Off the top of my head…
There’s at least one Dell laptop that requires turning off the battery in BIOS before servicing.
At least one Dell tablet has a physical battery switch (though not exposed to users).
Dell Chromebook models, when initialized (OS installed), like after a motherboard replacement, shut themselves down in “ship mode” and won’t power up on battery - they must be plugged in the first time.
(That last part is like the FWLT, I believe…?)
No - just a memory of one service manual specifiying it. And the intention was definitely for servicing the computer - the service manual said to turn off the battery in the BIOS before service, so…
In any case I don’t believe I did - even if I refreshed my memory of that model’s service manual that day, I probably would have just opened the machine and pulled the battery connector, same thing I do on all my repairs. Muscle memory is a powerful thing.
There was no enforcement that I recall - other than the user manual specifying the action, nothing sticks out. If I had fried the machine by not doing it I’m pretty sure I’d remember 
Virtually every laptop repair starts with disconnecting the battery, so I’m not even sure why that model required the extra step.
In that particular case it was specifically for servicing (it was a step in the disassembly instructions, for one).
In the case of the Chromebooks - and our FWLT - it is for extended storage. As evidenced by the fact that the mode is switched off by (a required) initial powerup on AC.
It’s not a way of bypassing charging while using the machine as a desktop replacement (i.e. plugged in all the time).
During an unsuccessful attempt to find the model number, I came across the comment that, with the current tech level in laptops and newer chargers, bypassing charging should be a standard feature across the board.
As I desktop replacement type user, I concur (though I have to say I’ve had my Dell laptop plugged in for years with no battery issues…).
What other laptops are designed to be fully repairable and upgradeable by the end user?
I can’t remember where I read it now. Probably on this forum or a blog post, but the reasoning given by Framework was that the battery connector is quite fragile, so the option in the UEFI is there to give people a way of disconnecting the battery without risking damaging the fragile battery connector.
The battery will reconnect as soon as external power is supplied…
MNT reform, novena, any of the raspi based ones…
As an owner of a MNT Reform I know what you mean. I think the question being asked is really, what other computers intended to run mainstream software are fully repairable and upgradeable.
In this arena Framework is blazing a glorious and amazing trail!
In fact for those that don’t want to listen to me, here’s the facts from Framework themselves…
@feesh I’m going to fully charge the laptop (where I have it limited to 80% max in BIOS), go into bios, set the ‘battery disconnect’ feature on, and save/exit/shutdown with no AC attached, put the laptop back in its bag, and report back in a week with results.
Slow battery drain is or could be, if the replacement is 149 dollars. In 24 hours my laptop went from 89% to 87%. Framework battery is 59 dollars. This laptop is at two years, lost 3% of battery capacity. According to CPUID HWMonitor 1.45. I’ll buy another battery and never look back at the gopher mount.
Just chiming in to share that I just had to reset my mainboard because my battery, charged to 71% when I powered up again (following approx 5 mins of charging per the mainboard reset guide), was apparently not enough to keep things powered during the past 18 days of no use. Prior to resetting the mainboard, I could not power on the laptop (no light indications) and the charging light did not illuminate. Even with the stated 3% battery drain rate (which seems vaguely about right for my case), I would expect the system to be ready to go if the main battery still has ~50% charge.
Sounds like the bug that was fixed by BIOS 3.07.
Indeed, it does sound like that. However, I’ve been on 3.07 for over a month now.
It’s only been 6 days since my last post, not a full week, but the battery disconnect option does completely stop the battery drain. I left my laptop max charged to 80% (based on the bios limit I set), and after I plugged in AC and booted it up, it was still on 80% battery.
This is a workaround, but it’s a laborious and futzy one: A short while ago, I tried to boot the laptop without first plugging in the AC adapter, and it acted dead. After a brief moment of panic, I remembered that you have to attach AC at least once to deactivate the battery disconnect feature. So, I had to dig out the power brick and two neatly velcroed and ready for travel power cables, hook it all up, use it for 2 seconds, then unplug/restow/re-velcro the cables. After verifying no battery drain, I shut the laptop down, stowed it in my bag, and went about my business. It was only after a few minutes that I remembered that I didn’t boot back into bios, and set the battery disconnect feature on again before stowing my laptop. So, again, I had to dig it back out of it’s bag and go through the battery disonnect again.
You see where I’m going with this? It’s a workaround, but a real PITA and something you can easily forget to do. Muscle memory has you shut your laptop down, put it in its bag, and be on about your business. So now, every time I shut my laptop down, I have to boot it back up into bios and do the battery disonnect hokey-pokey again, then put it away. And the next time I want to use it?? Better unfurl all those cables and that AC adapter again, because it won’t boot until you do.
I agree that it’s not the permanent solution, but if you’re doing this once or twice a month as you say I don’t think it’s that huge a deal to get used to that routine while you wait for one.
@feesh So long as there’s a fix for this issue down the road, I don’t mind the work around (but still find it semi-painful).
@RandomUser I reached out to Framework Support and their offical answer was:
Hi Stephen,
Thank you for reaching out.
Regarding the laptop draining the power, it is normal even when the laptop is turned off.
It will consume a small increment of the battery juice for a period of time especially a week as all laptop does regardless of the brand or specs.
And since the Framework Laptop battery is factored for ultra-thins, it will show that it’s getting an increment of power consumption.
I’d say that 10 - 12% power loss per week is more than an ‘increment’.
It shouldn’t, it’s definitely not correct, at most it should go 3-4%, based on my experience of ultrabooks. Its probably because of the rechargeable CMOS/RTC battery though, unlike other ultrabooks.
Yeah, I don’t care for the rechargeable RTC battery. I like the old school CR-2032 coin cells.
There was already a bug addressed by the 3.07 bios where the laptop wouldn’t even boot on a full mains battery charge if the RTC battery was low. I’ve never seen an issue like that on laptops using an old-school CR-2032.
Yeah, I get it. And despite my curmudgeonly griping here, the Framework laptop is so awesome in so many ways. This particular bug is just painful for my use case.
Remember, if you’re using linux you can reboot directly into the bios by entering this in the terminal: systemctl reboot --firmware-setup