Now offering 2TB SSDs for Steam Deck in the Framework Marketplace
frame.work
frame.work
- 2TB SSD
- GuliKit Hall Effect Joysticks upgrade
- JSAUX transparent backplate with new cooling solution + new back buttons
I think all three of these will seriously improve my Steam Deck experience which is already amazing. It’s my favorite gadget and really helps me blow through my years long Steam backlog.
I vaguely remember using a device with them in the past. Instead of being a joystick that you angle, it’s a stick that you ‘slide’ around in the joystick hole. Way more comfortable for a mobile device IMO.
> GuliKit Hall Effect Joysticks upgrade
I've seen reports of these having issues with the range. Users are reporting the JS maxes out at about 30% of travel. Other users claim it's "worth it" not to worry about drift.
> JSAUX transparent backplate with new cooling solution + new back buttons
I've seen concerns that the backplate solution may expose other components to higher thermal stress at the expense of improving SOC cooling.
Could it be because Valve said they were very careful in choosing their ssd in terms of power draw and wifi interference?
You're likelier to generate interference to radio performance from the display mode or USB devices, and ensuring datarates from common internal storage won't interfere is part of that.
You say that this model has been used fine for months, can you clarify if you're talking about the specific 2TB SSD which framework is selling or 2230 SSDs in general?
My primary concern would be making the fragile and unreliable WiFi chip in the deck even more fragile and unreliable.
"Just turn off modern but now industry-standard security" is almost never the right answer.
More background:
"By far, the biggest leap forward in WiFi security from WPA2 to WPA3 is seen on the Personal class of networks that use passphrases."
https://securityuncorked.com/2022/08/wifi-security-wpa2-vs-w...
Or more of a summary: https://themescene.tv/blog/wpa2-vs-wpa3/
Of course, turning it off at network level depends whether you care, but preferably leave it on for your devices.
Finally, generally good advice for how your WiFi network should be configured:
Unfortunately if it is this is not something the user can fix like simply managing the firewall properly so you may choose to disable it for now in that case. That's fine, particularly for home WPA2 PSK networks where the only risks mitigated are someone DDOSing you off the Wi-Fi (which they can do without management frames via interference anyways) and someone getting your passkey and then decrypting past recorded traffic (future traffic is still a risk even with SAE, they can spoof being your SAE SSID and if your client connects to it you're sending all your data to your attacker, just extra securely now). In the future there may be other problems discovered with WPA2 but it's by no means considered insecure yet.
Anothing thing to try for 5 GHz issues (again, not to be taken as "do this everywhere all the time and just leave it that way regardless if it helps") is try non-DFS channels. They may normally be more open but devices sometimes still have problems with them and the regulatory requirements around what happens when there is interference in certain areas.
Sure you can swap in a new NVMe module or SO-DIMM into a given device, and while it may still function, you may now have worse performance and/or worse battery life.
Despite having the same physical interface, each NVMe module has different electrical specifications.
one can presume that a device capable of using 2.5x the wattage in an already ultra-confined area is going to face some heat dissipation issues at the very least
You want a Samsung PM991a, a Sabrent Rocket SB-2130-1TB, or a Kioxia BG4, to keep the draw as close to 1 amp as possible. Or slay your battery and bake your internals. It's your hardware, do what you want.
Use podman + distrobox/toolbox to keep things and install packages - similar to Fedora Silverblue.
As I said my display situation is a bit weird. On the dock I have two 1080p monitors. KDE Panels sometimes disappear and need to be moved. https://i.imgur.com/Ipvj8L4.png (eDP is build in display)
Other than that there is a complete silence in my room and I don't need much stuff for web dev. The only desktop game I play is dota 2 and I can live with lowered gfx settings.
Ansible or scripts could recreate what you desire but I go the distrobox route.
I decided not to alter rootfs, so I left it in RO mode. Instead I installed everything I need via flatpak and installed homebrew to have a build tools, compilers and so on.
Using thunderbolt monitor makes it a decent work horse. Basically some days I commute only with steam deck to my office, because I have monitor, keyboard and mouse there as well.
