LeoDJ's DongleHider+ Packs Up to Three Logitech-Style Dongles Into a Single Framework Expansion Card

Semi-pseudonymous maker "LeoDJ" has put the open source modular nature of the Framework laptop to good use, by designing a custom module capable of hiding up to three Logitech Unifying Receiver or similar USB dongles while still providing an externally-accessible USB Type-A port: the DongleHider+.

"Want to use a Logitech Unifying Dongle (or similar) without having a dongle permanently sticking out and giving up on a precious expansion card slot? Now there's the DongleHider+," LeoDJ writes of the project, designed for use with the Framework Laptop family. "Simply (permanently) mount the dongle inside the card and still have an USB A port available!"

The Framework Laptop range is unique for its modular nature, in which ports can be added or removed through expansion cards slotting into the side of the laptop — the design for which is provided as open hardware, allowing third parties to design their own expansion card accessories. LeoDJ's DongleHider+, then, is exactly that — and is, too, open source.

The idea is simple: there's a USB hub inside a 3D-printed expansion card shell, which connects to one or more Logitech Unifying Receiver or other wireless input dongles and an externally-accessible USB 3.0 Type-A port. LeoDJ has tested the accessory with both the smaller Framework 13 and new Framework 16 laptops, and found it fully-functional — bar an issue with the hub failing to work properly when connected to one of the AMD-processor-based Framework Laptop's USB4 expansion ports.

"Massive props to Framework for making the whole development process very easy," LeoDJ concludes of the project, "with all needed information already public and even supplying a base 3D-printing-ready expansion card model."

A short build log for the project is available on Mastodon, while design files have been published to GitHub under the Weakly Reciprocal variant of the ERN Open Hardware License Version 2.