As an owner of a RISC-V single board computer (Pine64) I’m mildly interested in the prospect of a Framework with a RISC-V mainboard.
But I have questions:
The Pine64, which has the same JH7110 SoC as the Deep Computer mainboard, runs Linux rather slowly, in fact it’s only usable currently in non-graphical boot mode because the Imagination GPU drivers weren’t finished and/or compatible with the newer kernels. Does Deep Computing already have available a version of Linux with a usable, GPU-accelerated X-Windows GUI, without graphic defects? Or is that still in development?
Is Deep Computing and/or Framework working with the appropriate Debian people to make a Debian 13 option error-free and seamless?
Does the Shell have a matte display or glossy?
Lastly is Framework going to sell the 13.5" Shell with the RISC-V board preinstalled?
This is a third-party mainboard being sold through the Framework Marketplace, so it is not sold in a DIY or pre-built package now, and there is no promise it ever will.
At the moment, the mainboard is sold on it’s own, but you can pair it with any display you choose. That said, any new prebuilt or DIY laptops will come with a matte display. The refurbished laptops can have different options, so make sure to read the listing if you buy one.
The mainboard is made by DeepComputing, so this would be a question for them. As far as we know, none of their staff monitor these forums, so you will not be able to get this question answered here.
Again, this is a question for DeepComputing, not Framework, but there is a distro made for the DeepComputing mainboard. I do not know specifics, but I believe this board is focused on being for developers who want to explore RISC-V and not users who need a “daily driver” laptop, so I am not sure how stable the distro is, or if it has features like GPU acceleration or the overall usability of the distro.
Good news, DC was quick in replying to my questions about GPU support and Debian:
Hi,
1) Our Ubuntu distribution does not work with Gpus for the time being,
we will try to fix it in a future release
2) Our framework has no plans to maintain Debian
Regrads,
DC sales team.