I updated my 12th Gen Framework laptop to BIOS 3.06 Beta
I used the Windows Installer without any difficulties.
It took 2-3 reboots after which all was done.
My laptop is connected to a TB3 docking station (CalDigit TB3 Plus) using a single HQ cable
My feedback:
after an hour the laptop froze (no external display).
Just rebooting resulted in a non-functional external monitor on either Display-port or HDMI. Used 2 different USB-C docks and one TB3 dock. All detected the external monitor but none were able to transfer the screen.
I had to unplug and turn off my laptop for a few minutes to “unfreeze” this display error.
The new BIOS also caused the SD-card reader of the TB3 docking-station to malfunction.
It is not recognized anymore. Inserting a card will not show this card in Windows.
The SD-reader in an USB-C dock is still recognized and working.
Another (new) problem is the USB speed / consistency.
When I use an USB3 card reader (connected to my TB3 dock) the read speed is quite OK.
BUT very often (after 30-40sec of use) the connection will freeze/lock-up.
It take a good 10sec of total inactivity, after which reading will continue.
The rest of the system is still reactive.
Hopefully the above will help to improve the beta.
Also can you please prioritize this bios fix because we can’t roll back to a previous version.
I know that we all want well working equipment. But with that said I just want what was promised on 12-2022.
“We’re currently preparing our 12th Gen 3.06 firmware update for release that contains the updates for Thunderbolt 4, a range of security fixes, and improvements in both suspend and active battery life. We’ll share more on that last part in an upcoming blog post. We’ll provide instructions on how to update firmware for both Windows and Linux. For the Chromebook Edition , firmware updates happen automatically through ChromeOS system updates. For 11th Gen systems, we also have a firmware update in progress to bring in the security updates and power consumption improvements, but not retroactively certify Thunderbolt (there are some test cases we don’t believe we can resolve on that generation, unfortunately).”
@Kieran_Levin On Linux I first did LVFS method which made by USB ports on non powered side lose functionality. So, I did USB update method, but it didn’t recover the USB functionality yet!
So, I am left with only 2 USB ports working. What should I do? Please let us downgrade the firmware, as I am not sure how much time will it be required to solve all these issues.
I think USB-A issues so far have only been reported after suspend or as “generally flaky”, so maybe someone can confirm / deny if this is a reproducible on other systems:
Issue:
USB-A is dead after reinserting the same drive multiple times.
Reproduction Steps:
Insert a drive (external HDD or USB drive) into a USB-A port and wait for OS to pick it up
Remove the drive
Insert the drive and wait for OS to pick it up
Remove the drive
Insert the drive → The drive no longer gets recognized
Workaround:
The USB-A expansion card needs to be reinserted.
Hints:
I dont think this has anything to do with my OS (Fedora 37 KDE, Kernel 6.2.8), since the stick does not show up in the bios either, when the FW is in this state.
Was able to reproduce it with multiple USB drives and an external HDD (all USB 3)
I could not reproduce this situation using 2 storage devices I had in my bag: USB 2.0 and 3.2. Each device was inserted and removed at least 7 times.
I have a DIY 12th Gen running stock firmware and kernel 5.15.0-69-generic.
I attempted posting more comprehensive command output to identify machine and devices. Bugs in the BBS software prevented me from doing that and my patience for experimenting ran out.
Dino
PS: I just re-read my post and decided it might not be obvious that I was confirming that the stock firmware does not exhibit this problem.
I note from the recent @Framework newsletter that:
We’re releasing firmware updates for 11th Gen and 12th Gen Framework Laptops to support the higher resulting pack voltage [for the upgraded 61Wh battery]
Given that the 12th Gen BIOS that would make 12th Gen laptops Thunderbolt 4 compliant has still not reached an official release, perhaps I’m not the only one who’d appreciate some reassurance that progress is actually being made on firmware updates.
I finally have our internal release for 3.07 which we are testing to validate it fixes the firmware update issues in 3.06. Assuming this all goes well we should be posting this for beta in the next few weeks.
This will also support the 61Wh battery, and has a number of other fixes.
Thanks for the update @Kieran_Levin , looking forward to test it out once it is released to public beta.
I do have a question regarding LVFS regression from fwupdmgr defaulting to file based capsule update, has this been addressed in the upcoming BIOS update?
I have the same problem on Gen12 (3.06) and an uptodate archlinux. Dmesg shows no output, when the expansion card is dead, so I think it is a hardware/firmware issue.
