12th Gen Intel Core BIOS 3.06 Beta

Hi Everyone!
We are excited to release our first BIOS update for 12th Gen Systems.
This update has been a bit more complex due to needing to update retimers, and we have had to rewrite our updater for both EFI and windows to support this.
Please carefully read through the update instructions, especially if you update using EFI!

Please note that if you update to 3.06, you will not be able to downgrade to a lower version as it will cause left side ports to stop functioning for any mode except USB2.

Downloads

Windows Installer

Note: One user has experienced that after updating some type-c ports will not function in DP alt mode, If you experience this please report to the forum and power off your laptop, remove AC, wait 2 minutes and power on again.

https://downloads.frame.work/bios/Framework_Laptop_12th_Gen_Intel_Core_BIOS__3.06.msi

Instructions for Windows Installer:

  1. Run the windows installer.
  2. If prompted to trust the Framework driver signature agree.
  3. Click yes to reboot.
  4. Wait for all 3 firmware progress bars to complete as the installer will install 3 different firmware updates and then reboot into Windows.

Linux/Other/UEFI Shell update

Note: occasionally the usb drive will not be recognized after rebooting into step 3/5. Please confirm you reach the last update screen that says update complete. If you do not, unplug replug your flash drive and reboot and press F12 and select your usb flash drive, and the update process will continue.

Note that if you use the EFI shell update with windows, you should suspend bitlocker if enabled before updating using the EFI updater.

https://downloads.frame.work/bios/Framework_Laptop_12th_Gen_Intel_Core_3.06_EFI.zip

Instructions for EFI shell update:

  1. Extract contents of zip folder to a fat32 formatted usb drive.
  2. Disable secure boot in BIOS.
  3. Boot your system while pressing F12 and boot from the thumb drive.
  4. Let startup.nsh run automatically.
  5. Follow the instructions to install the update.

Example Update screens:

Please note that if you are updating a standalone mainboard with external display connected, the retimer will update, but this will cause your screen to be blank for about 1 minute on the side the retimer is updated on.

Bios Update step:

After the bios update, if you are using a standalone mainboard, Your external monitor may remain blank while the 2nd retimer is updated for about 1 minute. Your system will reboot again.

Update Complete! Press spacebar to boot back into the OS.

Linux/LVFS

Updating via LVFS is available in the testing channel

You can enable updates from testing by running

fwupdmgr enable-remote lvfs-testing

Currently LVFS support has regressed due to fwupdmgr defaulting to file based capsule update on newer versions which is not supported in our BIOS.

Please set DisableCapsuleUpdateOnDisk=true in /etc/fwupd/uefi_capsule.conf before applying this update, otherwise the update will fail.

LVFS may not update if the battery is 100% charged. LVFS uses the battery status to determine if it is safe to apply updates. However if our battery is at 100% and the charger is off, we set the battery charging status to false. In this case you can discharge your battery a few percent, then plug in AC again and run fwupdmgr update.

Security Fixes

CVE-2022-35893

CVE-2022-35894

CVE-2022-35895

CVE-2022-35896

CVE-2022-35897

CVE-2022-36337

CVE-2022-36338

CVE-2022-35408

CVE-2022-36448

Changes

  1. Added bios option in Advanced menu to enable/disable standalone operation. When enabled, the system will skip checks for display/touchpad/audio daughterboard and chassis open.
  2. Modified power button LED behavior, so that low battery will cause the power button to flash white instead of red.
  3. Update PD firmware to fix Thunderbolt compliance issues.
  4. Add flash flag structure to save boot options when RTC battery is not installed for standalone operation.
  5. Allow PD firmware to support new retimer address on left side retimers for updated retimer firmware.
  6. Put the retimer in low power mode when the hdmi /display port expansion card is installed but no sink (cable) is attached for power saving.

Fixes

  1. Fix BIOS setup item TPM availability help string had missing word.
  2. Fix press F3/F12 hotkey causes system hang up in post if BIOS quiet boot is se\t to disabled.
  3. Fix Touchpad does not enter P2P mode when EC re-enables PS2 mouse.
  4. Fix Touchpad board id was incorrectly reported if the touchpad was removed.
  5. Thunderbolt Certification.
30 Likes

Succesffuly updated BIOS using fwupdmgr. Ran into the fully charged issue. Unplugged the power ran down the battery a couple of percent. Plugged back in. Attempted to update, fwupdmgr informs it is in progress. Closed all windows, powered down. Update automatically started, progress showed until completed, rebooted once, twice and came fully up to the normal luks decrypt passphrase request and onward to the desktop environment.

