Should I return the laptop assembled, or should I disassemble it like it originally was when I received it?
I’ve checked the 30-day return policy, but it doesn’t mention anything about this.
It’s a Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition.
(I’d love to keep it, but I’m unfortunately having too many issues with it. It’s quite a bummer, I really wanted to like it!)
Keeping it assembled would reduce the chances of shipping damage, as long as all the parts in it came from Framework as well.
You sure you don’t want to give support a chance? Or how about the helpful community here?
Sorry to hear about your devices issues. Framework devices can have issues. Almost all the issues are talked about or discussed on these forums. A search can bring up a lot of posts with relevant information.
I totally respect your thoughts on returning the device if it did not do what you need it to do (function as a great laptop). Framework is not for everyone. Not having a support telephone number is a hurdle not every end user can deal with. It has helped them keep their costs down (larger tech support departments are a huge cost to computer companies; especially those with phone support)
Like @anon81945988 said, be sure to contact support for an RMA so that you can return the device in the 30 day window.
Maybe consider a pre built Framework sometime in the future so the basics are working right out of the box. DIY is not as much of tea and roses as people think it is. Thank you for reaching out. If we can help, others will gladly try to guide you toward success. We all want a company like this to succeed.
Thanks for the quick replies! My issues are:
If I could fix these three issues I’d happily keep it.
I’ve updated the BIOS as recommended. I’m running Xubuntu 24.10 on the Framework 13 AMD Ryzen 7040 Series.
It’s a real bummer, because otherwise I’m super happy with it. And I love the idea of having a modular upgradeable laptop.
@Romuald_Brillout, I can’t speak to the “massively reduced battery life when watching videos (YouTube)” as I haven’t tried watching YouTube videos on battery yet, but I’ve had my FW16 for a few weeks now, and neither of your other two points are normal in my experience.
If you’re interested in fixing the problems, instead of returning the laptop, please let Framework’s support team try to identify the cause of the problem. If they can figure out the part that’s responsible for it, they can just replace that part for you.
There’s an open issue(Power consumption for HW accelerated video decoding for Radeon iGPUs is simply outrageous (#3195) · Issues · drm / amd · GitLab) about high energy usage during video playback which the AMD chip does do apparently, that’s why I’m still on the fence about getting a FW with this chip.
The Intel one seems to not have this issue but the iGPU in the AMD one has a lot more oomph which I need for gaming so guess I’ll wait another while.
I am not familiar with the Linux variants. Have you tried putting the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on a USB stick, running the LIVE version from the USB drive and seeing if the battery life and fans are doing the same thing?
If the fans are broken/shorted/not working, that would explain the random freezes and shutdowns. There are others that can point you to typing some commands in the terminal and getting feedback if the fans are spinning I think.
There might be a utility that can be loaded too like the HWInfo one for Windows that shows literally everything that is going on in machine.
@Matt_Hartley is the Linux lead who frequents the forums too and might be able to give you a pointer as to what to check if you are still willing to figure out the issue(s). Thank you for letting us know what is going on.
One reason for me to buy a FW was the hope I’d get a polished Linux experience. Maybe my issues are related to XFCE but I doubt it.
It’s the first time I’ve run into the issues I’ve listed, using Xubuntu on several other machines (several low-end and cheap chromebooks). So I’m inclined to think the issues are related to FW and not to my setup. (I only use low-consumption apps like vim, I don’t run electron apps, and I don’t play games.)
A list of open issues, with workarounds and/or what the FW team is working on would give me confidence. But given I don’t know whether my issues are going to be fixed, I unfortunately see myself returning it.
Sorry to hear your not having a great experience. As a reminder, this applies - Supported Distros.
The most polished experiences will be listed here. GNOME desktop.
Am I reading this correctly, you are trying 24.10? I ask as this is not released yet, not even in Beta yet. It’s a daily build release and will have tons of bugs that may need to be ironed out. While it may be fine on one laptop, it’s expected that to see bugs along the way on some configurations as it’s not a supported (or even released) distro.
While I have not touched XFCE in eons, ideally, Xubuntu 24.04 might be worth trying. Note, I believe it’s still using X and not Wayland. Still, this may provide a better experience. But it does differ some from Ubuntu 24.04, and user experiences with Xubuntu have been mixed.