Hi All,
Last year I received my Framework 16 laptop configured as below:
- System: Ryzen™ 9 7940HS
- Memory: DDR5-5600 - 64GB (2 x 32GB)
- Storage: WD_BLACK™ SN770 NVMe™- M.2 2280 - 2TB
It has been running Bluefin Linux for all that time without issue, then recently I started seeing the occasional flicker on the screen and had some hard crashes. I tried installing some other Linux distros and could not get past the installer for most of them before the machine crashed.
Finally in desperation I have tried installing Windows on it. The installer worked fine, but I do not seem to be able to boot into Windows. I get a black screen and the fans go crazy.
I have tried reseating the RAM and the GPU with no change.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try next?
Thanks 
The Windows black-screen-and-fans thing might not be related. I got a (second) FW16 about six weeks ago, and while trying to install Windows on it (not my choice, it belongs to my employer), that’s exactly what I got after the first installation reboot.
As I recall, I finally got past it by forcing it to shut down a couple times, waiting fifteen or so seconds before restarting it each time. Eventually it came up with a screen with repair options. One of those options, under a couple layers of clicks, actually worked and let the system finish installing. Haven’t had any problems with it since.
That said, it does sound like you’re having other issues. Have you tried this yet? It’s not a cure-all, but it does cure a lot of things.
I just tried your suggestion, an unfortunately I see no change in the machine. I guess I have a hardware issue of some kind 
One thing I can add is that the capslock key stops responding once the fans go nuts, so it looks like the machine is really sad
Kind of a long shot here but it’s a suggestion. Have you tried toubleshooting to see if it’s the SSD having issues? You may have been able to format/install but if its not booting you might not have a write issue but a read one? You already said you tried reinstalling windows so it sounds like you’re willing to start fresh. I would try two things. First, swap the SSD with a different one and see if install and boot works. If not, use the secondary SSD slot to see if its the mainboard having difficulties communicating with that port and use the micro SSD slot (forgive me I can’t remember the term of it off hand) that is located just under the main NVME M.2 port. This is all assuming you have one of each or the ability to obtain… just a suggestion I don’t claim to be a pc wiz.
I’m fairly sure that the SSD is not the issue in this case as I am able to boot into Windows 11 safe mode ok. I’m thinking it is related to the GPU in some way.
You could try using a kernel parameter to force the system not to use the dgpu and see if it is stable. I am assuming that you do not have the non-dGPU expansion bay module to swap in.
Other things to try: booting from a liveUSB, running memtest on the ram. resetting the bios to defaults, and resetting the mainboard. Some are longshots, but at this point perhaps worth a try.
Fair enough, my fault for assuming when you said you couldn’t boot into windows meant you could not access safe mode as well. If the fans go wild and the computer crashes for normal boot, I’m curious if it is because the cpu is overheating and shutting down attempting to prevent any serious damage. If you got yours last year (like I did) do you know if you are running liquid metal? There have been a lot of issues circulating (including mine and I am currently in the process of fixing that through support) with massive offsets in temperature due to inadequate heat transfer to the heatsink. Booting in safe mode requires much less, therefore might not have the same issue with stability at idle and low temps. Again, anyone else reading this feel free to chime in and set me straight 
I’m just trying to help.
I’ve never popped the heat pipes off the CPU to take a look, I’m guessing since mine was a pretty early one it may have the liquid metal issue. I guess I’ll start a support ticket and see what I can see.
Yeah I certainly wouldn’t recommend opening her up right now, a simple support ticket should solve that question easily. Wouldn’t want to be doing surgery without an appropriate back up solution on hand if that turns out to be the case. Don’t be surprised however, if they ask YOU to do most of the leg work for them and pop your FW16 open to give them serial numbers off the mainboard or something. I actually had to go through several days worth of testing and opening up, photographing and submitting, reassembling, rinse/repeat. I even had to correct them on my order because they said I didn’t purchase RAM or an SSD when I clearly did But I will keep my fingers crossed for you that it is a simple and straight forward process to get that answer for you. I want to say I read somewhere in the forum that it was toward the end of the year (November/December of '24?) that they made the switch from LM to PTM. But would not be surprised if they were still shipping out old inventory with LM still.
Edit: typo & source for LM to PTM swap:
I ordered mine on Sep 5th of 2024 and it shipped 4 days later, so I imagine I would probably have the liquid metal version.
Just to confirm, you are booting from the native display on the FW16 and not an external monitor connected to the dGPU, correct? I ask because you were wondering if it was a GPU issue. If you were using an external display through the back of the dGPU, that could potentially be the case as it would automatically engage the dGPU, but if you are not, it should be booting from the iGPU until the pc recognized for the demand to automatically swap over to dGPU under heavy loads through AMD smart graphics.
I am only using the internal display
Ok, then what I said before should be valid (especially with a fresh install of windows) that your FW16 should be booting with the iGPU (integrated graphics through the CPU and not the dGPU 7700S). Meaning if it is indeed a chip error, should only be your processor as the dGPU shouldn’t be engaged right away. Something else you may want to do if you haven’t already is check the fans for both intake and exhaust. Is the pc simply overheating due to poor airflow and could use a clean out? Since you can boot to safe, have you tried looking into windows repair tool just to eliminate that potential off the checklist of problems it could be? I don’t think it is specifically that the OS needs fixing since it is fresh and it also crashed/failed boot prior to windows install, but maybe during crashes the SSD could have some corrupt sectors? I am still leaning toward the CPU shutting itself down…
Edit: Additional tool/support
Repairing Corrupted SSD Blocks:
Check and Repair File System:
Right-click the SSD drive in File Explorer, go to Properties > Tools > Check > Scan and repair drive.
Run CHKDSK:
In Command Prompt (as administrator), run “chkdsk [drive letter]: /f” to scan and fix errors.
i.e. “chkdsk C: /f”
It kind of sounds like a progressive failure due to water corrosion or something. But if it is display issues with the dgpu, you could try reinstalling the interposer and checking and cleaning its contacts.
I’ve checked the interposer and it looks fine. I have reseated everything that I can. There are no obvious signs of water damage or corrosion that I can see
The fans appear to be working as expected. When I opened it up there was no dust of fluff. The machine does not seem to work even with a fresh install of windows and windows repair does not seem to help. I’m going to try another linux distro to see if I can get that to work since I don’t really want to run windows anyway 
I was just able to install Bazzite Linux on the machine, but I had to tell it to use the basic graphical install. The normal install would crash for me. I wonder if this is going to be stable… I guess only time will tell
Just here for the update. Is it stable? If so, I’d still look at a stress test and do some monitoring.
Under Bazzite the thing seems to be rock solid. I’ve tried some stress tests. Tomorrow I think I’ll give it something to really chew on and see what happens.
It’s really strange, before it would crap out if I looked at it funny, now I can’t kill it.
2 Likes
That is very odd seeing as how you didn’t change anything other than the OS. Glad to hear she’s up and running again 
. Definitely keep an eye on those temps during stess tests and follow through with that PTM swap with support if necessary.