The only thing I would consider adding to the instructions is clarification on what happens when updating the BIOS and running in to the fully charged battery issue when doing so from a terminal. It might be a little disconcerting to a complete beginner to get the update in progress message from fwupdmgr yet nothing is clearly happening yet.

Will report back if this update resolves a number of minor thunderbolt issues I have been experiencing or if it appears to create new issues. So far it appears to be performing at least as well as 3.05.

7 Likes

Successfully updated on Windows using the executable method - works like a charm, but I ran into an issue where it would not proceed with the BIOS update - this is where making sure the laptop was actually charging (it was off at the socket) helped, as it installed seamlessly upon next reboot. It seems that the BIOS will not install if you are not charging your laptop, which is a very sensible feature. Will update if I see any issues.

2 Likes

I had some enhanced instability with my old Lenovo Thunderbolt 3 Gen1 Dock. Suspecting this was due to my use of a HDMI switcher I moved the display connectors to the dock directly. It is now completely stable. Will be getting a TB4 dock soon, will continue testing with assorted switchers and docks over the next weeks. After the physical fix it has been completely stable.

1 Like

Great! Are there any plans to bring some of the Thunderbolt fixes mentioned to the 11th Gen?

2 Likes

I guess these are contained in the bios update(?)

Successfully updated via LVFS :slight_smile:
Unfortunately the issues with my thunderbolt dock have not been resolved :frowning:
But there was a regression since kernel 6.0.13 anyways, maybe it will be resolved in a couple of kernel iterations.
Will report on any other findings

Successfully updated to 3.06 via LVFS.

Strange occurrence though. Before updating, LVFS requested to update β€œUEFI dbx”. Did so, then updated BIOS successfully.

But LVFS thinks it must update UEFI dbx again. Did it again. Now LVFS wants to β€œUpdate UEFI Device Firmware from 207 to 310”:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
β•‘ Upgrade UEFI Device Firmware from 207 to 310?                                β•‘
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
β•‘ Retimer firmware update for BIOS 3.06. Please note that after updating the   β•‘
β•‘ retimer firmware you will not be able to downgrade the BIOS below 3.06       β•‘
β•‘ otherwise the left side ports will stop working with usb3, usb4,             β•‘
β•‘ thunderbolt, or display port alt mode devices.                               β•‘
β•‘                                                                              β•‘
β•‘ Laptop (12th Gen Intel Core) must remain plugged into a power source for     β•‘
β•‘ the duration of the update to avoid damage.                                  β•‘
β•šβ•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•β•

I updated this but it keeps coming back as updateable.

Everything works fine although I haven’t tested my dock (not TB4), so I’ll ignore it.

This BIOS update is for 12th Gen boards. I’m asking if the changes will also be available as a BIOS update for the older 11th Gen boards.

2 Likes

Oh, yeah i got that wrong.

Can partly confirm this. After updating both retimers (01 and 23 i believe?) and bios via LVFS via commandline, the 23 retimer and dbx showed up as updatable again (dbx was not part of the first update though).
Updated via commandline again and now all seems fine.

2 Likes

I had to do the same. It prioritized the BIOS update. Had to run a second fwupdmgr update for the uefi update.

1 Like

@oxplot Sadly I think I read that the 11th Gen model won’t be able to ever fully be Thunderbolt certified due to something hardware related.

1 Like

Not so successful here :frowning: Although, not bricked! Just did not update.

4 Likes

@Khilseith Could you remount and cleanly unmount your flash drive and try again?

2 Likes

Updated via Windows. Only got 2 progress bars (why can’t we see a little more details about what is actually being done. The other update variants show more…).
After that it asked for my BIOS (supervisor) password and rebooted into windows. It showed no failure message. The Retimer β€œ23” showed up as not working in Device Manager


and the left ports did not work for USB4/TB connections etc.

I tried shutting down and waiting for 2m as instructed. Did not change anything. But selecting the restart option in Device Manager lead to a further update cycle, where the 3rd progress bar showed up and now everything seems to be working again.

So, my guess: for some reason the updater aborted after updating the first retimer, did not show any type of failure message. But during a 2nd attempt it worked.

Is there a way to confirm that both retimers actually have the expected firmware versions? (Device manager shows 136 for both retimers now). Or a log that shows why it decided to abort or on what?

5 Likes

I ran into a similar situation as @Ray519 where it only seemed to finish two progress bars (it restarted multiple times for each) and once I was back in I had the warning on Retimers 23 and had the Restart Computer option. After restarting and completing another progress bar I still have the below warning and event message on Retimers 23 and they (allegedly) are not started. However I will report TB does appear to be working in the left ports. My Firmware version is reporting 136 for Retimers 01, however for Retimers 23 it shows β€œCF” as the version.

