Framework13 12th Gen intel BIOS update won't go ahead. 3.05 -> 3.19. Mainboard only, Linux

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
1

BIOS update on 12th Gen Intel Mainboard in 3D printed housing is failing to perform it’s update (Stock Ubuntu 24 + LUKS encryption).

I am following these instructions from the official pages.

Device description:

12th Gen intel mainboard inside the 3D printed housing.

  • BIOS
    • 3.05
  • Software
    • Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS Noble
    • LUKS encrypted disk
  • Hardware:
    • Standard NVME SSD 512gb
    • 64gb Ram 3x32gb
  • Peripherals:
    • USB-C PD+Display to samsung monitor.
    • Logitech Mouse USB-A dongle.
    • USB-A keyboard.

To my knowledge this device is running the same BIOS as it came with.

Issue:

I have successfully run the Bios update recommended by framework on my other devices. These have all gone fine with the described Linux method. But when I try on this device it doesn’t run.

Steps taken:

Bash Update Method

  1. Run the commands on the article page. 
    1. fwupdmgr refresh --force

    2. fwupdmgr get-updates

    3. fwupdmgr update
  2. Type ‘Y’ when asked to reboot.
  3. OUTCOME: Reboot asks for encryption password and then boots normally. Confirmed bios has not updated.
  4. Try steps again but type N to reboot and reboot manually.
  5. Try steps again but shutdown and start up manually.

All these lead to normal startup with no bios update.

UEFI Update Method

  1. Download zip file from instruction page.
  2. Format fresh 32gb USB 3.0 flash drive.
  3. Unzip contents onto drive.
  4. Cleanly unmount flash drive.
  5. Drive plugged into front left socket with USB-A expansion slot.
  6. Start and enter F12 boot menu.
  7. Select ‘Firmware update’ from list.
  8. Text states error. I didn’t catch the message but it says it will continue in 10 seconds.
  9. Next error message states moving to fall back.
  10. Boots normally. Confirmed no bios update.

Other Context:

During testing, I was successful on the following devices:

  • FW13 13th Gen Intel mainboard in printed housing with LUKS encryption.
  • FW13 13th Gen Intel Laptop without disk encryption.
  • FW13 AMD laptop without LUKS encryption.
  • FW13 12th Gen Intel laptop without LUKS encryption.

I am awaiting the outcome of a colleagues attempt to update using their FW13 12th Gen Intel Laptop without LUKS encryption and will update here accordingly.

  • Colleague tried to install on his 12th gen laptop with no encryption and it did not run using the LVFS method. He’s gone on leave now but will try to run it with the UEFI method later.

Opinion:

My differential right now is that for what ever reason the LUKS encryption is blocking the bios update but it’s not impossible that the lack of Chassis is the cause as I’ve seen a few other weird things happen when running just the mainboard.

Any solutions or others with this issue in trying to update the BIOS?

EDIT/ADDENDUM:

I missed that there was an additional instruction set on the page specifically for ‘updating mainboard outside of a laptop’.

I will follow the slight tweaks and see if this works though it still doesn’t explain the issues faced with the other laptop. Will update with further testing.

2

have you tried doing an efi shell update

3

Do you have secureboot enabled?

4

And in addition to those two prompts, you say you formatted a fresh 32GB flash drive.
But what format did you use? Was it FAT? or did it format NTFS?
Was it GPT, was it MBR, what did you use to format it, was it quick format, or was it full disk write format?
If you used Windows to format it then it is well known that Windows loves to format drives as NTFS, and with the wrong boot record format for booting a Framework.

5

@Nertaam yes I have. That is what I am referencing above with ‘UEFI method’. Maybe my heading is incorrect but I meant I’m following the EFI method.

It ran but never rebooted into the installation. Instead it just booted as normal with no update each time.

6

It is enabled. Confirmed with sudo mokutil --sb-state.

However, I think that secureboot would be enabled on all my other devices where the bios updated fine.

Do you think this could be the issue?

7

It was formatted as FAT in Ubuntu using gnome disk.
It was a quick format rather than a full erase.

When the boot order menu was opened (f12) it was recognized correctly and could be started but it wouldn’t go through with the install and then rebooted as normal.

8

Fwupd needs its EFI update binary to be signed with the system secure boot keys as well. I use sbctl and my own pair of keys.