USB-A Expansion Card Stops Working Until Unplugged

Summary

The USB-A Expansion Card stops functioning — devices are not recognized and the port provides no power — until the expansion card is physically removed and reinserted¹². The issue affects multiple Framework laptop generations and occurs on both Linux and Windows³⁴. On FW13 AMD models, the left-side ports (slots 1 and 2) are most commonly affected and the card appears completely powered off when the issue strikes³. On FW16, ports 5 and 6 lose connection after sleep/resume or repeated device plug/unplug cycles⁵⁶. Some users traced the problem to a hardware defect on their mainboard and received replacement boards under warranty that resolved the issue completely⁷⁸.

Symptoms

• USB-A devices not detected — plugging a device into the USB-A expansion card produces no response; no new device appears in lsusb or dmesg¹³
• No power on the port — devices with LEDs (flash drives, mice) do not light up; a USB power meter shows 0 V³⁹
• Persists across reboots — powering the laptop off and on again does not restore the port; a full power-off with AC disconnected for 2+ minutes may help¹¹⁰
• Occurs after device disconnect — unplugging a USB-A device (flash drive, YubiKey, mouse dongle) from the card may leave the port in a dead state³¹¹
• Occurs after sleep/resume — waking from suspend may leave USB-A cards unresponsive⁵⁶
• Occurs after shutdown — on some AI 300 systems, the USB-A card is dead after a fresh boot and must be reseated¹²¹³
• dmesg errors may appear alongside the issue³¹⁴:

  ucsi_acpi USBC000:00: ucsi_handle_connector_change: ACK failed (-110)
  usb 2-2: USB disconnect, device number N

Affected Models

Model	Evidence	Ports Affected
Framework Laptop 13 (11th Gen Intel)	Multiple reports101516	Any slot
Framework Laptop 13 (12th Gen Intel)	Original tracking thread1; also after BIOS 3.061	Any slot
Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040)	Dedicated tracking thread with 30+ replies3; mainboard replacements confirmed78	Left side (slots 1, 2) most affected
Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen AI 300)	Multiple reports on fresh units12131718	Various slots
Framework Laptop 16 (AMD Ryzen 7040)	GitHub issues #154 and #5956; community reports1920	Ports 5, 6 most affected
Framework Laptop 16 (AMD Ryzen AI 300)	GitHub issue #154 comments5	Port 5

Root Cause

The issue appears to have multiple contributing causes depending on the model:

Hardware defect (FW13 AMD 7040)

Multiple users on FW13 AMD Ryzen 7040 confirmed the issue was caused by a defective mainboard. User 0xc0ffee received a warranty replacement board and the problem disappeared completely after 9+ months of testing⁷. User Markus12 and SuperTux88 reported identical resolutions with replacement boards⁸²¹. The defect appears to affect the USB PD (Power Delivery) controller or retimer circuitry on the left side of the mainboard³.

USB power management state machine (FW13 AMD)

User SuperTux88 discovered that the USB-A port power-down behavior depends on what else is connected on the same side of the laptop²¹:

• USB-A cards stop working on the left side when on battery or when power is connected on the right side
• USB-A cards keep working when power is connected on the left side (front or back)
• Active expansion cards (HDMI, network, MicroSD, or even a second USB-A card) in the other left-side slot keep the USB-A card alive
• Passive cards (empty USB-C pass-through, empty SD card reader) do not prevent the power-down

This suggests the PD controller or USB retimer enters a low-power state when no active device is detected on the side, and fails to wake when a USB-A device is plugged in.

PD controller / retimer state corruption (FW16)

On FW16, GitHub issue #154 shows Cypress PD controller (CYPD) logs with HARD_RESET_SENT and TYPE_C_ERROR_RECOVERY messages when the port enters the dead state⁵. The port fails after repeated connect/disconnect cycles or after sleep/resume, suggesting the PD controller state machine gets stuck and cannot recover without a physical reseat that forces a full power cycle of the card.

Firmware interaction (FW13 12th Gen Intel)

The issue appeared after BIOS 3.06 on 12th Gen Intel, where some Type-C ports would not function in DP alt mode after the update¹. Framework's Kieran_Levin noted that a full power-off with AC disconnected for 2 minutes could restore the ports, indicating EC/PD controller state that persists across normal reboots¹.

Diagnosis

1. Verify the card works in another slot — move the USB-A card to a different expansion slot. If it works in the new slot, the original slot or its controller may be affected¹³.

2. Test with another USB-A card — swap the expansion card. If the problem follows the slot rather than the card, the issue is on the mainboard side¹.

3. Check dmesg for errors when plugging in a device to the dead port³:

   sudo dmesg -w

   If the port is completely dead, no new messages will appear when plugging in a device.

4. Test on a live USB distro (Fedora or Ubuntu) to rule out OS-level configuration issues³.

5. Check if TLP is installed — TLP's USB auto-suspend can cause similar behavior. Verify with tlp-stat or check if the tlp service is running¹.

6. Test power-side dependency (FW13 AMD) — connect power to the same side as the USB-A card and check if the port stays alive²¹.

7. BIOS check — test whether the card is responsive in the BIOS setup screen. If it works in BIOS but fails after OS boot, this points to an OS/firmware interaction rather than pure hardware²¹.

