Hi
TL;DR: I am asking here about the chances of a BIOS update with fwupdmgr on Linux Mint bricking my FW16.
I am a relatively new owner (2024-September) of a Framework 16, and am about to do my first BIOS update on the machine. As I am using it as my main PC, I’m a bit itchy about the process, especially because:
- I have seen on this forum a feature request to add a secondary BIOS slot so that a potential bricked update can be rolled back → This means that there is no update slot currently.
- I am using Linux Mint
- I am using the laptop as my main machine (not hobbyist project) and really don’t want to brick it
As Mint is based on Ubuntu, the release process with fwupdmgr should™ work.
Which Linux distro are you using?
Linux Mint
Which release version?
(if rolling release without a release version, skip this question)
; cat /etc/issue
Linux Mint 22 Wilma \n \l
Although I am about to upgrade to 22.1.
Which kernel are you using?
; uname -r
6.8.0-52-generic
Which BIOS version are you using?
Currently it is 3.03.
Which Framework Laptop 16 model are you using? (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series)
Ryzen™ 7 7840HS - Radeon™ RX 7700S
Well, updating my Dell altitude 7400 and my framework 16 with fwupdctl without problems running KDE Neon and KUbuntu (both on 24.04.x).
Actually, it is way easier to do under linux then any other way where you have to create a boot disk/iso or whatever crap to just be able to apply the update.
Oh, and as an add-on, with fwupdctl I update also the docking-station and NVME disks (those that are supported).
So IMHO, you have less chances to brick your FW16 with that, then under Windows and other tools.
Only rule: Never shutdown/power off the system if the update did not go through!
But that is valid for the other methods too.
Thanks for the quick reply and soothing words 
The whole thing is probably me being a scaredy-cat, I just always had some quirks with Linux.
Currently my biggest issue also is that I have full-disk encryption with LUKS and sometimes the system just does not boot and have to do a hard reboot with pushing on the power button for a time. And I just fear that will somehow influence the BIOS update process (e.g., if it must reboot multiple times and one time my LUKS setup says “No” and I have to hard-reboot).
I think there was an issue with the BIOS and disks (small 2230 disk) sometimes not being recognized. That is fixed in the latest version 03.05
Which version do you have on your board?
A fwupdmgr update will give you the possibility to see what needs updating. It won’t shoot straight forward.
I have 03.03.
As far as I see from the release notes there is one security issue that has been fixed (I guess that’s the UEFI/Evil-Made thingy I don’t really care about that). I am not having any issues from 3rd stuff or the battery (I’m keeping it at 60% anyways).
So I am in no need of this upgrade, I just would like to update it, so that if there is a newer version that I would need, I don’t have that much of a gap between my actual version and wanted version. Does that make sense?
The current is 3.05 - and there were some other changes.
Notably the one that fixed the “lost” nvme ssd upon reboot.
And the battery life extender option is definitely worth it.
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