Framework 400MHz issue

Framework Laptop 13
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I am pretty disappointed with the way this laptop has worked out. The quality was never great, thermals worse, and battery life abysmal, but at least it was (technically) repairable.

Power issues have escalated over time to the point where it’s nigh unusable. Every couple of hours the laptop locks itself into 400MHz cpu on all cores, and the only way to get it to unlock is to power down and unplug for several minutes. Trust me, I have tried everything and I am a software engineer and know my way around linux. I’ll probably scavenge the parts from this dog and look for something a little more reliable from mainstream suppliers.

It’s no good making a modular repairable laptop if the quality is so poor. Sorry.

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Which FW 13 do you have?

What distro are you running?

What are you seeing in dmesg or syslogs when you get the downclocking?

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  1. In the tags to my post
  2. Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
  3. Nothing

I’ve analyzed the problem with AI. It’s a known issue for this generation of framework (search all forums for 400MHz to see). “A false external BD PROCHOT assertion” – it’s a hardware/firmware bug.

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Ah, I see. Have you opened a support ticket?

Some of the posts below make this seem like a cooling issue - the CPU is racing and then downclocks when it hits an unsustainable temperature. Do you think this could be a contributing factor in your case?

Related links for other readers:

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Hey! What’s going on? Have you contacted support?

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No. Well out of warranty. I read prior messages and no-one seemed to get a satisfactory response.

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It seems to be related to graphics load. Not CPU load. But it’s a hardware/firmware fault, not a governor issue.

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Yeah so contrary to popular belief, we arent clairvoyant. Issues on the internet arent one and the same. Different setups, use cases, machines, etc. Please contact support then DM me with the ticket number and Ill see what I can do if troubleshooting fails.

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I have troubelshot the crap out of it. You’re not required to be clairvoyant. It’s a standard issue, which you can easily determine if you search for “400MHz” in your own forums or just go to ChatGPT and search “400MHz framework throttle”. The issue hasn’t been fixed. One of your customers has been asking about it with every BIOS update, with no response.

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The cause isn’t the same. There are multiples that we have resolved with different steps. If we arent contacted and given info, then we can’t help.

Also… theres one person with many many names that has the issue and refuses to provide any info for us to help. Dont be deceived.

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We are willing to help you if you want to reach out to support. Since you’ve now waited until your warranty is over, ask to be escalated.

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Then I suggest posting the info you have online, if you’ve managed to fix the “CPU throttled at 400% – not a linux kernel or cpu governor issue”. We’re not clairvoyant. We don’t know what you’ve managed to fix. The silence makes it seems like it hasn’t ever been fixed, and hence not worth jumping through hoops for.

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I didn’t “wait” until my warranty was over. It didn’t show up until I was out of warranty. It was very intermittent at first, so annoying, but not debilitating. Now it can happen several times a day, but I suspect it has something to do with me running code that exercises the graphics card more, since it seems to correlate with that. Also, the fans will run high without a high CPU load before it throttles and then can’t be unthrottled without a shutdown, which I am guessing indicates GPU load rather than CPU load.

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Nope. Its a case issue, like I said. Either contact support and get help, or dont. The offer is there.

Anyone having an issue should contact support. Period. They can come to forums for other opinions or if they know its a mod or oow. But if you want a response from Framework… contact Framework, please.

Forums or Reddit or any other means are NOT support.

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It’s a “case issue”? As in an issue with the laptop case? That’s useful info.
Contrary to popular belief, running the gauntlet of support is not cost-free. You are probably aware that your users skew heavily to the DIY. Being coy about what could be causing the issue is somewhat misaligned with that ethos.

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No as in use case. Please contact support. Otherwise no one can help you, other than the community which has less info about your setup than I would.

Ive offered. The ball is in your court.

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Framework should push an EC update that eliminate BD prochot from this computer because modern CPUs can adjust power seamlessly at the thermal limit

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Here’s what Ill do… DM me your order number and support ID, and Ill personally make sure it gets in front of engineers.

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I just submitted an order ticket before I saw your latest message. It’s ticket # P77X0354. I appreciate your help. I guessed at mainboard as the cause out of the options. I don’t know if there’s throttling circuitry in the battery itself.

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Fabulous! Thank you. Let support do their thing… if you still arent satisfied, you are welcome to DM me at any time. I have no problem stepping in if things go sideways.

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