Workarounds & Fixes

Solution	Effectiveness	Notes
Reseat the expansion card13	Always works temporarily	Remove and reinsert the USB-A card. Fastest immediate fix. Problem will recur.
Mainboard replacement7821	Permanent fix for hardware defect	Open a support ticket with Framework. Multiple FW13 AMD 7040 users received replacement boards under warranty that fully resolved the issue.
Connect power on the same side (FW13 AMD)21	Prevents occurrence	Keeping a charger connected on the left side (same side as the USB-A card) prevents the port from powering down.
Place an active card in the adjacent slot (FW13 AMD)21	Prevents occurrence	HDMI, network, or MicroSD card in the other left-side slot keeps the USB-A port alive. A second USB-A card also works.
Use USB-C slot instead	Workaround	Move the USB-A card to a right-side slot (FW13 AMD), or a known-working port on FW16 (ports 2, 3, 4).
Full power cycle1	May restore port	Disconnect AC, power off, wait 2+ minutes, then power on. Clears EC/PD controller state.
Disable TLP USB auto-suspend1	May help if TLP is the cause	Add the USB device ID to TLP's deny list, or uninstall TLP entirely. Only applies to Linux systems with TLP installed.
Powered USB hub15	Workaround	Use a self-powered USB hub connected to a USB-C port instead of relying on the USB-A expansion card.

Resolution

Framework support (Matt_Hartley) acknowledged the issue in January 2026 and reverted the tracking thread's "Solved" status, noting that effective triage requires individual support tickets²². Users experiencing this issue should open a support ticket, link to the tracking thread, and request escalation to the Linux support team²².

For FW13 AMD 7040 users, mainboard replacement under warranty has consistently resolved the issue⁷⁸²¹. Framework has not publicly commented on whether a firmware fix is planned for the non-hardware-defect cases.

GitHub issues remain open:

• Framework 16 Port 5 loses connection until reseated · Issue #154 — assigned to quinchou77 (Framework engineer)⁵
• USB 5 and 6 Port Reset on Framework 16 · Issue #59⁶

Related

• [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Framework Community (main tracking thread, 29 replies, Jan 2023–present)
• [TRACKING] FW13 AMD USB-A expansion card powers down and does not wake up — Framework Community (32 replies, Feb 2024–present)
• [TRACKING] USB-A an ongoing problem? — Framework Community (68 replies, Jul 2023–present)
• USB-A Extension stops working after shutdown — Framework Community (FW13 AI 300, Jan 2026)
• USB-A expansion card disconnects after Linux shutdown — Framework Community (FW13 AI 300, Jun 2025)
• Expansion cards (USB-A) require unplug-replug before working on boot — Framework Community (FW13 11th Gen, Apr 2022)
• USB-C UCSI Errors on Boot — related known problem (UCSI errors may appear alongside USB-A issues)

Footnotes

1. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by rcm — Framework Community (Jan 2023) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

2. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by anarcat — Framework Community (Jan 2023) ↩

3. [TRACKING] FW13 AMD USB-A expansion card powers down and does not wake up — Comment by 0xc0ffee — Framework Community (Feb 2024) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

4. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by maksym_x — Framework Community (Jul 2024) ↩

5. Framework 16 7840hs: Port 5 loses connection until reseated · Issue #154 — GitHub (Jan 2026) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. USB 5 and 6 Port Reset on Framework 16 · Issue #59 — GitHub (Mar 2025) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. [TRACKING] FW13 AMD USB-A expansion card powers down — Comment by 0xc0ffee (resolved by mainboard replacement) — Framework Community (Mar 2024) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

8. [TRACKING] FW13 AMD USB-A expansion card powers down — Comment by Markus12 (resolved by mainboard replacement) — Framework Community (Jun 2024) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

9. [TRACKING] FW13 AMD USB-A expansion card powers down — Comment by CyBeR_G0D (no power on port) — Framework Community (Feb 2024) ↩

10. Expansion cards (USB-A) require unplug-replug before working on boot — Comment by mahervelous — Framework Community (Apr 2022) ↩ ↩²

11. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by anarcat (YubiKey) — Framework Community (Aug 2023) ↩

12. USB-A Extension stops working after shutdown — Comment by mosquitoese — Framework Community (Jan 2026) ↩ ↩²

13. USB-A expansion card disconnects after Linux shutdown — Comment by blum8 — Framework Community (Jun 2025) ↩ ↩²

14. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by cweiske — Framework Community (Aug 2025) ↩

15. [TRACKING] USB-A an ongoing problem? — Comment by brianshmrian — Framework Community (Jul 2023) ↩ ↩²

16. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by littlejack — Framework Community (Jan 2026) ↩

17. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by pinpox — Framework Community (May 2025) ↩

18. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by Philbert_Desanex — Framework Community (Mar 2026) ↩

19. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by Stephen_Grose (FW16) — Framework Community (May 2024) ↩

20. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by Archgeek (FW16) — Framework Community (May 2024) ↩

21. [TRACKING] FW13 AMD USB-A expansion card powers down — Comment by SuperTux88 (detailed analysis + mainboard replacement) — Framework Community (Nov 2024) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

22. [TRACKING] USB-A Expansion Card stops working until unplugged — Comment by Matt_Hartley — Framework Community (Jan 2026) ↩ ↩²