Hello! I’m looking at the Framework 16. I use Linux Mint for programming and web browsing. I noticed there is no option for Mint on any Ryzen-based Framework, but I’ve seen mostly positive things about Mint on the Ryzen boards on this forum. Is Mint stable enough for daily use on the FW16? Are there any plans to make an official guide for Mint on Ryzen devices? Thank you for your time in advance!
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Seconding your question and following this thread
Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, and I believe this is supported on the Framework 16. It should work fine, though I don’t know what Linux Mint may do differently than Ubuntu for adapting any installation guides.
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Looking through the knowledge base, while Ubuntu and fedora are the only officially supported distributions (they will help you through official support lines if you have a problem on those OSes), Linux mint is a community supported OS. This means that it should work, but if you have any problems they won’t help you through official support lines.
All in all, like @Blake_Galbraith said, Linux mint should work just fine, but you will only be able to get help from the community if there are problems (not saying there would be, of course)
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Mint works fine on the Framework laptops. Key to the more recent hardware in the FW16 would be the most advanced kernel you could find. The LM Edge ISO Edge ISO Images — Linux Mint User Guide documentation has a 6.5 kernel which should be enough to get you started on the FW16 at least. Don’t try the conventional ISO with its 5.15 kernel, it probably won’t work at all.
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Stupid question: what is the difference between the Mint edge iso and installing the OEM kernel, as recommended in the Ubuntu guide for the FW16? Also, can I just build my own kernel and install it or is there an actual difference between the edge iso’s kernel and a configured mainline kernel?
Not a stupid question, but I might sound stupid answering it because it’s beyond my knowledge 
I seriously doubt you would ever get a FW16 to boot on a 5.15 kernel. You’d never get to the part where you could boot and then install an OEM kernel. You should be able to boot on a 6.5 kernel though. I checked, but unfortunately, no kernel more advanced than that is available in the Linux Mint repos.
You should be able to build your own kernel. I think the Edge ISO kernel is configured a little better for Linux Mint than the mainline kernel but I’m not sure.
One more question: if I use Mint Edge, do I still need to use the OEM kernel? Also, what is the purpose of the OEM kernel?
Currently the Edge kernel is the same as the OEM kernel. From the repos:
6.5.0
I think the OEM kernel is for manufacturers who preinstall the OS to incorporate into their images. How it differs from the Edge kernel I don’t know.
Linux Mint (Main) is based on Ubuntu, but LMDE is based on Debian. So if OP wants to use LMDE, he’ll need to research how well Debian runs on Framework laptops as of current.
Only pointing this out since LMDE is technically “Linux Mint” as well.
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This is for Ubuntu. But some versions of Mint are based on Ubuntu so maybe it’s similar.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/OEMKernel
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I’ve gotten mint running on my new Framework 16 from a usb device I set up prior, everything but fingerprint seemed ready to go immediately - fingerprint was easy to resolve (followed this guide here Enable fingerprint reader with fprintd - Linux Mint Forums) and so far so good! Just need to work out an existing error with YouTube livestreams on Firefox.
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Great news , thank you!
Could you elaborate on your process please?
What version of mint? And kernel 6.5?
Hi there, I just got whatever the most recent version of the regular cinnamon version was here: Download Linux Mint 21.3 - Linux Mint (at the time 21.2 I believe with Linux kernel 5.15) then followed the instructions on the same website to use balena etcher on my windows desktop to create the boot usb and then followed the other set of instructions on the same website to install it. Then I followed the guide I linked above from the community to get my fingerprint sensor working. Might look into getting kernel 6.5 in when I have some time
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Thank you!
I’m a long time Mint user but somewhat of a Linux novice overall. I despise and have sworn off Windoze since spending way too much time and gray hairs during the malware wars ('98-2005) as a cable modem installer…
I’m glad to hear Mint may work without kernel updates but whatever I must do to make this unique machine my reliable daily driver will be fun and satisfying.
Welcome to the community!
Linux Mint is not tested whatsoever with the FW 16 as stated on the landing page.
Unofficially from a ticketed support perspective, you will likely do “okay” with Linux Mint Edge, using the absolute latest kernel you can get your hands on. But you will be missing out on tweaks and improvements found here.
We welcome folks to use the distro that works best for them, but when they open a ticket for support, it will be requested we do testing against our supported/tested distros.
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Understood. Will likely have Ubuntu and mint loaded so I can walk on the wild side a bit but flip back to Ubuntu if I have problems.
I have the luxury of not needing high performance or outstanding battery life at the moment. For me, this machine will be a toy and a way of supporting this worthy project.
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I also installed Mint of my FW16 but I can’t get the touchpad to work. Did you have this problem?
Oh that’s really interesting - no I did not have this problem, touchpad worked “out of the box” for me
FWIW I have upgraded to a much more recent kernel than came installed initially (currently running 6.5.0-21) and have had no issues stemming from this
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