Hello Framework community,
I’m having a major issue with my Framework 16—though not with the device itself, as it runs perfectly.
For a few weeks now, I’ve been trying to create a backup of my BIOS/UEFI using a CH341A programmer, but so far without success. I need some help figuring out the cause and what I might be doing wrong—or whether it’s simply impossible to read the chip. I know reading this type of Winbond WSON 8x6 chip is tricky. If the only way to read the chip turns out to be desoldering it, I’ll just give up on the whole thing; it’s not worth the effort or hassle to me. Still, I’d like to try and create a BIOS dump.
Here is my current setup:
The motherboard is unpowered; the battery is disconnected (what about the CMOS battery? I couldn’t find one anywhere on the motherboard).
External power is disconnected.
I am using a 1.8V adapter with the CH341A programmer.
All contacts and connectors are properly attached and correctly aligned (Pin 1).
The programmer itself is fully functional; I’ve successfully read and reflashed ASUS and Lenovo laptops with it before.
I plug the programmer into a USB port on my PC; it is detected correctly and is ready to go.
As soon as I attach the clip to the Winbond chip and contact is made, the programmer’s power LED dims or goes out, the connection drops, and the programmer disappears as a USB device.
If I unplug the programmer and plug it back in, everything is fine—it connects and is ready. But as soon as I attach the clip to the BIOS chip, the connection is lost.
This happens on both Windows and Linux, so I can rule out an operating system issue.
It’s almost as if there’s a short circuit, though I find that hard to imagine. I tried various troubleshooting steps with ChatGPT; eventually, the suggestion came up to check the chip for a short circuit. However, I find that unlikely—if there were a short on the BIOS chip, surely the Framework wouldn’t be able to boot up at all. Here is another theory I proposed to the chatbot: Since the motherboard is unpowered, the CH341A tries to supply power to other components as soon as I attach it to the chip; this causes the voltage to collapse (the power LED goes out or dims), and the programmer is no longer recognized as a USB device. Could this be the cause?
I haven’t tried connecting the battery or an external power supply yet. Is it even possible to connect an external power supply to power the motherboard while it’s removed from the chassis? I tried it once, but the status LEDs just flashed red. Is there a UEFI setting to power the motherboard without other components attached? Could that solve the problem? Has anyone actually managed to read a Framework 16 BIOS chip before? Perhaps the board does need to be powered in this scenario to successfully read the chip.