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Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

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Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#301

Post by y7r4m »

omcnoe wrote: post #250
SCdF wrote: post #17

I agree with their conclusion. I somewhat regret buying my framework laptop at this stage, because the answer to every fault is "buy a new component, from framework". I'm not sure I blame them for this really, but there is no competitive market of parts (or really any market at all), which means that the reality is that you're just locking your money to them. They also often have stock issues, so woe betide you if yo…

We bulk bought a lot of Framework Intel 12th gen laptops to kit out our engineering team. Within a year many of these (>20%) started experiencing the "400 MHz bug" where the CPU is either intermittently or constantly stuck at 400 MHz, and the laptop starts to heat up like an oven. As far as I know there has never been any conclusive fix for this issue from Framework, or even an official debugging guide. It really sou…

I actually got bit by this particular bug (I think) just a few days ago.

At least in my case, a proper cold shutdown was the remedy. (Many normal reboots were attempted in vain)

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#302

Post by autoexec »

quantum5 wrote: post #216
LeBit wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Canada , there are cases where people self represent in court because they think a LLM replaces an expensive lawyer. The last one that tried that was fined 5,000$ for wasting the court’s time.

Author here. I am not even sure how much damage I can actually claim given that I spent $20 on tools to fix the laptop. If I bought a new board, I might be able to claim that, but filing small claims over $20 is likely not worth anyone's time. The important thing here is awareness and helping anyone affected, not trying to get Framework fined for a tiny sum.

You're right, for you, since you had the ability to do the repair yourself (although Framework shouldn't have made you invest the time and effort it took to repair this on your own). The legal route would still be a good way to go for others who were forced to buy a new board though. Hopefully your site helps people avoid the time and trouble of going to court or the costs of a replacement.

People doing what you've done, documenting the problem you had and the steps you took to fix it, are what make the internet great. You also get bonus points for having that information well formatted/presented and accessible. Even without JS the page displays nicely, images included. Thank you for that! I may never need the information for myself, but I'm grateful that you took the time to put it out there.

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#304

Post by okanat »

mrheosuper wrote: post #254
okanat wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably they depend on some "obscure" contactor which is one of the ODMs here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laptop_brands_and_manu... . Intel / AMD and BIOS vendors simply do not expose their designs to everyone. So you have to go through an ODM to have an Intel chip-based motherboard design. The silicon industry is completely rotten at this point. Framework could simply be too small to get access to secret…

This is not completely true, there is open source implementation of UEFI Spec(EDK 2), Microsoft also has Project MU for uefi. If you are willing to pay, you can design from scratch everything.

The UEFI spec is open. The way to load Intel ME payload isn't. You need to do it otherwise the Intel CPU is as good as a brick. It will shut down automatically in 30 mins, none of the TPM functions will work, no power management will work.

It is not just payment. Without being "big enough" and guaranteeing some big volumes of CPU sales, Intel won't give you the specs. AFAIK only ODMs and BIOS makers like AMI has the full low-level CPU bootstrap spec.

This is just the CPU. Now add the other peripherals like HDMI controllers. You'd see the problem now.

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#306

Post by thisislife2 »

ufmace wrote: post #287
thisislife2 wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Why our tech fails us: Learning from century-old light bulb that never goes out - https://interestingengineering.com/culture/planned-obsolesce... > ... but there is also a market for $150 Best Buy laptops for broke college students. Sure. Why do you think such a market exists? Compare it with the Automobile industry, where really cheap cars (comparable to the $150 laptop market segment) don't really exist. Instead…

Your link doesn't really work right, but note that light bulbs are not at all planned obsolescence. It's been known for a long time that making the filament temperature of an incandescent bulb hotter makes it brighter, more efficient, and whiter, but also burn out faster, due to the tungsten sublimating. Anybody can make a super-long-lasting bulb that is really dim, inefficient, and dull just by making the filament t…

[flagged]

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#307

Post by thisislife2 »

lopis wrote: post #85
thisislife2 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a good point. And they do have the industrial knowledge / experience to create higher quality parts than Framework. But note that the value difference between Framework's offering and the others you cited is that repairability is today a lower priority for them (due to prioritising planned obsolescence), where as it is the core value around which the Framework business is built. Why aren't we seeing more mod…

Each new Fairphone has pushed the boundaries of what a modular and repairable phone can be, but people must accept that it comes with a very significantly higher price (although in their case that's not only because it's modular, but also fairer wages, more ethical metals, etc). The average person is not willing to pay twice as much for a repairable phone.

