Would love to have a S/PDIF expansion card so I can connect my FLAC library to an external DAC and on to my HiFi system.
VGA, Please
2 Likes
Likely not possible due to the motherboard but hdmi input would be very useful
7 Likes
Yea quite a few of us are hoping for a way to have a KVM module for the Framework.
4 Likes
Complete reverse.
yes, I could see a market for streamer where they have one dedicated gaming pc and the FW laptop as encoding and streaming machine
1 Like
I want to see a 10G card or 10G ethernet as part of a Framework Dock solution. This would greatly enhance my workflow when moving around large datasets to external storage.
1 Like
Not really an expansion card but like an IR camera module would be pretty sick. Enabling Howdy or Windows Hello with like a 60 dollar upgrade would just be awesome 
3 Likes
Only thing Iām missing right now is a better WIFI antenna. The existing antenna is set so low on the laptop, itās temperamental based on where and how I sit. A big honker would really add to the mobility of the device.
MacroSilicon makes some HDMI capture chips that might work, MS2109 (USB 2.0, āgood enoughā) and MS2130 (USB 3.2, much better), but for the life of me I canāt find where to buy a MacroSilicon chip except for contacting them directly to buy a thousand at a time. At least theyāre available built into $15-$25 dongles.
1 Like
POE Framework??
cool concept but the circuitry is quite large, since POE is effectively 48V/24V AC.
POE is also very inefficient
2 Likes
Heyyyy PS/2 to USB adapter anyone
- 1 PS/2 (duplex)
- 2 PS/2
- 2 PS/2 + 1 AT
- 1 PS/2 + AT
0 voters
This post is just to put a few things out there as they say. It would be a good thing if we see expansion cards with dual port capabilities. For example, there can be expansion cards of:
Dual USB A
Full size SDcard; dont know if possible but iāve even seen docks with a microSD atop a full sized SD slotā¦
More display options like DisplayPort and its mini variants; maybe even dual mini DP or even HDMI.
How about even make a capture card expansion? For example i have an hdmi to USB capture card for my camera for broadcasting, and it gives me basically 0ms latency since is not doing any processing and the thing about that device is that its small. I dont know the intricacies of the requirements as per space but again, im just putting it out thereā¦ oh, here is such device:
https://www.amazon.com/your-orders/pop/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_pop?_encoding=UTF8&gen=canonical&lineItemId=nprgtxmomlntwny&orderId=112-8902874-2892246&packageId=1&returnSummaryId=&returnUnitIndices=&returnUnitMappingId=&shipmentId=TkTlSxBL0
And lastly, how about expansion cards with different connectors for power delivery/charging. Like barrel connectors, lenovo connectors, maybe even some proprietary connectors like the Apple PCs (that is unless its legaly viableā¦)
What do you guys think of these ideas?
Dual USB-A isā¦ almost impossible to do because of the size of the cards and even if you pull that off it would only ever fit 1 plug. even 2 USB-C sockets would probably interfere with each other so it makes no sense to have a HUB in there.
Personally I would like a USB-A/USB-C combination card that lets you use either one or the other but not at the same time.
4 Likes
Like every other multi-this expansion card idea it misses the target. Do we not understand how important it is that the possibility to have 4 usb-c connectors outweighs the well there are only four ports and one is used for power. One can be used for power and everything else. With two thunderbolt controllers I could conceivably add at least 5 donwstream devices on each, each with multiple devices attached. Get a small portable hub for all the corner case needs. One connector to rule them all and in the thunder bind them. Get with the program.
Has been said before, but another vote for dual usb-c. Honestly this is such an obvious need that Iām a little surprised it wasnāt considered in the sizing of the expansion slots.
Other nice to havesā¦ combo usb-a/usb-c, (or a microsd + usb-a), minipcie, additional WiFi.
I suddenly wonder if an expansion card that converts thunderbolt USB-C to an NVMe connector would work.
So the ADT-R43SG can plug directly in as a hacky/janky solution.
Although I note you mention resizing the actual expansion card may have been an idea, but Iām sure that was considered too.
I did see that. One alternative idea (possibly not backwards compatible?) would be to make the expansion slots directly side by side), so you could have either 1 larger expansion module or 2 smaller ones.
Similar to how single/double stack PCMCIA cards worked (except side by side). This would give a bit more flexibility for expansions with larger modules but preserve variety if only smaller modules were used. I imagine you could pull in more power as well since youād have 2x thunderbolt ports (1 for data, and another for supplemental power). Some of my spectrum analyzers work this way.
I guess my main critique of the current expansion approach - is itās so small that itās only useful for things like swapping ports. While PCMCIA cards were not perfect - at least you could add (especially at the time) what was considered meaningful utility/expansion of functionality (versus just additional ports).
So in my mind, framework laptops would be much more useful if the slots were larger (perhaps with the 2-in-1 or 1-in-1 approach I describe above) and allowed meaningful additions. Such as SDRs, satellite modems, FPGAs, etcā¦
As it is, they essentially act as a more streamlined alternative to IO expansion pigtails - I understand how this is useful - itās just not particularly useful for me.
I suggested elsewhere that for a 15" computer, if the current mainboard were kept over toward the right to use existing expansion cards, it should be possible to design it to have both the current expansion card space plus a symmetric 1-9/16"x1-9/16" physical space to work with for the two slots on the left, which would be big enough for at least two of most ports in each.
A blank card that would take the current cards should also be feasible, though it might suffer minor performance issues for maxing out USB-C. A large USB-C passthrough could be done, however, and no need to do so for a single A port, as bandwidth is so low. Iād ideally see enough additional thickness for ethernet to fit properly inside the card.
Hey hey everyone, just letting everyone know what Iām working on.
HDMI Capture card, Optoisolater (3.75 and 5.75kV) ,LTE 4G adapter, microSD card with push push mechanism, DC input expansion card, USB 2 and 3 hub, protected USB-C without D+/-, RP2040 universal adapter which will be able to output UART, RS232, RS485, RS422, CAN, i2c, i2s, dip switch , volume controller, microcontroller board with standard neopixels and Stemma QT port, logic analyser, LED matrix. Keep in mind that these will have interchangeable boards and do let me know if you can think of anything else.
Since I now have a PnP and a mostly up-and-working assembly line I can work on more complex boards and do let me know which one you want to see first.
3 Likes