Too bad for the game jam, I have to concentrate on the repairs first
The Story
I received the computer in December 2023, with BIOS 3.03 on it.
I’m using Linux Mint on my old computer and I saw that the Compatible community supported (but for Intel, not AMD ). So I tried to install LMDE: LMDE 6 "Faye" - Linux Mint
I noticed some errors during boot (the three failed to load amdpgu lines, I guess ) but it was going too fast to see them clearly before today
From the end of December to the beginning of January, I listed all the situations where the computer encountered problems. The main one was the freezing and the closing of my session (after using software like: Blender - 3D modelling; Krita - for resizing large images; video games: 2D game were ok, 3D games were not; even websites with popups were slowing down).
I also had glitches several times and a disappearance of the taskbar (see image below).
If you’re not a linux expert, then yes, you should use one of the two recommended distros, at the recommended versions, and follow the directions closely. (Most distros that have new major releases in the future will probably work fine, but distro releases from before 2024 probably don’t have the required kernel and related components, except the recommended distros have specially patched kernels etc with the needed support.)
Your files aren’t lost, if you have a USB flash drive you can copy them off, at least while you’ve booted into the installer for the replacement linux distro. (So I guess you’ll need two usb flash drives, one for the installer, one to copy files to.) I don’t think I can provide specific instructions though, sorry … if you have another computer, you have other options, like taking out the nvme ssd and connecting it to another booted computer, either via a spare/empty slot or with an nvme-usb adapter you buy separately …
Any reason you installed LMDE rather than standard Linux Mint?
They both look the same, but LMDE is somewhat of an experiment to see if Linux Mint can be built on pure Debian rather than Ubuntu/Debian, i.e. could LM survive if Ubuntu were to go in such a radically different direction LM couldn’t use it anymore, or if they were to somehow ban LM from using their sources?
Since Debian runs a bit behind in terms of hardware and software support, it’s not a great idea to use it on bleeding-edge hardware. Did you have a very good reason?
Try standard Linux Mint. It got a big update just last week to 21.3 and you can run up to a 6.5 kernel easily. It should be more compatible with AMD’s drivers than LMDE.
The above still applies, but the error you’re seeing looks serious and may not be related to the OS. It looks like your SSD died or got corrupted!
“Gave up waiting for root file system device”
and it drops you to a BusyBox shell because it couldn’t load the files it needs to boot. It’s not just the AMD driver, it’s almost everything.
Not dumb at all, it worked for a time right? Just unfortunate that issue happens when you have a lot on your plate atm.
I would recommend that You use Ubuntu and concentrate on the things that matter to you for now (game dev etc…) , You can still access the files that you need and make backups.
@pierce, I will follow your advices and try that next week
@Fraoch, A friend of mine uses LMDE and explained the project to me, and I liked the idea (being autonomous). But I’m clearly not a Linux expert, just an open source enthusiast without a very good reason to use it, so I guess it wasn’t a wise idea to try this on my own
As @Loell_Framework suggests, I think I will install and experience Ubuntu for now (if nothing is broken ). I hope it’s not so far from Mint (I will follow its future development though)
Thank you again for your lights and see you soon for more happier feedback on the uses of Framework’s laptop
Well it probably worked well on your old computer because it’s pretty efficient and it uses older, stable, well-proven software packages. But this is bleeding edge hardware that might require packages that are quite a bit more current. Even standard Linux Mint might be pushing it a bit.
Don’t feel dumb, it never hurts to give it a go and see what happens. You’re probably the first to try LMDE on any Framework as far as I know, so it’s great to see you get as far as you did!
I hope your files are OK. Get a copy of anything you can ASAP, then do thorough tests on the drive.
Do you have the source for Mint 21.3 running the 6.5 kernel by default? From the research I found it is still running 5.15, as they only tend to do kernel changes during major releases (the eventual mint 22 for example).
For LMDE and Debian in general, you need to enable the backports repository which will give you access to some packages backported from newer development efforts.
Here is an outdated tutorial, but the idea is still the same. Just enable the backports repo, update packages. There should then be newer kernels for you to install.
However you should be aware that these backported kernels are not enabled by default for a reason. They are not as widely tested and I make no representation as to the stability of the rest of your operating system if you install them.
Both my desktop and my 12th gen Framework laptop are running Linux Mint 21.3 with the 6.5 kernel.
You’re correct, it does run 5.15 when freshly installed, but when new kernels are offered through the Update Manager, the OS automatically switches to them. I had to revert to 6.2 on my Framework laptop when I lost networking when switching to 6.5, but the second 6.5 kernel offered runs fine on it.
Note the Linux Mint Edge image does run 6.5 by default.
). So I tried to install LMDE: LMDE 6 "Faye" - Linux Mint
) but it was going too fast to see them clearly before today 
? Should I abandon the idea of using this OS for now?
) ?
(if nothing is broken 
). I hope it’s not so far from Mint (I will follow its future development though) 