EDIT: I work on 4K monitor. And by the way, I have a running VM on my steam deck just in case I need something extra.
B) I think the disclaimer on the product page that it isn’t compatible with the framework should be larger and more prominent. I feel like one sentence at the end of the product description might not be enough warning.
Luckily, Framework sees things as the same way as me, hence the compatibility warning.
Since they think it’s not compatible, I think that warning should be more prominent.
and
>We’re continuing to search for ways to help you with hard-to-find upgrades for other products, so let us know if there is anything we should focus on!
From the article.
> Since we order a huge number of Western Digital drives already, it’s relatively easy for us to add one more line item and stock 2TB SN740 2230 ones.
I don't know to what extent this is part of a high-level strategy rather than a clever idea by someone in purchasing that got approved by some VP (sounds like the latter), but as a strategy it makes sense and gives me confidence in Framework's longevity.
0. Framework has a small target market to begin with, since most people really don't care about right to repair.
1. Selling components is a different business with different logistics and economies of scale than selling computers. (Maybe 1% of people who buy Frameworks will ever replace their display.)
3. I don't have numbers for either, but I suspect the Steam Deck is outselling Framework by orders of magnitude.
4. Stocking parts for other, better-selling devices may be what it takes to make their parts business self-sustaining.
As long as selling parts is a money-loser for Framework, the company will have a financial incentive to scale that operation back, no matter what their vision statement and marketing says. And if they run into financial difficulty, that's a decision that they'll have to evaluate. Framework without parts is just another laptop that's thicker and heavier than necessary.
NB: If it isn't apparent, this is all based on my own conjecture. But I think it makes a reasonable case for expanding their parts business nonetheless.
Exactly. But I guess it makes sense, because Framework wants to occupy the economic niche of repairable electronics. And the Steam Deck is definitely a good starting point for expansion, so that they can serve a bigger market.
Gen 11 appears to have had some quality issues (general freezing) and Gen 12 was able tk resolve over time.
Frameworks run a tad hot on Linux as well
SpaceFN turns your space bar into a meta key, and arrows/home/end/pgup/pgdown are all reachable from the home row. I can't go back.
You can't use it in application that need to know if your holding down the spacebar (graphic design software, games). I switch it off for those. But otherwise I haven't had any issues (besides TouchCursor, which is buggy and need a restart every now and then).
Personally I am using an unused key on my keyboard (layout) as modifier to access them. My particular mapping is based on the Neo Layout [0]. Basically FPS-style WASD but shifted by one key to the right.
As tool to change keyboard layout I use Interception Tools [1] and a personal C program. The advantage of interception tools is that it works everywhere (even outside a desktop environment).
[0]: https://www.neo-layout.org/ – It's a German page, but you can look at "Ebene 4" on the keyboard thingy to see the layout.
Replaced my Thinkpad with a framework a few months ago and as long as I don't spill my drink over it, it looks like I will enjoy the framework a long time.
ThinkPads are expensive but at least I can get them with Ryzens and matt displays.
But one must be aware that tuxedo doesn't "make" laptops in the narrower sense. They're a Schenker reseller and while I'm overall satisfied with my tuxedo the build quality isn't close to ThinkPads T or X series.
I should not have to add weird kernel parameters or modules for my laptop not to burn through its battery during sleep.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Core-i5-beats-Core-i7-Alder-La...
https://wccftech.com/intel-alder-lake-desktop-cpus-more-powe...
Basically the P CPUs are much faster than U in previous generations but are also much more power hungry. The battery life is noticably shorter on laptops with a CPU like i5-1240P. And they produce a LOT of heat. I think one CPU option for framework laptop is i5-1240P.
Now it's getting better, so I'd consider it for my next laptop, but for those who dock a ton of peripherals and monitors, I recommend strict Thunderbolt 4 compliance - which again, I hope more AMD-powered machines can bring to bear.
