[RESPONDED] 13th Gen on Mint Linux 21.2 "Victoria"

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
1

I just got my 13th gen Intel laptop today, and I am very impressed. It was a DIY and it was super easy to work on and put together. I have been working on laptops for decades and this is hands down the easiest to work on.

This is also by far the easiest laptop I have ever install Linux on. The only issue I have beyond the fingerprint sensor (known issue) is that the OS doesn’t always pick up that the charger is attached. The hardware sees it, as the LED by the expansion module comes on to indicate charging/fully charged. The OS thinks that it is not connected and just gives me an absurdly long battery life estimate.

I can make the OS see the charger I do one of:

  • Put the laptop to sleep, then wake it up
  • Remove the USB C expansion module and plug the charger directly into the motherboard.

This happens regardless of which expansion module/slot I try. I have 3 USB C expansion modules and have tried different combinations and they all have this problem.

This issue does not degrade the performance of the laptop, and the only time I really notice it is if I run a program like fwupdmgr that won’t run unless the laptop is on the charger. I am figuring there will be an update to the OS in a couple of days that will probably fix it. I was mostly just wondering if anyone else has seen it and what they have done about it, if anything.

So thank you to the Framework crew for making such a nice laptop!

Thanks!

Scott =)

1 Like
2

Oooh I was just going to upgrade today on my 12th gen - desktop upgrade went smoothly. Guess maybe I’ll wait a bit…

3

It doesn’t affect the performance, and the battery is actually getting charged. The OS just can’t see it.

Just a weird little quirk.

Thanks!

Scott =)

4

You’re using the Cinnamon version?
This might be unreported as yet. Looks like Mint directs people to use github for bug reports. Reporting an issue | Linux Mint. And I don’t see any matching battery issues listed.

5

Yes. I was trying to get all the information in my first post, and I forgot to mention I am on the Cinnamon version.

If I can’t get a resolution here, I will probably report a bug. I like to do my due diligence before actually reporting a bug.

Thanks!

Scott =)

2 Likes
6

As I use this more, I am noticing that it will eventually decide the charger is attached. It just takes a significant amount of time.

Thanks!

Scott =)

7

I upgraded last night. Went without issue. I’m not noticing anything unusual with charging, it’s behaving as before for me.

What kernel are you running? I’m using the most advanced one available for Mint, 6.1. Specifically “6.1.0-1016-oem”.

8

We’re not yet vetting this release as a tested community support release due to time constraints.

That said, the known issues list for the release would give me pause on trusting it. As with any new release of Linux, I recommend waiting a few weeks before jumping over to it.

1 Like
9

Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting you to. This post was mainly just to see if anyone else in the community was seeing what I was.

I think it is amazing that Framework supports Linux at all.

Thanks!

Scott =)

1 Like
10

I am also running 6.1.0-1016-oem.

Honestly, since it is eventually finding it, it is a non-issue. I will never notice it unless I am trying to use fwupdmgr or something like that right after I plug in.

Thanks!

Scott =)

11

I wonder if it’s because I have lm-sensors, psensor, and TLP installed?

12

Highly doubt any of those would affect anything outside of TLP needing to blacklist docks from autosuspend or they would eventually suspend. Newest kernel possible is the best thing to push for on hardware less than 6 months old.

13

It doesn’t matter because the problem doesn’t bother me, now that I understand it better.

Thanks!

Scott =)

1 Like
14

I reinstalled Mint 21.1 and the problem persists. However, if I use an Anker Nano II 65W power adapter, the problem goes away. The computer sees the charger within about 15 seconds, and actually says the laptop is charging.

I need to do more research on this, but I am wondering if the framework power supply is not supplying enough power for some reason.

Thanks!

Scott =)

15

Walk me through the issue again, trying to get the gist of it from the above posts, but I want to make sure I have this right:

  • It’s not see the FW provided charger.
  • Using your Anker Nano II 65W power adapter, that adapter is shown and shows as charging/working.

Is this correct? If so, and if you are connecting to the exact same outlet for consistency testing, it may be a bad power charger.

16

The issue is that my OS doesn’t always recognize that it has a charger attached. It will say it is using battery power when it has a charger connected. If I put it to sleep and wake it back up, it will generally then find the charger. Sometimes it will lose it again, though.

All that goes away if I use the Anker Nano II. It sees the charger within a few seconds.

Yes, same outlet. I tried with and without power strip.

Sorry, I probably should have posted my new message as a different thread. I am not looking for a resolution from Framework. I am an electrical engineer and this has now delved into professional curiosity. I find it an interesting puzzle to try to solve.

Sorry to bother you.

Thanks!

Scott =)

17

Appreciate the details @Scott_Price.

Ah, well this helps! :slight_smile:

Okay, understood thus far.

The indicator in Mint shows it as charging? Correct?

Okay, you’ll appreciate this as it’s is far more telling than any GUI. Please open a terminal and paste the following into the terminal, followed by pressing enter.

cat /sys/class/power_supply/*/status

If the charger is plugged in but the output of the command is “Not Charging”, as you likely already know – it’s charged. Again, ignoring whatever the indicator is suggesting.

Now, if it’s indeed charging, the output will indicate Charging.

Here’s the biggie - if it is plugged into AC power and the output is Discharging, then we have something that needs to be a ticket.

We would also get another angle on this with this:

upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT1 | grep state

If this also indicates discharging while attached to AC power, yes, we definitely want to get this into a ticket.

Since you already know the ins and outs of batteries, etc, based on your tradecraft, I’ll spare that part of it. But these are good tools to get a better idea as to what might be going on.

Also worth letting the battery drain a hair and trying these tools again to make sure the output matches the expectation.

Should you decide to look for a resolution:
Because we officially vet Ubuntu 22.04 and Fedora, support will ask you to test a live USB of one of these. Do so, run the same commands in the same connected/disconnected to AC scenarios. Then if it continues there as well, report this on the ticket along with a link to this thread.

1 Like
18

@Matt_Hartley thank you! This is exactly what I was hoping for. I will keep an eye on it, and gather more data.

Meanwhile, I will probably update this as I get more information, just for a place to store the info.

I have definitely had WAY fewer problems on this laptop than on any of my previous laptops running Linux.

Thanks!

Scott =)

1 Like
19

Appreciate this! :slight_smile:

20

Hi folks -

I’ve been following this thread, as I’m having the exact same issue on Mint 21.2. It doesn’t matter which charger or thunderbolt dock I use (I’ve used 4 different ones), my behavior is also similar to Scott’s. When I plug in the charger or USB-C dock cable, it’s a 50/50 chance of whether or not it gets recognized. And when it is, it’ll cycle on and off the “charging” state while I work. Earlier in the week, it got to the point where the battery got down to 3%. I had to turn the laptop off and let it charge for a while before I could use it again, because it wasn’t charging while turned on. I just now took a screen cap of my charging status and this is what it says -

Screenshot from 2023-08-26 09-59-47

FWIW, I’m also an electrical engineer and happy to do some troubleshooting :slight_smile:

//Ken

1 Like