Blockquote
This device cannot start. (Code 10)
Indicates a revision number encountered or specified is not one known by the service. It may be a more recent revision than the service is aware of.

Blockquote
Device UEFI\RES_{ba2e4e6e-3b0c-4f25-8a59-4c553fc86ea2}\0 had a problem starting.
Driver Name: oem76.inf
Class Guid: {f2e7dd72-6468-4e36-b6f1-6488f42c1b52}
Service:
Lower Filters:
Upper Filters:
Problem: 0x0
Problem Status: 0xC00000E5

I did the 2m+ shutdown without power again and it behaved the same. Luckily everything is functionally working as I would expect, but this is my current experience with the update.

1 Like

Thanks to Morpheus636 on the FW Discord I had the idea to rebooting the EC via holding the power button for 30seconds. This fixed the issue, prehaps the bios update is failing to restart the EC?

See original post below


@Kieran_Levin I updated to the 3.06 BIOS from 3.05 via Windows 11 Enterprise. After updating to 3.06 successfully (Lets call this initial reboot) I went and updated my drivers (Intel Wifi and Bluetooth). At this point the HDMI was still working, however I restarted due to the wifi and bluetooth updates. After this the HDMI no longer worked. It recognises that a 2nd display is plugged in however it will never keep the setting of β€œSecond screen only” or β€œduplicate display”

Ive powered off the machine, with it unplugged from AC and waited 5mins. I then tried it in both sides to no avail.

Retimers do not show any errors at the surface level:

However when I go into the Event Viewer and check retimer 23 I get the following:

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP/Configuration
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP
Date:          23/12/2022 3:17:12 PM
Event ID:      411
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      FW-[Redacted]
Description:
Device UEFI\RES_{ba2e4e6e-3b0c-4f25-8a59-4c553fc86ea2}\0 had a problem starting.

Driver Name: oem81.inf
Class Guid: {f2e7dd72-6468-4e36-b6f1-6488f42c1b52}
Service: 
Lower Filters: 
Upper Filters: 
Problem: 0x0
Problem Status: 0xC00000E5
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP" Guid="{9c205a39-1250-487d-abd7-e831c6290539}" />
    <EventID>411</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2022-12-23T04:17:12.9893196Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1017</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="7680" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP/Configuration</Channel>
    <Computer>FW-[Redacted]</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="DeviceInstanceId">UEFI\RES_{ba2e4e6e-3b0c-4f25-8a59-4c553fc86ea2}\0</Data>
    <Data Name="DriverName">oem81.inf</Data>
    <Data Name="ClassGuid">{f2e7dd72-6468-4e36-b6f1-6488f42c1b52}</Data>
    <Data Name="ServiceName">
    </Data>
    <Data Name="LowerFilters">
    </Data>
    <Data Name="UpperFilters">
    </Data>
    <Data Name="Problem">0x0</Data>
    <Data Name="Status">0xc00000e5</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Windows Config:

Edition Windows 11 Enterprise
Version 22H2
Installed on β€Ž12/β€Ž10/β€Ž2022
OS build 22621.963
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22638.1000.0

Device Specs:

Device name FW-[redacted]
Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Coreβ„’ i7-1260P 2.10 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
Device ID 01E571EF-6244-421C-9631-FEA0DE1A18D7
Product ID 00329-10284-67443-AA736
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display
1 Like

Successfully updated via fwupd with secureboot with custom keys enrolled without shim. Surprisingly it β€œjust worked”… :slight_smile:

2 Likes

I used the windows installer; it did two of the steps and then the computer shut off and didn’t reboot on the third update. I forced it to boot and it booted fine, but said that the two updates didn’t succeed and it needed another reboot.

This device cannot work properly until you restart your computer. (Code 14)

Firmware update was unsuccessful.

That was on both the bios and the retimers 23.

EDIT: It now tries to install every time I reboot… looks like it was a failure. Let me know if there are logs or such that I can provide to aid in investigating the failure cause & resolution.

1 Like

Hi,
Update was successful with LVFS instructions on Arch Linux. Everything is working as intended. Will report if I notice any issues.

Only thing of note is, I checked for updates again after logging in, as reported by @Fraoch I too was prompted to β€œUpdate UEFI Device Firmware from 207 to 310”
I did that, rebooted, system went through it’s boot cycle and I was back to login screen a minute later. Checked for updates again just to be sure, nothing else was updated this time.

This was very fast and good firmware update experience. Well done.
Thank you for the fixes, Happy Christmas to y’all.

3 Likes