* virtualization issues left and right. Everything was working but weird behavior from time to time. Like random performance degradation, rare crashes and mostly compatibility issues with experimental stuff (e.g. Integrated gpu pass through was not possible with AMDs at the time)
* battery life sucked (ironically this should be an Intel Issue)
* standby was not working as expected
* no support for Display Link
* Thunderbolt 4 (huge issue for me)
Now I am on the Framework i7 11 Gen and all the issues are gone. Yes Battery life could be better but it was way worse with the AMD.
Regarding Thunderbolt 4, I use my Thunderbolt monitor with my fully AMD-based Asus ROG Zephyrus which is only "USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C" compatible and everything works. But i can understand that it can be a crapshoot on cheaper laptops, but isn't that the same on Intel-based cheaper laptops? If they're cheap, they probably cheaped out on getting the Thunderbolt certification.
I was an AMD fan in the 90s, they were more enthusiast and gamer friendly, overclocking was easier, and they were generally just less enthusiast-hostile than Intel.
In the 2000's AMD all but disappeared, and with the Core2 and eventually i3/i5/i7 series, Intel was the only option, so people like me bought Intel, we had no choice.
But the second AMD came back with (Ry)Zen, I ditched Intel in a heartbeat; after years of their complacence, shitty upgrades, constantly changing sockets and ridiculous prices, there was finally a "better" option again.
This is great for everyone because it's forcing Intel to wake up, more competition and better prices, and hopefully better products from Intel.
We are talking Amx86 to K6-3, always the worse budged/upgrade option. Nobody chose AMD for performance, overclocking or enthusiast friendliness. Price advantage evaporated in 1998 with the release of Intel Celeron https://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/hotline/981226/p_cpu.ht... ~120 yen to $1
Celeron 300A MHz 10,440 ~$90
K6-2/300 10,850 ~100
https://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/hotline/981226/newitem....
ZIDA BXi98-ATX (440BX,ATX,AGP1,PCI4,PCI/ISA1,ISA1,DIMM3) 15,800 ~$140
FIC PA2013 (MVP3,ATX,2MB,AGP1,PCI3,PCI/ISA1,ISA1,DIMM3) 2MB cache 13,800 ~$130
First K6-3 to show up in Japan was K6-III/400 at hilarious 35,500 yen aka $295!! in March 1999. Athlon shipped very late in 1999 with barely 4 months left. K6-3+ on the other hand was April 2000 at $140-180, almost twice the price of faster Celerons and Durons.
>In the 2000's AMD all but disappeared
Did you mean to say AMD started leading x86 CPU race by taking performance crown and being first to 1GHz? https://www.zdnet.com/article/its-official-amd-hits-1000mhz-... Intel wasnt happy and in turn shipped 1.13-GHz Pentium III just to recall them all due to instability https://www.zdnet.com/article/intel-recalls-1-13ghz-pentium-... Faster processors, first dual core, first 64bit. First half of 2000 was when AMD started shining, only to be cut down by Intel bribing scandal - MCP (Meet Comp Program) in exchange for strict no AMD commitments. DELL, HP, pretty much all mayors took Intel $, $6 billion in kick-backs.
Say again???
In the early 2000's, AMD's Athlon trounced anything Intel had to offer and would for years.
This followed soon after with the Opteron, where AMD single-handedly switched "x86" over to 64-bit essentially overnight while Intel failed to shove Itanium and a number of other ill-fated ventures down the market's throat.
If anything, the 2000's were AMD's golden years, admittedly mostly made possible by Intel's own incompetence at the time.
Conversely, what is the advantage of Intel, other than peak boost performance (at vastly higher wattage)?
"These may help:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Core-i5-beats-Core-i7-Alder-La...
https://wccftech.com/intel-alder-lake-desktop-cpus-more-powe...
Basically the P CPUs are much faster than U in previous generations but are also much more power hungry. The battery life is noticably shorter on laptops with a CPU like i5-1240P. And they produce a LOT of heat. I think one CPU option for framework laptop is i5-1240P. "
What kind of modification?
