It is not like this is the only issue, e.g. Gen12 hasn’t received a stable bios update at all (only a unstable update one year ago: 12th Gen Intel Core BIOS 3.06 Beta )
Do you mean replacing the internal NVMe drive? Unlike USB drives, this is not something people generally have lying around unless they are involved in hardware maintenance. It also requires operating a screw driver and handling electronic components that aren’t designed for regular handling. I’m not sure if your proposed workaround is less risky than the experiments with extracting the updates and manually packaging them into the EFI shell solution.
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I don’t disagree, but this topic is about the 11th gen bios which has had a pretty good history of support. The only reason I’m even watching this thread is because I want to add a few Wh to my battery life, it’s not an imminent issue.
If system76 is really doing everything you want better, then fine. But it’s clear to me that the framework firmware team still cares about long term linux support. They just have a small team and a rapidly growing product stack.
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Probably, yes. Some folks have also had luck with a USB solution outlined earlier in this thread.
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This is a guide on how to update to BIOS 3.19 from Linux using only
files provided by Framework and Microsoft, without needing a Windows-To-Go drive or Windows installation. This worked for me and I cannot guarantee it will work for you. Attempt at your own risk.
You will need:
- Windows 11 ISO
- Framework Windows BIOS 3.19 update exe
- Framework Windows 11 drivers exe
- EFI Shell BIOS 3.17 update zip
- USB Drive
Install wimlib, cabextract, and cdrkit (cdrtools) if you do not already have them installed.
Using an archive manager of your choice, extract the 3.19 BIOS update exe to a new directory (e.g. bios319/)
Then from the driver bundle, extract:
/IntelCSME_TGL-U_15.0.35.1951_V6.2_Corporate/SetupME.exe
Then from SetupME.exe extract ME_MEI_Drivers_x64.msi
Now run cabextract ME_MEI_Drivers_x64.msi and take note of the directory HECI_REL/win10
Create a directory (e.g. csme_patch) with the following structure:
csme_patch
└── FRAMEWORK_LAPTOP
├── bios319
│ ├── Ding.wav
│ ├── FlsHook.exe
│ ├── FWUpdate.bin
│ ├── FWUpdLcl.exe
│ ├── H2OFFT64.sys
│ ├── H2OFFT.cat
│ ├── H2OFFT.inf
│ ├── H2OFFT-W.exe
│ ├── isflash.bin
│ ├── mfc90u.dll
│ ├── Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest
│ ├── Microsoft.VC90.MFC.manifest
│ ├── msvcp90.dll
│ ├── msvcr90.dll
│ └── platform.ini
└── win10
├── heci.cat
├── heci.inf
├── x64
│ └── TEEDriverW10x64.sys
└── x86
└── TEEDriverW10.sys
Now mount your Windows 11 iso and run:
mkwinpeimg --iso --windows-dir=/path/to/win11/mount --overlay=csme_patch winpe.iso
Create a new GPT partition table on a USB drive and create exactly 1 FAT32 partition with the esp flag set.
Mount your USB drive and mount your winepe.iso
Now run cp -vr /path/to/winpe/mount/* /path/to/USB/mount/ && sync
And then run cp -vr /path/to/win11/mount/efi /path/to/USB/mount && sync
You can now unmount everything you just mounted
Boot from your USB drive into the Windows PE environment you have created. Your touchpad will not work. The backslash key was not working for me either. It should drop you right into a command prompt, but if not use the tab/enter keys to navigate to the “repair my computer” menu and run a command prompt from there.
Run the following in the command prompt:
cd /cd FRAMEWORK_LAPTOPcd win10drvload heci.infcd ..cd bios319drvload H2OFFT.infH2OFFT-W.exe
The BIOS update utility should start. Use tab/enter to confirm you want to flash. Your ME will update, but it is likely your BIOS will fail to update. If it worked for you, you are done. If not, to finish the BIOS update do the following after rebooting back into Linux:
- Format your USB drive and follow Framework’s instructions for creating the USB for BIOS 3.17 EFI shell update.
- Copy your
isFlash.binfile from earlier onto the USB - Make a copy of
H2OFFT-Sx64.efiand name itFwUpdLcl.efi(this is a hack which I explain later if you’re curious) - Modify
startup.nshto look like:
H2OFFT-Sx64.efi isFlash.bin - Boot from this USB and your bios should update to 3.19
The reason for the copying of H2OFFT-Sx64.efi is because the update utility is looking for FwUpdLcl.efi to update the ME. There is currently no way to get this file from a credible source (and is why this whole guide exists in the first place), and the update will fail if it is not found. Using H2OFFT-Sx64.efi as a stand-in essentially no-ops the ME update portion of the BIOS update, as all that happens when the stand-in FwUpdLcl.efi file is executed is an error that the main utility cannot detect. This in turn allows the rest of the update to continue.
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This has been answered before, but just to restate it for people who haven’t seen, the BIOS is released for Windows because Framework’s upstream BIOS supplier Insyde only sends them a Windows updater. They have to take that executable, and use it to make custom UEFI and LVFS update methods. The reason they haven’t been able to release that for 3.19 is that other projects had higher priority issues, and their small team still haven’t had the time to come back to this project. They are doing their best, and like Matt mentioned, they will update us here when they have more information to give.
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It would be great to be able to upgrade the bios the 11th gen firmware… the bios upgrade page for linux has been coming soon since September… windows users have had the ability to upgrade to 3.19 since then…
BIOS 3.19 EFI Shell update (coming soon)
https://knowledgebase.frame.work/framework-laptop-bios-releases-S1dMQt6F
I know I can enable testing branches to get it via LVFS… but what the the holdup to stable? its been months… can we at least have the ability to manually flash it via usb ?
