Public Beta Test: 11th Gen BIOS v3.06 + Driver Bundle 2021_10_29

Framework Laptop 13
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Its time for another BIOS update. This BIOS has a number of fixes and a few new features and is required to use the new mainboard with the Tempo audio codec.

The Driver bundle keeps the same set of driver versions as the previous driver bundle, but fixes some issues around detection of the audio codec, and allows migrating an existing OS from the Realtek codec to Tempo codec mainboards, This driver bundle is needed for Tempo codec mainboards.

We are still working on building a process to support updates to the driver bundle, as our existing validation process involves extensive hardware/software and stress testing which will catch failures in specific versions of the drivers that may be newer than what we are currently shipping with.

Before we make any new Framework builds publicly available one of the most important aspects is to give our community a chance to evaluate the Framework BIOS and driver builds to provide feedback before we roll them out to all Framework users.

This is a really important step where we want to hear the community’s bug reports, suggestions or general feedback on the latest beta releases for Framework’s BIOS/driver bundles.

We have already been testing these releases internally over here at Framework as thoroughly as possible :muscle:, but since this is a public beta test there is always a chance you could encounter an unforeseen issue we haven’t caught yet; so please consider updating to these versions only if you are OK with that (and ensuring you have backed up anything essential first).

If you do notice any issues or have feedback please comment in this thread and the Framework team will be reviewing everything here and following up as fast as we can.

Thank you all for working together and helping us improve our releases!

BIOS Release Notes

New Features and Changes

  • Support hardware changes on mainboards with new audio codec.
  • Add BIOS menu option to adjust power LED brightness.
  • Initial support for booting without battery. There is a corner case where the system may fail to boot if the system is powered up too soon after AC is attached due to battery detection logic still determining if the battery is present or not. In this case the system may unexpectedly shut off several seconds after booting. But will boot successfully the second time. This will be fixed in the next BIOS update. In the meantime, we recommend not enabling “Power on AC attach” in the BIOS.
  • Change power button force shutdown time from 20 seconds to 8 seconds.
  • Update Realtek EFI UNDI driver to version V2.035 to support additional usb-ethernet dongles for network boot.
  • Show detected PCIe NVME and USB storage list on BIOS boot page. Note that the F12 setup menu will still only show devices that have a valid EFI boot partitions.

Fixes

  • Fix TPM Event log table resource pointer.
  • Fix ACPI ECDT table EC ID field had wrong EC ACPI object.
  • Enable the fan in modern standby. We have had a small number of reports of laptops getting warm while in standby in windows. While we continue to root cause this we have enabled the fan while the system is in modern standby for the condition when Windows seems to run higher power workloads without notifying the system that it is exiting modern standby.
  • Increase the retry time before enabling PS2 mouse fallback mode. This is to fix/improve cases that have been reported on Fedora where waking from standby causes the touchpad to stop working or fall back to reduced functionality. These were reported as intermittent failures, so if this condition is still experienced it is best to disable PS2 mouse emulation in the BIOS. As a side effect this will increase the touchpad detection time in windows setup or when running without drivers by a few hundred milliseconds.
  • Fix UCSI driver hang on right side ports causing UCSI updates to stop notifying the OS until a restart.

Known Issues

  • Battery cutoff through BIOS or by holding down the mainboard power button needs to be performed with AC attached. Otherwise battery cutoff will not be completed due to early power off.
  • In some conditions when the battery is drained to 0% while in sleep, the system won’t charge or boot. The workaround for this is noted here: Laptop won't turn on with battery connected - #9 by nrp

Driver bundle updates

  • Add additional logging
  • Support migration from mainboards using realtek codec to tempo codec by rerunning the driver bundle installer. This will uninstall the Intel SST driver.

Windows

Download: BIOS 3.06

Download: Driver Bundle 2021_10_29

Linux

We are still working on implementing LVFS firmware updates.

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Admittedly, only been running this for a few minutes but so far so good. Changing the power led to low does now prevent me for being blinded :sunglasses: each time I turn on my laptop.

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Thank you @Kieran_Levin and the team.

Installed the new Bios update.

If I read the release notes right there is no need to update the Windows drivers if you are already using 3.03 drivers and using the Realtek chip, right?

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The drivers in 3.03 are outdated. At least the graphics and bt ones so I would install the better driver package @2disbetter

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However-

this suggests that there are not driver version updates in this driver bundle.

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Oh, I didn’t see that comment in the release notes. Well, for those using the driver bundle, use the Intel driver assistant to update your drivers

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Just updated the BIOS and power button dimming works like a charm!

Can confirm that power on without battery works as well.

@Foxboron looks like that TPM2 eventlog issue is fixed?

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Clear evidence that public shaming works after all. /s

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Thank you Framework for delivering. I hope we all can take a moment to appreciate their efforts to make this right.

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Would it be possible for Framework to provide ISO’s for us to manually copy to USB drives until official LVFS updates are set up?

Here’s an example of Lenovo provides ISOs for Thinkpad X1 Carbon bios updates: BIOS Update (Utility & Bootable CD) for Windows 10, 8.1 (64-bit), 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Linux - ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Type 20HQ, 20HR, 20K3, 20K4) - Lenovo Support US

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^^^ This please!

I already missed out on 3.03, couldn’t install it on my Linux-only Framework even with a Windows To Go drive.

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20211029_211337
20211029_2113374032×2268 1.73 MB

Can confirm the mainboard works without the battery, outside the case, and on an external display. Let the tinkering begin!

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Framework laptop built for linux but still a minority. :pensive: I wonder what percentage windows and linux Framework users.

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This sounds related to the workaround I did on Ubuntu 20.04 where I rmmod i2c_hid on suspend and modprobe i2c_hid on resume to avoid the touchpad turning into a potato. Maybe that workaround won’t be needed with this BIOS. Will test.

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I’m so excited to see what you do with this! I saw your video on the battery issue when it went live, and your ideas are undoubtedly going to be fruitful with potential.

A question for all is, could this be a good opportunity to buy just a mainboard to use as an independent computer in a 3D-printed case? I have worries that this won’t be sustainable due to the way that a laptop is designed to be used and using it like a PC or Latte would damage it in the long run. Thoughts?

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I will be using 3D printing for prototyping but it’s not a long term solution due to the heat the mainboard generates. Prototypes that are promising will be sent off and machined from aluminum. This isn’t really a cost effective solution for most unless your a builder/Modder and have a passion for it. I will be buying mainboards when available but I don’t see it as hugely cost effective for most unless again my previous justification applies.

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Oh? Please share your experience. I was planning to do exactly that.

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Normally I’d be hesitant to do that, as the way framework has those modules implemented on the mainboard is going to vary from application to application. Hence the drivers they provide could be specific to that implementation. Otherwise, wouldn’t they tell us to just use the ones straight from Intel?

Still have you seen improvements? About the only thing I want is standby improvements.

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Framework bundles the drivers they’ve extensively tested and confirmed to work, so you can get every part of their eponymous laptop up and running on a clean install, but ‘not the recommended version’ is far from ‘incompatible’. Framework’s laptop is a modder’s dream, and it can be your dream too if you dare to dream it. And troubleshoot it.

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So far so good on Windows 11 (22000.282). Both BIOS and driver bundle installed. A cool feature in the future would be the ability to create a custom fan curve in the bios for the cooler. Maybe with safeguards in place so someone can’t purposely cook their CPU. Thanks for the hard work Framework!

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