I believe there are also other modifications you can do like fitting a higher resolution screen (requires soldering). But I haven't gotten that far yet.
(I'm not claiming the slower CPU Framework is somehow faster than T15 - I just mean to say I'm not biased by the Framework having better hardware, being better on paper.)
Build quality alone is superior IMO, even if it wasn't for the glorious repairability & upgradeability. (Which is glorious, they really paid attention to that, it's not just 'RAM is not soldered down', it's attention to detail like magnetic positioning, captive screws, etc.)
(1) Entirely subjective, but I think they look better (2) I like the trackpoint and (3) AMD is an option. I dont have any problem with intel cpu's, but amd provides far better igpu's, certainly enough to play a lot of games at lower settings.
That sarcasm at the end hits just perfectly.
Sure it probably doesn't take a ton of extra work, but I also don't imagine many random consumers are going to think to check frame.work for their Steam Deck upgrade HD. And I doubt there's much overlap between people buying a new laptop and trying to get more Steam Deck HD space. A few people accidentally buying this drive for their framework seems like it'd make the negatives outweigh the positives.
So get it well known in the SD community -> maybe sell more laptops
When you’re in a gold rush, sell picks and shovels...
My girlfriend needs a new gaming laptop. I'm setting her up with a framework and an external GPU.
I ended up getting a much better and slimmer laptop for actual portable work.
SilverStone Technology Ultra Small Form Factor Computer Case Mini-ITX in Pink SG13P https://a.co/d/exedSxn
SilverStone Technology SX800-LTI 800W, SFX-L, 80 Plus Titanium, Modular Power Supply with Japanese Capacitors https://a.co/d/3nPhC7D Yes I know the PSU is overkill, keep reading to understand.
ADT-Link M.2 NGFF NVMe Key M Extender Cable to PCIE x16 Graphics Card Riser Adapter 16x PCI-e PCI-Express for M2 2230 2242 2260 2280 (25cm) https://a.co/d/byrNLRB
OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure for NVMe M.2 SSD https://a.co/d/1j8j9T2
IOmesh Black Universal IO Shield Plate - for All PC Motherboards That was Lost Original Backplate, Make New Custom IO Shield for PC Motherboard https://a.co/d/cccJpiA
Then we might share my 3060 until I feel like buying a 4000 series. Buying the parts in this way will also let us pivot back to this case holding a desktop if later desired. Weight is also a serious concern as she can't lift much due to a medical condition, so having a non chonky laptop for travel is useful.
Even still, my 11th gen framework played my game FF7 Remake, and her favorite, Second Life, just fine. So I figure a low end 12th gen frame.work should be perfect. Which will also let us salvage memory, wifi, NVMe from her old laptop.
Thinking about turning the old laptop into a lapdock.
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Convert-a-Laptop-LCD-in...
Not sure if I should throw it in the trash, sell it for parts, or do a strange project with it.
Also, I've already checked the dimensions, I should be able to retire the old framework mainboards into the case I picked up for her. There is a frame.work main board to ATX stand off design file out there, will need a small adaptation to fit that case, but it should be fine.
GPU => PCIe-NVMe adapter => NVMe-THunderbolt adapter => Laptop with thunderbolt port.
I forgot one other useful product. This thing below will wire the PSU to always be on, but many PSUs have a switch on the back anyways.
ASHATA 24-Pin ATX Power Supply Jumper Bridge Tool,24Pin ATX Power Supply Starter Power Module 20+4 Pin PSU Reboot Connecter for BTC Miner Machine https://a.co/d/btOU8D9
Under the hood thunderbolt supports PCIe x4 Gen 3. Hence my previous question on if it was possible to bond 2 or 4 thunderbolt ports into a full PCIe x16 port, but that is definitely a bridge too far, lol.
Edit: Just expanding on this further. The reason this gap existed was likely a "shipping the org chart" one. For storage and memory makers, the retail, OEM (selling in bulk to computer makers), and embedded/industrial teams are pretty siloed from each other. We are one of the very rare companies that buys both retail and OEM memory and storage, so we spotted the opportunity to bring an OEM drive to a retail audience that needed it.