Correction:
so even via LVFS you can only get to 3.17 in testing… so as of right now 3.19 is still not available.
thanks!
This thread has answers to your questions, and will have updates when Framework are able to get the update out for Linux users.
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As Azure points out, this is the thread with the details.
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Is it safe to do that inside a Virtual Machine ?
Microsoft give to developers a free virtual machine Download a Windows virtual machine - Windows app development | Microsoft Developer
This could prevent to install Windows on a drive, but I don’t known if there is risks to upgrade the firmware like that?
I just successfully (partially) ran an update to 3.19 on a Linux machine, no Windows involved, using the following procedure:
- Download
Framework_Laptop_11th_gen_Intel_Core_BIOS_3.17_EFI.zipandFramework_Laptop_11th_Gen_Intel_Core_BIOS_3.19.exefrom the official bios update page. - Install the 3.17 EFI updater to a fat32 formatted USB drive as normal
- Extract
isFlash.binfromFramework_Laptop_11th_Gen_Intel_Core_BIOS_3.19.exe(I used Gnome Archive Manager for this, but all sorts of tools work for this) - On the USB drive, replace
hx20_capsule_3.17.binwith a renamed copy of the newerisFlash.bin - Copy the file
H2OFFT-Sx64.efito the filenameFwUpdLcl.efi(see some other posts on this thread which mention about similar) - Boot off of the USB drive and proceed as normal.
NOTE: This process skips the ME update, but I’m personally willing to live with that when it gave me an easy way to get all the other BIOS/EC/etc updates from a Linux environment. This process is all at my own risk, etc, but it seemed like by far the simplest workaround for a lack of official method without Windows this far down the line. I’m not too fussed about updating the ME. My system seems to be running nicely like this. Fixes some issues I was having on 3.07
I did notice the battery charge limit of 80% that I had configured in the BIOS got cleared by the update, but not a big deal since I noticed it, I see some other posts around about certain version updates clearing settings.
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yeah, this is why I wanted to document how to get the stuff out of the exe file to repackage. I also just make my EFI partition big enough that I can just stash these files there vs requiring a USB so can boot into them from grub 
I came back here to check to see if there would be newer EFI/BIOS due to the PXE stuff.
You can grab the ME image out of the 3.19 exe as well
You can update your ME without a full windows installation. The Windows PE environment is just the Windows installer; it’s very lightweight. I’d recommend updating your ME since it is a critical update.
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Does/Should the file from the Gen12 updater work?
When I was poking around, there were ones that didn’t work depending on the chipset. The linux updater is in the zip I posted before.
You can also find information about the intel updaters here:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Flashing_BIOS_from_Linux#ASUS
Good luck, there should also be another ME update due to the PXE/UEFI issues here: New UEFI vulnerabilities send firmware devs industry wide scrambling | Ars Technica
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Agreed,
Just boot to windows installation media press f10 and you have a command prompt and navigate to a drive with the files and run the updater.
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Everything worked perfectly, thank you very much!
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I’ve worked on a non-Windows updater as well and discovered the archive by @Jared_Mauch1 who did virtually the same, as well as @Shymon_Samsel and @AlexS tutorials. In order to make plucking the right files a bit less cumbersome, I wrote a script which you can find here:
It will download both 3.17 BIOS and 3.19 BIOS+CSME Updates, and repackage them to be useable. In order to also be able to flash the CSME (which is out-of-date since May '22!), I also included the FWUpdLcl.efi CSME flasher, originally from intel, but from questionable sources. But the shell script won’t download it for you, just give you the URL and will check the checksum. The pre-built ZIP files will contain those files though!
Either way, I hope it’s helpful to you!
Background Info
The firmware of the laptop consists of multiple parts, the BIOS/UEFI firmware proper, the Embedded Controller etc. by Insyde H20 and the CS/ME from intel. For everything related to the UEFI and EC, Insyde provides a Windows installer (up to 3.19) and an EFI Flashing Tool (up to 3.17) as well as, through Framework, LVFS Update capsules (up to 3.06?).
Using the UEFI Flashing Tool from 3.17, we can update our UEFI & EC to 3.19 with the firmware files from the 3.19 Windows release (with a few tricks such as stubbing the FWUpdLcl). Why Framework doesn’t release such an update for at least 3.19 without CSME is beyond me.
In order to update the CSME, we need the FWUpdLcl tool from intel. It comes in multiple forms such as a Windows binary (contained in the 3.19 Windows release), a UEFI updater (not contained in any Framework Firmware update yet, since the CSME was never updated) and a Linux updater (ditto). As such, we need to source this file from sketchy websites 0:-)
Luckily for us, someone has uploaded the CMSE ST for our system which contains both the Linux and the UEFI based CSME updater. We can use either to update our CSME to the latest firmware version provided by Framework.
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Can we at least have checksums for the files hosted by framework? Currently the only difference I see between official files and communitly/random links is dns resolution.
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I’m still stuck/unable to update the CSME, and would appreciate some help.
I’ve tried running the Win10 installer from a USB stick, then shift+f10 to get a terminal, and finally running the installer.
That ran the BIOS update, but not the CSME update (as confirmed by fwupdmgr security)
Help?
P.S. The fact that it’s months, and months and months now is extremely disappointing. The only Framework-provided solution is “Install Windows” and that’s a non-starter.
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