> The average person is not willing to pay twice as much for a repairable phone.

It doesn't need to cost twice as much - https://www.hmd.com/en_int/hmd-pulse?sku=286947218 . It however does require legislation to make manufacturers comply. A good example is the minimum 2/3 year warranty mandate in EU (depending on the country) - https://www.eccnet.eu/consumer-rights/what-are-my-consumer-r...

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#308

Post by whateverboat »

filoleg wrote: post #228
whateverboat wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but this is true for every laptop vendor. Framework is not worse here, and yes, Framework is supposed to be better, but it cannot be better in everything at once. It is already better that you only need to buy a 350USD motherboard instead of a 1200 Euro laptop.

> this is true for every laptop vendor Are there any reports out there of macbook OTA updates causing laptops to become entirely unbootable with no recovery options (and, in case it actually happened, Apple refusing to fix/replace affected laptops at no extra cost)? I am yet to hear of it being a thing, and I would love to be proven wrong.

I know at least one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47609716

Having said that, MacBook is a very homogenous machine with minimal choices (which can be a good thing) so testing upgrades patches on them should be fairly easy as compared to other vendors (a good outcome of that thing).

With framework and effectively with other vendors, this is where a lot of problems come from. And the problem is significantly harder.

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#309

Post by bdavbdav »

krabizzwainch wrote: post #296
bdavbdav wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, I remember the “remove the USB A” debacle when I had my OG. That thing really hacked me off generally. Coming from a MBP 2016 that sipped power, the battery anxiety was real (especially standby drain), and I spent more time than I’d care to admit tweaking tlp to be still a pretty poor drain. Then the backlight would only work in certain positions. Love the dream, but it got sold and replaced by a MBP of 2x the p…

I still don't understand we are comparing a brand new company's engineering to Apple, who have been making laptops for what, 40 years now? Apple's GPUs used to over heat a fry the laptop. They used to make keyboards that would fully break because of a piece of dust, but they were riveted down so they were irreplaceable. Titanium powerbooks had hinges that would break in a year.

Because this isn’t a charity, I’m not paying to work out a new company’s engineering issues. I feel confident, based on the last few laptops, in spending £2k and having it last as my primary for 5 years or so, and then either still having some resale value, or being repurposed for simpler tasks.

I don’t have the same confidence in FW

Re: Fixing a bricked Framework laptop

#310

Post by Sweepi »

Sweepi wrote: post #4

> For three years, the laptop has served me well, until Framework suggested via newsletter to install the latest BIOS update, version 3.20, with a bunch of security fixes. Unfortunately, the system hung and displayed a corrupt image on the screen, signifying a failed BIOS flash. > Naturally, I reached out to Framework support, who told me to unplug the laptop, let the battery drain, and power it back on again afterwa…

Update[20260828]: Framework made this statement(unfortunately only to the press, not on their website):

We've received reports of a small percentage of Framework Laptop 13 7040 Series BIOS updates resulting in non-bootable boards and are investigating the root cause of the issue. In the meantime, in addition to replacing in-warranty Mainboards, we are making exceptions for out-of-warranty replacements where we can confirm a stable-release BIOS update caused the board to become non-bootable.

In parallel to this, we're introducing "Crisis Recovery Mode" BIOS functionality to enable a path for failed updates to be directly recoverable. Our latest Framework Desktop BIOS release includes this functionality, and we are actively bringing it to Framework Laptop 12, 13, and 16 in our upcoming BIOS

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