For me, hell no!!
We don’t have you convince each other.
For one, you most certainly wouldn’t get any warranty with it. Or proof that it’s a n official product. Or proof that it won’t lose anything other than the first 32gb written.
That’s not a retail channel. At best, it’s a “fallen off the truck” channel.
The Framework Marketplace is where the company sells accessories for their products. The products which are sourced directly from WD, as clearly explained by TFA. Did you even read the article or look at the marketplace before commenting? It’s pretty obvious it’s not a third party marketplace from like… a second of browsing.
The only random seller you’d be buying from is the one on AE. The one which couldn’t possibly provide you with a warranty or even guarantee that what you’re buying is a real product. 1740 people could have easily been scammed or are in on the scam. That’s not a lot of people, especially not random online stranger who have no incentive to be honest with you about their experiences.
Next time, maybe actually take the most cursory of looks at what something is before going off and assuming. It will help save you from looking like a complete fool.
> At least reviews are not faked.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh that’s hilarious. If you believe that, I’ve got a boat to sell you. A whole marina, even.
I haven’t made any statements that can be easily proven false with the quickest of glances. That was you.
At the end of the day, show me how AliExpress prevents fake reviews, ensures that each of those buyers is real, and that the seller is authorized to sell the product and offers a full warranty. Buying from Framework ensures that because they’re officially reselling the products from the supplier.
You know, the most basic of requirements to be considered a “retail channel”.
I'm just rolling on the floor at the idea that a random seller on AE is more reputable and trustworthy than Framework. One of Time's best inventions of 2021 or Fast Company's most innovative companies of 2022. That's rich.
An OEM has extreme incentives to stock real products. Considering they have to support said products for years and deal with any negative PR when something goes wrong. A random AE seller which has a 75-day money back guarantee has no such incentive.
I'm mainly with you but uhh, Theranos?
> And there is some random website, popular on HN, no reviews, no pictures, nothing and they also sell WD drives.
I'm sure there are better ones to use but I just stole the ones used on Wikipedia because I was lazy and the argument as a whole is ludicrous.
Anywhere I can see some reviews for your marina? I might know somebody in the market for one.
Also why buy from framework? Their price is no better than anywhere else. Sounds like they're just trying to cash in on a new market.
> the handheld Steam Deck relies on the physically smaller but less common 2230 format. As a result, it can be difficult to find legitimate sources for larger capacity drives ... Since we order a huge number of Western Digital drives already, it’s relatively easy for us to add one more line item
> Sounds like they're just trying to cash in on a new market.
So, business 101? What's the problem? They're offering a legitimate product for a legitimate market trying to solve a legitimate problem they identified.
If business 101 is marketing to fanboys then I guess you're right.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Western+Digital+SN740+NVMe+2230
where? Aliexpress and eBay?Basically, yes?
if this one particular drive is the new hotness then yeah there will be chinese sellers knocking up stencils and packaging tomorrow, whoosh this 128gb drive is now a (checks label) 2TB WD SN740!
knockoffs and fraud not just permeate but practically saturate the supply chain for flash. if you don't know where it's coming from then it's not genuine, period the end. best buy, adorama/B&H, or other electronics retailers with a legitimate supply chain? sure, fine. but anyone that commingles inventory, especially amazon, and any sort of third-party marketplace, you're going to get a significant number if not majority of fakes.
Maybe they did over-order and they're trying to sell to a new crowd. Again, that's kind of a good move if there's demand.
Is this really measured to be true, or just hypothesized from the specs?
I could imagine peak sustained draw per second could be higher because the I/O might be better, but do they actually use more power to read the same number of bits?
No, they don't. 15W is pretty much the highest achievable power consumption for a M.2 22x110mm enterprise SSD; beyond that, you're running into limitations on how much current can be safely passed by the connector's few pins connected to a paltry 3.3V. These days, it would be typical for a M.2 2230 SSD to rarely go above 1.5W except in benchmarks that really are not representative of the workload a video game presents to the drive.
