I use a Dual-Boot Linux Mint 22.3 & Win 11 on my FW16 (see further installation versions below). Now I would like to update my BIOS from 3.5 to the latest stable 4.04 via Linux. At first, I tried via LVFS. Unfortunately, it doesnt find any updates for my system (I am connected to the internet, Battery at 95%) so this one didnt work. So I proceed via gnome-firmware: also no available updates. As soon as I change to the testing channel, it finds the 4.1 Beta, which I can install via both LVFS and gnome-terminal. So it seems to be a problem of the fwupd Backend here.
Of course I could use a USB-Stick to update. But I would still like to find the proper way via Linux directly.
Ah and there is a second problem: the EFI partition is too small to fit the update. I can temporarily move the Microsoft folder from the boot partition and put it back in after the update, but this is really nothing that a regular end-user should have to do.
So how should I proceed here? Any ideas? Attached two screenshots aswell
Best regards,
a happy FW16 user who now experiences an unfortunately very buggy and unfinished BIOS update procedure
Which Linux distro are you using?
Linux Mint 22.3 & Win 11 (Dual-Boot)
Which release version?
Don’t know
Which kernel are you using?
6.8.0-111-generic
Which BIOS version are you using?
3.5
Which Framework Laptop 16 model are you using? (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series)
AMD Ryzen 7040 (I own the 7700S GPU Module but it is currently not plugged in)
Thanks for the swift reply! The cache wipe unfortunately didn’t help, still the same problem. Resizing of the EFI partition is planned, thanks for the hint. There are no caveats to increasing the EFI partition, right?
Hm. Since it detects the update in the beta channel, most other issues like a locked boot order or failure to detect the ESP are probably not at fault here. When I had this issue before, it was enough for me to wipe the cache and reboot. You can also run fwupd from a live boot, so attempting that would probably be a good next step. Seeing the new version installed may or may not fix fwupd’s detection from the installed system, but it would get you updated. Since there’s another update in testing, you won’t have to wait long to find out.
Resizing the ESP shouldn’t have any risks. There’s no need for it to be more than a Gb or so in size. The shrink and shift operation on the other partition(s) may take a while though because potentially a lot of data has to be moved. It’s best to shrink the closest partition that has room to spare. Windows may want to check your disk if you move/resize its partition, but it should be fine. Just don’t re-order anything.
Seems like I found the root of error by using my “extended” reading skills on the official Framework BIOS update website:
This BIOS version on LVFS requires fwupd version 2.0.16 or later because it necessitates a concurrent keyboard firmware update.
And I am currently using 1.9.34. Seems like @taezea was right…I need a newer version of fwupd. However the version of fwupd is tied to the Linux/Kernel version. So I need to find a way to update my system to a state, at which I can update fwupd to > 2.0.16
However this still doesn’t explain why the 4.1 BIOS update was found on the test releases…
Oh, nice find. Maybe the 4.1 release is missing the version restriction, or it assumes the keyboard firmware was already updated so it’s not needed anymore? Since Mint 22.3 is based on Ubuntu 22.04 (Noble), I don’t think fwupd >= 2 is in the package base. Easiest would be to boot a live ISO of a more recent distro like Fedora or Endeavour to run the update.
Yeah, maybe sth like what you mentioned is the case for 4.1…
I performed the BIOS update now via Windows and it surprisingly worked without re-sizing the EFI partition. I will remove the Dual Boot soon and move entirely to Linux. I will most probably not stick to Mint anymore. Maybe the problem will fix itself automatically by switching the Distro.
I dont like to leave stuff like that “unfinished” for the other Linux Mint users here. But I now invested > 2h on this and I am at the point where I don’t want to waste more time.
What? Usually it’s early in the disk, which means that all subsequent partitions will need to be resized or shifted. There is inherent risk. It is one of the riskiest things you can propose as the solution to this problem. There are no riskier solutions.
regarding fwupd and linux kernel versions.
I don’t think there is a tight link.
I think kernel above version 4.2 should be enough, and most people use kernel 6.x.x or above now.
So, i don’t think you need a new linux kernel to go to fwupd 2.0.16
I use Ubuntu, and there was a snap of a more recent fwupd, so it was quite easy to upgrade from 19.9.34 to 2.1.1
Thank you for the infos. Will stick to not resizing EFI partition then, as it seems to work now. Regarding fwupd dependencies: sure, snap will have the newer version as it has all the dependencies locally. APT does have system-wide dependencies, therefore it will not allow the update as long as the dependencies are not fulfilled.
I want to avoid snap as long as I am on Mint, as the developers blocked snap for some reason. I don’t know the exact reason but they will have one, so I stick to it. Will reconsider when changing the distro.
