Yeah, the 11th gen framework laptop has a design flaw with the RTC battery (the coin cell battery on the motherboard). There are two distinct ways the button battery can fail:
- If the laptop is left unplugged for a while, the coin cell battery will drain over time. If left for too long (sounds like a couple of weeks), then the battery will reach a low enough charge that the laptop will not boot.
- Over a longer period of time (took me 1.5 years), regardless of how often you use your laptop or how often you plug your laptop in, the coin cell battery degrades. This eventually reaches a state where your laptop will not boot.
When the coin cell battery hits this failure state, your laptop will not boot. There are two distinct possible problems that arise:
- The most common symptom is just the laptop refuses to boot unless you plug in your laptop. If this was caused by the laptop being unplugged for a while (#1 above) then you can leave your laptop plugged in for 24-48 hours to recharge the coin cell battery which should return your laptop back to a normal working state. If this was caused by the button battery degrading (#2 above), then you will need a replacement button battery.
- There is a very low percentage chance that you hit a bug (caused by Intel) where the laptop will not boot even when plugged in. If you hit this, then you have to do a motherboard reset.
Framework has offered two resolutions to these problems:
- If your coin cell battery has degraded (#2 in the first list) then they will send you a free replacement battery. This will return your laptop to a normal state but the battery will degrade just like the first one so you’ll still be at risk of this problem happening again in the future.
- If you want a permanent fix, Framework has designed a fake battery you can replace your button battery with, but this is a VERY RISKY procedure and it involves soldering. My overconfidence with this is what killed my 11th gen board, so be careful. The replacement battery doesn’t have rounded edges and the flimsy battery holder will shatter at the slightest provocation. Installing this fake battery allows your RTC circuit to be powered by the laptop’s main battery. You can browse this thread to see the graveyard of 11th gen motherboards from attempting this fix. It is strongly recommended that you hire a professional to do this fix rather than attempt it yourself.
This problem does not exist on any other framework laptops, only the 11th gen, because all their subsequent laptops have been designed to be able to boot without the button battery (and their newest laptops ship without a button battery at all).
So to put it all into a table:
| Laptop left unplugged for 1+ weeks | Button battery degraded over a long time despite frequently plugging in laptop | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Boots with a charger | Leave your laptop plugged in for 1-2 days to recharge your battery | Contact Framework for a free replacement button battery | |
| Does not boot with a charger | Perform a motherboard reset and leave your laptop plugged in for 1-2 days | Perform a motherboard reset and contact Framework for a free replacement button battery |
Finally, if you want to source a replacement button battery yourself instead of grabbing a free one from Framework Support, you want to purchase an ML1220 which is the rechargeable version. You DO NOT WANT the CR1220 (the far more common but non-rechargeable version).