Framework 16 hangs after installing Windows 11

[Jeff_Lockhart]

I just set up a new Framework 16. After installing Windows 11, it gets to the part where it downloads updates. When it reboots, the system hangs on a black screen. I’ve reinstalled Windows twice now and it gets to this same point each time.

If I force shutdown and reboot, it either hangs at a black or white screen or gives me a system recovery prompt. If I reset the system, deleting all data, it eventually lands on the same frozen on a black screen. The CPU fans are often spinning fairly loudly when it hangs.

The only driver I have installed is the Wi-Fi driver to connect to the internet, which I extracted from the Framework driver .exe and installed at the “install driver” prompt on the connect to internet screen.

Both the “install driver” option as well as the last part of the install that downloads and installs updates are new to the Windows 11 install since the last time I installed it. In the past, when I installed Windows 11 on my Framework 13, I installed the drivers by opening the task manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc and running the driver install .exe to install all drivers at this point. But when I press Ctrl+Shift+Esc now, it no longer opens the task manager during the Windows 11 setup.

[Jeff_Lockhart]

Actually, I think the way I installed the drivers in the past was using Shift+F10 to open a terminal and ran the driver .exe from there. I installed Windows 11 again and used this method to install all the Framework drivers on the network connection screen and then completed the install after the required reboot. This time it succeeded in completing the updates portion of the install.

[Matthew_Sanabria]

I also experienced the same white screen issue trying to install Windows 11 on my Framework 16. I did not install any drivers during installation but instead connected the laptop to my dock which allowed it to use the Ethernet port for a network connection.

After reading this post I attempted another installation and this time left the dock disconnected. Once the Windows 11 installation prompted for a network connection I hit Shift+F10, installed the Framework 16 Windows bundle drivers, rebooted, and it was smooth sailing from there.