrow Also please try sudo systemctl stop ModemManager before attaching. I am reading ModemManager can interfere. I also read that brltty can interfere.

6

I don’t have a USB-c to USB-micro B cable but I might have a dongle laying around somewhere. I’ll try to find it later and connect with it. I figured the expansion card is essentially acting like a dongle though.

The other computer is running Ubuntu. I can try putting Ubuntu on the laptop too though and seeing if that works, but I’m skeptical that it will.

Here are the dmesg logs. Note that these logs are the same when doing it before and after running the sudo systemctl stop ModemManager command.

I got these logs running sudo dmesg -wT | grep -E “usb|ucsi|mount|error|exception”

[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb 7-1: new full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb 7-1: New USB device found, idVendor=239a, idProduct=0018, bcdDevice=42.01
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb 7-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb 7-1: Product: CPlay Express
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb 7-1: Manufacturer: Adafruit Industries
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb 7-1: SerialNumber: 6C5F53835153593546202020FF181941
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] usb-storage 7-1:1.2: USB Mass Storage device detected
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] scsi host0: usb-storage 7-1:1.2
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:26 2026] hid-generic 0003:239A:0018.0016: hiddev97,hidraw5: USB HID v1.00 Device [Adafruit Industries CPlay Express] on usb-0000:c3:00.4-1/input3
[Thu Apr  9 02:34:35 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:35:05 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:35:36 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:35:46 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:36:17 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:36:28 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:36:59 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:37:29 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:38:00 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
[Thu Apr  9 02:38:11 2026] usb 7-1: reset full-speed USB device number 11 using xhci_hcd
7

does the device behave like it is in a loop i.e short boot pattern repeating?

Please do try to connect without expansion card in between, assuming you have tried all the other ports.

Also:

  • Try to use a different data cable
  • If Framework is not connected to power, try it while connected to power.