[HN Gopher] Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive - Connectors
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Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive - Connectors
Author : jonah-archive
Score : 49 points
Date : 2023-12-06 21:00 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (frame.work)
(TXT) w3m dump (frame.work)
| samcat116 wrote:
| I remember when I used to do laptop repairs in college (we were a
| certified Apple repair center), Apple had a great training on all
| the different types of internal connectors, how you should handle
| them, etc. Some of them are really, really fragile.
| FirmwareBurner wrote:
| _> Some of them are really, really fragile._
|
| When you do your own repairs especially the first time, you
| find that out the hard way, and then you're more careful the
| next time ;)
| dthakur wrote:
| Good article. Ended too early. Let's keep going.
| Robelius wrote:
| I appreciate seeing a hint at the history of the design changes,
| but now I'm left wanting more. Seeing a cross-section view (CT
| scan or CAD) that shows how the connectors are mating or secured
| would probably help me visualize how these are being used.
| FirmwareBurner wrote:
| My biggest disapointment on the Framework 16 is that I imagined
| the bay to be hot-swappable, or at least cold-swappable, like you
| keep the GPU unit in the laptop while it's on your desk docked to
| your monitor, and when yo head out, you swap the GPU module for a
| battery module and off you go.
|
| At least that's what I hoped for, but no, that's not how it
| works, you need some screwing and unscrewing to swap them out, it
| not something that can be quickly done before you leave the
| house. Sad. Maybe the next model.
| organsnyder wrote:
| That sounds like a better use-case for an eGPU.
| FirmwareBurner wrote:
| The module on the framework basically is an e-gpu except
| directly on PCIE instead of thunderbolt. Why they couldn't
| make it quick swappable I don't know.
| jacoblambda wrote:
| Hotswappable PCIE is really hard to do right, especially if
| you are using a non-standard connector. You have to
| guarantee that pins connect and disconnect in the right
| order or you risk damaging equipment.
|
| And on top of that, while a connector might be perfectly
| safe with cold swap (i.e. power off), you can damage the
| connector if the circuit is completed and power starts
| flowing but you only have partial contact.
|
| So it was probably preferable to just release a coldswap
| versions and try dabbling with a hotswap capable chassis in
| the future.
| DeIlliad wrote:
| Speaking from experience, there is a big performance
| difference connecting your eGPU over PCIE and connecting
| over Thunderbolt. Usually people just take the performance
| hit with Thunderbolt because of convenience and they are
| usually using overpowered desktop GPUs but there are eGPU
| PCIE connectors for people who want the most performance.
|
| Because this is already using a mobile chip with lower
| performance, Framework probably didn't want to tank
| performance any more by going with the lower bandwidth
| Thunderbolt option.
| user_7832 wrote:
| I've had lots of hopes for Framework products too - smaller
| motherboards for possible tablets, a Khadas Mind-type connector
| like what you're describing, a nicer 13" display like the
| current 16" one, heck ideally even a Framework phone - modular
| and _modern_ (unlike Fairphone; also see: small android phone
| project). But I think given how young/new they are, it's fine
| for them to take a little longer as long as their "core"
| products are at least comparable/as good as competition (which
| I think they are excluding costs).
| delta_p_delta_x wrote:
| > attempts from other brands at making a modular graphics system
| in a notebook
|
| i.e. Dell.
|
| > the off-the-shelf FXBeam connector from Neoconix
|
| So _that 's_ the company that makes the Dell Graphics Form Factor
| (DGFF) connectors[1], and that's why they're called _beam
| connectors_ in the service manual[2] (search for it on that page;
| notice how similar the connectors are to Framework 's). These
| have been used in Dell Precision workstations since the Precision
| 7530 and 7730 (released in 2018).
|
| I ought to have realised that surely Dell didn't develop this
| themselves.
|
| > We quickly found that these connectors (on the left in the
| image) could only reliably be installed once. On removing,
| handling, and reinstalling, it was easy to bend or break off the
| small pins.
|
| After working with these connectors, they require some finesse,
| but they're not as fragile as the post makes them out to be.
| They're essentially tiny LGA sockets. Dell's implementation put
| the pins on the connectors and the contacts on the board, so the
| cheaper (and more disposable) component could break more easily.
| I'm not sure why Framework decided to forgo the connector and try
| to join both graphics card and motherboard directly together;
| this isn't addressed in the blog post.
|
| That being said, 'beam connectors' still aren't cheap, though;
| when I asked Dell's service centre for spares, I was quoted
| something like SGD20/connector. They're roughly the same price on
| eBay[3].
|
| [1]: https://i.imgur.com/aMal40L.jpeg
|
| [2]: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-
| uk/precision-15-7560....
|
| [3]:
| https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313...
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(page generated 2023-12-06 23:00 UTC)