FW13 AMD new 3.05 BIOS questions

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
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FW13 AMD Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 64GB RAM

I notice from reading the forums that there’s a new BIOS available 3.05. I have some very basic questions.

  1. my laptop is quite stable at the moment after a bit of a battle getting it there (it still has some white screen block issues after disconnecting from external monitor but is manageable). How necessary is it to update BIOS? Is it silly not to do it?

  2. it seems like there are different ways to update the BIOS, and it can be done via an external USB or directly from within Linux. Is this correct? Is there a preferable way to do it or a recommended way?

  3. I’ve never updated a BIOS on other laptops before. Does Windows handle BIOS updates through the OS (like through a Windows update) and if so is it possible that Framework will enable it in the future? Or did I just likely sit with an outdate BIOS for years on my old Windows laptop?

Thanks

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You can use fwupdmgr refresh; fwupdmgr update to update the BIOS. For Linux use I strongly suggest you upgrade this, it fixes any reports of white screen after many monitors or suspend.

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Thanks for posting; I was unaware the new UEFI had been released.

fwupdmgr update gives a terse but nonetheless useful changelog, so you can use that at least in part to inform your decision. The actual flash (which occurs on reboot) took a little under 11 minutes (my timer said 10:36.39), so make sure to do it when you don’t have any immediate/pressing matters. :sweat_smile:

As for Windows, UEFI updates can be published to Windows Updates, but requires the OEM to supply it to Microsoft for publication, who in turn must approve it before actually releasing it on WU.

It appears that Framework are in the process of doing this for the 12th gen Intel system, but have not (yet) said the same for the AMD drivers. I am not running Windows on my AMD board, nor will I be, so I can neither confirm nor deny conclusively what drivers are or are not on WU – though I have done a very cursory search through the WU catalog, and I have not at time of writing spotted any framework-specific entries.

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I received this update through Fedora 40 KDE Discover (which integrates fwupdmgr) this evening. Took ~6 minutes to apply and all is running smoothly.

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Thanks.

And I just checked with sudo apt install lshw dmidecode -y && sudo dmidecode | grep -A3 'Vendor:\|Product:' && sudo lshw -C cpu | grep -A3 'product:\|vendor:'

and I am indeed still on 3.03.

So literally all I need to do, to update the BIOS, is run these two commands?
fwupdmgr refresh

fwupdmgr update

Sounds too easy (!)

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Thanks for posting; I was unaware the new UEFI had been released.

Oddly the forum thread on the AMD 3.05 update appears to not be visible anymore for some reason…

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This one? Framework Laptop 13 Ryzen 7040 BIOS 3.05 Release and Driver Bundle

It’s still quite visible!

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Oh thank you.

Here is how the FW13 message board looks for me. I also searched AMD 3.05 BIOS and didn’t find what you’ve linked:

image
image1252×1577 138 KB

EDIT:I just noticed that it is further down the page, despite being ‘pinned’

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You have the option of un-pinning a thread from your view. There’s a dropdown at the bottom of the thread.

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