Recently I had my framework 16 suddenly crash in the middle of using it with the error “Default Boot Device Missing or Boot Failed”
I then discovered that i hadn’t removed the plastic film on the Primary SSD’s thermal pad, most likely causing it to overheat.
The quick start guide doesn’t mention anything about the thermal pads, and with the Primary SSD’s pad being on the underside of the mid plate, I hadn’t noticed it during setup.
With the guide being extremely simple and easy to follow, it is important to have it correct and complete.
Anybody who follows the instructions verbatim and without question like I did is extremely likely to make the same mistake I did.
The worst part about it is that it did actually work fine for quite some time.
I could see this potentially causing a lot of frustration for some people trying to troubleshoot the issue.
If you own a framework 16 DIY edition and are not sure if you removed the film on the cooling pad, you should check it.
There was a comment on that section by a user saying you needed to remove it. I didn’t see it initially and then when I went to install the mid plate I saw the film so it is easily missed.
I didn’t even notice the comments on the quick start guide.
This is important enough to include in the guide itself in my opinion.
I might go to support about it if it doesn’t change soon.
While adding more cooling is good, overheating is supposed to slow the ssd down not crash (or even break) it so there may be something else going on there too.
Sorry for the late reply, but do you happen to have any suggestions on where to start searching?
The boot device being temporarily missing only happened once, before I fixed the cooling issue.
I did reseat the SSD as well at the time, and from then on it only crashed a small handful of times. Only once did it crash again in a similar way as the first time but with a smooth reboot afterward, and I think the other times were when i closed the lid.
It’s still not a common issue and has been generally reliable.
In my case, there was some moisture on the SSD where the unremoved plastic film touched it. I don’t know how a plastic film could cause that, but that could have caused damage if the SSD didn’t have a sticker on the electronics:
I suppose not.
Removing the plastic film on the thermal pad seemed to have fixed at least some of the problem, but I think all I can do to narrow down on it further is general hardware/software diagnostics.
It could’ve even been fixed on its own with a software update for all i know, It didn’t happen often after all. It just seemed very unusual the first time it happened.
I still believe the setup guide should be updated though.
You sure that’s not just silicon oil from the thermal pad?
I did notice some liquid that seeped under the plastic film on mine, but it definitely felt like the same oil from the pad.
