ExpansionCards VS Mainboard

I think the SD module won't be able to have the card flush, as the modules are only and SD cards are 32mm long, and you need some PCB space for the socket cage and the USB-C on the other side. The retrofit PCB outline they provide is only 26.9mm from front edge to back edge, so an SD card will stick out a little bit.

So perhaps they decided to go for the one that lets users have the card flush for use like an expansion bay as well as for data transfer to/from devices.

https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/ExpansionCards/tree/mai...

There are many laptops and desktops that fit the bill.

Frame.work: https://frame.work/

Dell: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000138246/linux-on-...

System76: https://system76.com/laptops

Kubuntu Focus: https://kfocus.org/land/business

I am sure there are more, this is only what I have found in less than 5 minutes of searching.

I'll buy a frame.work long before I touch system76. Their prices are too high for the general feedback I keep seeing on the quality control. I'm not spending 3k+ to be out a laptop until support responds. Especially, considering they still don't make these in house..

No they didn't, companies just mostly gave up on it.

A Framework Laptop (https://frame.work)

You could get a Framework 13 which comes with your choice of a 7840U or 7640U and a Radeon 780M iGPU. They do officially support Linux, and you don't have to pay for a Windows license, if you go the DIY option and chose to not get a Windows license.

Take a look at the Framework laptops. They're 100% modular so if stuff like that goes bad you can simply order the replacement part and do it yourself. I'm using a desktop right now but Ithink my next laptop is gonna be a framework.

a couple of days ago I tried to order a Framework laptop (13 inch AMD). I chose to create an account during the checkout process and provided my email address. After entering my shipping details, I authorized the transfer of the deposit fee via Giropay. The deposit was deducted from my bank account but when I was sent back to the frame.work website I was greeted by an error message. Unfortunately I could neither complete the checkout process nor continue my account registration.

[2] https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/Mainboard/tree/main/Mec...

For what it's worth, it is possible to desolder the old connector and solder on a new one. Per Framework's documentation, the connector is a AUSB0534-P203A61. While I was able to find the part on the manufacturer's website, I'm not sure of a way to order it as an individual (I couldn't find it on Digi-Key or Mouser for example).

Maybe in their repo you will find useful numbers: https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/Mainboard

Might be on the pricier side, but the Framework laptop mainboard is available separately starting at $350 https://frame.work/products/mainboard as well as the battery https://frame.work/products/battery, and there's documentation with suggestions/designs on how to built around it for projects like this https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/Mainboard. Should have plenty of power for emulation and light pc gaming, as well as thunderbolt support for an egpu.

Look like trackpad (TP?) is just IIC. https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/Mainboard/blob/main/Electrical/Mainboard_Interfaces_Schematic_11th_Gen.pdf

We released a 3D printable Mainboard Case, and open sourced our Mainboard drawings and electrical documentation in a Github repository.

The block diagram for the Tiger Lake mainboards says that the current displays and motherboards communicate over eDP 1.2 (is Alder Lake-P the same?), so I started by looking for 17.3" screens that communicate with eDP 1.2.

One thing worth noting is that basically, even now (almost 10 months post announcement), almost no one has a 6000U laptop outs (a search on Amazon and Best Buy shows two 6800U laptop models total, one Asus and one Lenovo). Two niche vendors, XMG and Star Labs, have both publicly stated that they would have loved to have offered Ryzen 6000 laptops, but couldn't get any allotments. There are were also well documented chipset issues - even into the summer Lenovo and Asus talked about requiring firmware updates to enable their USB4 ports.

That being said, starting w/ Rembrandt, AMD now has full 40Gbps USB4 controllers built on-chip. I'm really looking forward to Ryzen 7040 because Phoenix looks great (Zen4 + RDNA3 on TSMC N4 - yes please) and hopefully USB4 support has matured enough on the AMD side that Framework is able to release something.

My understanding is that the I/O limitation is in the re-timers - currently the Framework uses 4X JHL8040R's (labeled as Burnside Bridge) directly connected to the iTBT: https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/Mainboard/blob/main/Ele... Apple used these for their first M1 MBAs as well: https://github.com/ThomasKaiser/Knowledge/blob/master/articl...

But both Apple and AMD are now using Kandou retimers:

* https://www.gizchina.com/2022/07/25/apple-completely-got-rid...

* https://kandou.com/matterhorn.html

* https://kandou.com/assets/downloads/product-briefs/KB8001-Pr...