Framework 16 Ryzen 7040 and dGPU 7900s constant crashes

Framework Laptop 16 Linux
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1

I bought the Framework 16 with AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and dGPU AMD Radeon RX 7700S a month or two ago. I installed Ubuntu 24 LTS, updated+upgraded all packages, and updated the BIOS to 6.03.05 immediately. I’ve had nothing but problems trying to get my basic setup going. I don’t even know where to start because I’ve hopped distros so many times just trying to get such simple things working.

tl;dr: I want to use a simple distro with minimal bloat, Cinnamon DE, apt as the package manager, and the dGPU working without breaking my neck doing flips. Ubuntu Cinnamon would work, if it didn’t have all of the crashing problems…

Attempted distros, clean install every time: Ubuntu24, Fedora41, Mint22, LMDE6, and Debian12 stable.

I’ve followed several guides here to fix the problems for each of the distros I’ve tried. I cannot fix all of these problems. I’ve updated amdgpu drivers. I’ve reseated the hardware. I’ve added backport sources.

For all distros:
Random crashes with nothing I could find in any logs. Fixed by disabling “Battery Extender” in BIOS after reading about it here.

Crash on locking the screen. Not fixed
Crash on waking from suspend. Not fixed
Crash on resizing firefox. Not fixed
All three of the above seem related to dGPU problems. None of the guides I referred to above have resolved all of these issues.

Ubuntu:
Red display flicker when alt-tabbing. Doesn’t show up in screen recordings.
Switching to Cinnamon DE on login screen, logging in, then logging out/locking crashes.

Fedora:
Install boots fine, install runs properly. Testing ctrl+alt+L to lock works, no crash.
After installation reboot, BIOS + GRUB logs display, Fedora icon flashes, then just black. TTY opens.

Mint (not LMDE):
Install boots fine, install runs properly. Testing ctrl+alt+L to lock works, no crash.
After installation reboot, when I type on the login screen, the screen freezes. I move the trackpad and the screen unfreezes. I type again, it freezes.

2

After more PWM/GPU tweaks in the BIOS and doing a fresh install of Ubuntu 24 Cinnamon, almost everything works properly.
The red flickering is unrelated to alt-tabbing, and seems unrelated to Firefox hardware accel. I changed the display setting from 165Hz to 60Hz, and the flickering mostly goes away. It still happens, but not as frequently, so it’s still pretty shit. Not a great solution, but it’ll work for now until someone figures out a real fix.
Unless I just have crap hardware in mine, which seems like a real possibility.
Although this flicker has only happened in the two Ubuntus, so it’s probably something there.
===== Initial post above ====
===== Edit 1 below ====
Changing BIOS setting “iGPU Memory” from “Auto” to “Gaming” has cut down the flickering even more. But it still happens, and I’m stuck with the display set to 60Hz, which also means I’m stuck with the resolution at 2560x1600.

Max flicker (call it 100%): 165Hz + iGPU Memory = Auto
60% of max flicker: 60Hz + iGPU Memory = Auto
10% of max flicker: 60Hz + iGPU Memory = Gaming
also maybe 10% of max flicker: 165Hz + iGPU Memory = Gaming

All of my tests are very rough, but they work well enough:
Ubuntu Cinnamon 24 LTS
completely fresh install of Firefox 136.0.2 (HW accel on)
quickly scrolling up and down, moving cursor across all of these “stories” on Firefox new tab

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For me, a pretty good fix has been changing BIOS setting of “iGPU Memory” from “Auto” to “Gaming”. Still not perfect, but significantly more useable than before. Anyone who doesn’t have the RAM to spare will still suffer.
==== Edit 1 above ====

3

Add the kernel flag for dcdebugmask=x410

You could also try 400, but I did 410 just to be safe.

If the flickering still persists you could try to downgrade mesa to 24.3.4