[Announcement] Linux on your Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
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Hello everyone,

We’ve been very, very busy getting ready to make sure Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) is ready to roll out.

Now, there will be an announcement email you will be seeing roll into your inboxes - please read it, carefully. Especially the Linux section. But again, please read the entire email very carefully. Odds are your questions may be answered in that email - but if they’re not, we’ll field inquires from the Linux community here.

Once you have read the email (once it is sent out), you may ask your Linux questions here. This will serve as the official Q&A thread for Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) running Linux.

Once the email lands, feel free to post your Linux-specific questions below in this thread.

Edit: As new details, updates and other related details roll in, I will be updating this post. This thread will be the source, the absolute source for all things Linux on your Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) as we roll out Batch 1.

Edit Oct 3rd. As reviews roll out, remember, we create install guides for a reason. Ubuntu 22.04.3 guide and Fedora 39 guide. Ubuntu and the oem kernel is CRITICAL for a decent experience for example. Use our guides.

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Getting ready for your Batch 1 Framework Laptop 13 (Ryzen 7040 Series)

We’re starting the first shipments of Batch 1 Framework Laptop 13 (Ryzen 7040 Series) systems and Mainboards shortly. We’re so excited to see what you think of yours. Because this is the first set of AMD-based systems we’ve ever shipped and software and firmware has come in a lot hotter than on previous launches, we anticipate launching at least one and possibly more BIOS and driver updates over the next month. To make sure you get the opportunity to really put your laptop through the paces, we’re going to extend the return window for you to 45 days.

**

Linux

Unfortunately, the last firmware release provided by AMD to fix critical issues also introduced a regression on Linux. Specifically, certain kernel versions have amdgpu drivers that result in the system hanging. AMD has created the firmware fix for this and is currently completing validation on it. We’ll put this through an accelerated test and release process to get it out to you as quickly as possible. We anticipate this being available in mid October (roughly), and we’ll share it via LVFS. In the meantime, we’ve updated our Linux installation guides to call out which recipes will give you the best results with the 03.02 BIOS version that will come on your laptop:

  1. Fedora 39 Beta - This works “out of the box”, and is the distro we would most recommend at the moment. You can run the beta and update into the release state in mid Oct.
  2. Ubuntu 22.04.3 - Follow this guide, make absolutely sure you follow the instructions at step 9 for AMD Ryzen 7040 Series.

Note that 7040 Series is still a very new platform and AMD’s open source teams will continue to actively develop and improve Linux kernel driver support beyond this specific firmware fix. We’ll keep updating our guides to point you to recommended configurations, and we’ve created a Community wiki post (here) with an overview of the latest status.

Thanks everyone,
Matt Hartley
Linux Support Lead for Framework

Issue summary

So far we see some issues comes from BIOS 3.02, and it is supposed to be fixed by BIOS 3.03. Please check the issue ticket rhbz#2244221 on Fedora Bugzilla first. You can download BIOS 3.03 at AMD Ryzen 7040 Series BIOS 3.03 and Driver Bundle Beta now.

Reports

Known issues

General questions other than AMD specific on described 2 Linux distros

If you have general questions other than AMD issues about the described 2 Linux distros, Fedora 39 and Ubuntu 22.04, you can check the following threads.

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Would the Linux section of the email have a link directing people with questions to this post so we don’t end up with forum/Discord/Reddit/Twitter spam?

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Please post the regarding e-mail here, so everyone is able to follow and understand this thread.

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I’m in a later batch, so didn’t get that email, but I’ve been dying to know this for some time now: as an ML engineer, how much RAM can I make available to the iGPU? I saw a scary review that said only 2GB. Crossing my fingers that is wrong?

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Are the ml tools incapable of dynamically allocating it?

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I’d think they could, as long as the chip can use/address it.

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That is how igpus work, usually they can dynamically allocate up to 50% of system memory (at least the windows default, not sure what the default on linux is), sometimes more but there are a lot of games that only look at the static memory available and refuse to start which is the main reason people turn up the static portion. It’s possible there are similar issues with ml software.

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Sick, so with 64 GB or ram, I’ll have at least 32 GB of available vram on Linux, maybe more?

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If the ml software doesn’t refuse to launch cause it only has 523MB of static memory XD

And I would be surprised if you could not reconfigure the 50% limit on linux somehow, on windows it’s a registry hack.

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All, updates will be added to the original post here as needed. Important details on Linux support is provided there.

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Specifically, certain kernel versions have amdgpu drivers that result in the system hanging.

I build my own kernels for a different Linux distribution (not Fedora, not Ubuntu). Which kernel versions are exhibiting this issue? Do I need to include any out-of-tree patches to support this “very new platform”?

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I’d have to reach out to engineering for details, no promises as we’re slammed right now. But I’ll inquire.

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I believe the relevant boot parameter is amdgpu.gttsize (specified in binary megabytes, defaulting to -1 for RAM/2): Module Parameters — The Linux Kernel documentation.

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Any more info about the amdgpu firmware issue? Specifically, what kernel versions are impacted (i.e., is this fixed in 6.5? 6.6?)? Are the updated firmware files currently in the linux-firmware tree?

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Thanks! We appreciate it.

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The specific issue is an interaction between amdgpu and the system BIOS. We’re resolving this by integrating a fix that AMD has provided into the BIOS and releasing the BIOS update via LVFS.

The feedback from AMD is that kernel versions 6.5 and newer are impacted, but oddly, we saw issues with Fedora 38 on an older kernel and see Fedora 39 with 6.5 working.

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Forgive my ignorance, but will I be able to apply that BIOS update w/o installing windows or Linux? I’m using Arch.

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Arch is Linux…

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My bad - I meant Ubuntu or Fedora. The distros in the doc.

Or is the path install one of those, update the BIOS, then wipe and install arch?

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