FW13 11th Gen — Dead after shutdown, blink code #4+9+10, mainboard reset no help

Community Support
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1

info
Which OS?: Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon (kernel 6.14.0-29-generic)
Which Framework product?: Framework Laptop 13, Intel 11th Gen (i7-1165G7), DIY Edition
Order date 2021-10-25 Batch 5 (Out of warranty)
Date of Issue 2026-9-22
DDR4-3200 - 64GB (2 x 32GB)
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 No vPro
4TB - WD_BLACK SN750 NVMe
Charger stock Framework 60W

So, just days ago, I was sitting next to my computer while it was running with a fan on full speed, plugged in on the left, working as per usual.
And then, it went quiet. The screen went black. No signs of life. And so, I tried to turn it back on.
But, pushing the power button seems to have done basically nothing. It was at this point I noticed that the charge indicator on the left side of the computer was no longer lighting up despite being plugged in and re-plugged in.
However, if I plugged it into the right side, it would light up and charge as it should.

And so, I started to diagnose the computer.
I opened it up. And I noticed that the LED on the right side of the computer started blinking red, but not on the left, the side it is usually plugged in on, which is strange. That’s with the laptop open and facing me.
This indicated to me that the computer was still turned on despite showing zero signs of life, no fan spinning, and being unable to turn it back on.
And so, I unplugged the battery to force reset it, and then plugged it in with power, put it back together, and tried to turn it on.
The power light illuminated white briefly ~15s.
It then blinked an error code, which is this.
#4+9+10 Red
GGGR GGGG RRGG O GGGGGGGG
I decoded it from the reference (My Framework Laptop (Intel 11th Gen Intel® Core™) is not powering on).
The error code seems to specify that the fan and CPU are not working. And so, I tried resetting the mainboard. I got a SIM tool, removed the coin cell, unplugged the main battery, waited five minutes, put the coin cell back in, re-plugged in the main battery, closed the computer up, plugged it in, and turned the power on.
No change. Same issue. Same error code.
Opening it up, it was still only blinking on the right side.
The guide on how to reset the mainboard made it sound like even if the coin cell had reached its end of its service life, resetting it should at least fix it temporarily. Is that not the case? It’s been 5 years.
I don’t have much faith in that replacing would fix it, but I will try anyways.
I have already contacted support and asked for a new RTC battery in order to see if that would help fix it.
I updated the BIOS to 3.17 from 3.06, I think, hard to check when it’s dead. But that was like a year ago.

Things that I have tried:
Unplugging all 4 expansion cards and plugging the power directly into the mainboard.
Re-seating the memory.
Removing the hard drive.
Removing the Wireless card
Booting it only with channel 0, right side memory stick installed.
I also happened just to have the exact fan for this unit available, so I replaced the fan, no change.
Leaving it unplugged for hours with the battery disconnected.
I tried a different stock Framework 60W Charger, No change.

Any ideas of other things I could try to diagnose or fix this? Do you think it’s the RTC battery? Or do you think the mainboard might have just died?

2

Just disconnecting the battery and coin cell does not fully perform a mainboard reset. It will reset the EC though.

There is a process to reset the mainboard by holding down the tamper switch for two seconds letting go getting a flash, then repeating it 10x (been a while since I have done it)

That might reset the board into trying everything again (i.e. the fan). The left side might be toast though if it was a hardware failure.

Maybe taking out the main board and looking for any components that have cooked themselves to death would fully determine it has had a good life and now needs some frankenparts or be put out to pasture.

3

Thank you for the suggestion — I wasn’t aware of that reset method. Unfortunately, it didn’t resolve the issue.

I tried the 10x tamper switch reset:

  • With the main battery connected and disconnected (RTC coin cell installed both times), multiple attempts each way
  • On the fully assembled laptop
  • With the mainboard completely removed from the case, one memory stick installed — using both the input cover power button and the onboard button (top right of the mainboard) while holding the tamper switch, so the board would think the case was closed

I also fully disassembled the computer and inspected the mainboard for damage. There were no visible signs of failure, though I couldn’t check under the plastic shielding on the right side of the board — it’s adhered too firmly.

I’ve already contacted support requesting a replacement RTC battery and am waiting to hear back. If that doesn’t fix it, the persistent left-port LED failure makes me suspect board-level hardware failure.

4

I’ve received the replacement coin cell from technical support and installed it. Due to environmental constraints, I was unable to charge it for 24 hours straight — it was broken up into a few large chunks over the course of several days. I did achieve over 24 hours of total charge time before retesting. I then performed both reset options again:

  1. Full power-drain reset (coin cell + main battery disconnected, wait, reconnect)
  2. 10x tamper switch reset

Result: no success — same blink code, same error.

Does anybody have ideas for additional troubleshooting steps, or do you think the mainboard is dead?

One more question: the protective plastic shielding on the left side of the mainboard is adhered very firmly to the board. Is it possible to remove it without damaging the surface-mount components underneath, so I can inspect for visual damage?

5

You can get new Framework Laptop 13 Mainboard (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series) motherboards for $349 on the Framework motherboard. There are also a number of other Framework 13 motherboards available as well. This should be noticeably faster than your existing motherboard. It will probably be quieter, too, since the AMD cpu is cooler running than the older Intel cpus. I have a Thinkpad and an HP notebook which are around 14 years old both with AMD cpus which still run fine, although you certainly can’t upgrade their cpus.

You can get used DDR5 5600 SODIMMs from eBay. Avoid getting Kingston DDR5 or any DDR5 SODIMMs that are not 5600 speed or faster as they may not work. There are lists of tested DDR5 DIMMs on the Framework website.

I’ve bought used RAM from eBay, tested it thoroughly with long memtest86+ tests and it’s worked fine. You can return it if it doesn’t pass the memtest86+ if the seller says it works and it doesn’t but that hasn’t happened me so far.

You could probably sell your existing DDR4 RAM on eBay or Craigslist and recover some of the cost of DDR5 RAM.

Being able to easily repair or upgrade Framework computers is one of the main reasons that I and my friends are buying them.

6

With the cpu and fan not working. My first guess would be a failed power rail.
Probably a faulty cap or a component failed to short.
You could take it to a repair shop. FW will give them the full schematics and boardview files.
Then it just comes down to repair hourly rate vs cost of new mainboard and also how much importance you put environmental issues. Repair is generally favoured over replace for enviromentally concious people.