Hey everyone! I’m trying to bring up a Framework 13 AMD 7640U mainboard I got in a mystery box and I’m stuck. Hoping someone here has seen this before or can point me in the right direction.
My setup:
Framework 13 AMD 7640U mainboard (standalone, not in a chassis)
Framework battery
CMOS battery installed
1x 12GB RAM DDR5
No SSD installed
Framework keyboard connected
Portable monitor via USB-C to HMDI Adapter (seperate power)
100W USB-C charger (top Left)
What it’s doing:
With battery connected: continuous red blink, won’t POST
Without battery: alternating red and blue blink
What I’ve tried:
Left it charging overnight with just the charger and battery — no change in behavior
Tried a 100W charger (previously had 65W)
Tried booting without the battery on wall power only
Tried different USB-C ports for charging
Removed CMOS battery and held power button for 30-60 seconds to fully drain, then reconnected everything
I’m facing the exact same problem on my 7840U board without battery (I don’t have a CMOS battery for now). Glad to see I am not alone. Hopefully we just missed something obvious.
Personally I also tried keeping the little piece of plastic sticking out of the SW3 in the top center down, to no avail. I understand the flashing red light means that this switch is not pressed, though, so maybe for your battery case it would resolve it. But of course without battery the problem persists.
I tried with 32GB DDR5 Crucial RAM sticks that work on my board when inside the laptop case. I tried with a single stick in slot 0, a single stick in slot 1, and two sticks, no effect.
Put it back in your 16 chassis, boot into the bios and set it to standalone mode. Then it should work.
If yours is also from a mystery box. Well, let’s just say there is a reason it was in there instead of being sold as refurbished. It will make a nice wall art though.