Doubtful. M.2 slots for WWAN normally have different keying than M.2 slots for storage.
If I used my Deck more than I actually do, I'd genuinely consider getting the 256GB model and upgrading the storage, just to get the glossy screen.
Here is a blog post that shows the differences most realistically to my perception of it.
It's not like Deck has a great DPI or brightness to begin with, but the matte coating makes it even worse.
See the "text clarity" and colors comparisons of what the coating does to displays here: https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/eve-glossy
at least the next asus x13 is switching to the "standard"-format for the ssd, iirc.
https://www.westerndigital.com/de-de/products/internal-drive...
However, the frustration led me to discover something even better: it's possible to stream games to a tablet from my laptop (which is way more powerful than a Steamdeck).
So I bought a a clip on gamepad and attached it to a 10 inch tablet. The weight comes in within 10g of the Steamdeck and streaming over Moonlight is surprisingly easy to set up. Parsec is another app that looks interesting and you'll need to use that if you have an AMD card.
So now I can play an a super high quality 10 inch screen with zero fan noises and hours of battery life. I've played through most of Stray and it's a gorgeous game.
I still need to do some work - the gamepad I bought (Ipega 9083s) clips on quite low on the tablet which makes it a bit top heavy. It's also very cheap and the d-pad is a bit crappy. Neither is a deal breaker for a casual gamer.
However in the future I'll get a better quality gamepad. There's surprisingly few that can attach to a tablet but I've seen examples of people DIYing it with a Razer mobile gamepad that is designed for a Samsung Galaxy and it looks pretty easy. You can probably just detach the two halves and glue them onto the tablet cover in a stylish looking way if you have decent DIY chops and a dremel.
Oh and you'll also need a HDMI dongle to create a fake screen on the pc, then give it the same resolution as your tablet. These cost about a euro.
Bonus: I now have zero interest in buying a Steamdeck.
There are guys on the Swiss classified sites who claim they'll order for you (at a noticeable premium of several hundred CHF) but that Valve will ship "gifted" decks direct to recipients in Switzerland. I do not think this is true. I cannot personally do this with my Irish account.
Since they do sell to some parts of Europe you should have no trouble finding a reseller that ships to the rest.
I was considering getting one next time I go back to Europe for a vacation but even there it's a many months waiting list. Sure, I could get one second hand but I decided to jump off the hype train instead.
It's a bit more work to just pull out and play - I need to turn on the laptop too, such effort!
I forgot to mention in the original post - I thought I was going to only be able to use this in places with really fast wifi. But it turns out I can just turn on a 5g hotspot on my laptop and connect the tablet to that. As long as I'm in the same room, it's fast enough for the max quality settings in Moonlight and I get around 10ms latency.
So it's not as portable as a Steamdeck. But it is "fits in a backpack" portable.
There are mail forwarding services and unofficial resellers. Even in Russia, you can buy Steam Deck with next-day delivery. At a premium, of course, but it's not that bad.
How do you stream?
It's still an absolutely amazing piece of hardware. So definitely play around with it, if you ever come across one.
I have a Gamesir X2 Pro on a Samsung A7 Lite 8.7" that cost me about $150 to put together.
The X2 Pro doesn't normally expand out that far, but you can take a pocket knife and just cut off the two clips preventing that expansion. Super easy to do. The only down side is the USB-C passthrough charging doesn't work.
I also use moonlight, but the best part is installing PSPlay and connecting to my PS4 Pro. That gives me the suspend/resume/sleep capabilities that make the SteamDeck so popular for quick sessions and Ghost of Tsushima on this setup looks unbelievable for a 6 year old console.
It is also 100g heavier, but you seem to be used to that. And on the A7 at least, the gamepad blocks the headphone jack so you need to use bluetooth.
Now the issue here is that I am trying to boycott Steam, what kind of open source support is there for Valve's hardware : Steam Link, Controller, Deck, whatever their VR headsets are called ..?
[0] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-HID-Steam-Deck-Linux-6.3