Trouble with screws during assembly

[frostyfriday]

Hi everyone. I just received my Framework 16 on 14th March 2025.

I just want to warn any folk who may be new or inexperienced when it comes to assembly or disassembly of things like a laptop with tiny Torx screws like those found in the Framework 16.

The driver I got with my laptop was either the wrong size or of poor quality (or both).
A proper driver will fit into the head of the screw and you will fell/see it slide all the way into the screw, probably about 0,4mm or so.
The driver I received did not slide into the head at all!
I managed to get all the screws loose but my experience told me that to try and screw them back in would be a recipe for disaster. because the driver did not fit the screws, the screws would tend to not go in straight and had I continued I absolutely would have cross threaded them not to mention that to get the driver to turn a screw at all I had to press really hard. This too is a very bad idea as you risk bending and damaging the very fragile pcb below.

If you are a noob at this sort of thing and are struggling with the screws, it is not you. The driver is likely bad. Stop before you damage things and as much as you, like me, are likely dying to build your machine, don’t!

I can recommend and iFixIt driver set. They have a bit that fits the screws perfectly and make the job a breeze.
If you can’t get hold of an iFixIt set, just scrounge around for a small Torx set and you should be good to go.

I have contacted Framework support to let them know that they have an issue. I would encourage anyone else who has experience this to do the same so that they know if it was just me that got unlucky with a single poorly manufactured driver bit or if they perhaps have an entire bad batch. You will be helping other folk who are perhaps not as savvy as yourself.

I hope I was just unlucky with one bad bit.

Good luck and remember the golden rule - DON’T FORCE IT!

Oh, everything else just worked. I have Ubuntu running on a lovely machine. Super easy to install. Ubuntu even recognized I had a Framework! Great! I am loving it so far!

-Dennis

[Gwen]

I just want to check if you tried flipping the head around on the driver? I had let someone fiddle with the screwdriver (in a “look, this is my new laptop and the tiny screwdriver that comes with it” sort of way) and they flipped the head around and left it that way without mentioning it.

A couple months later when I wanted to check the laptop for dust, I had a bear of a time opening it, but it did kind of still work, until I thought of flipping the head and it suddenly unscrewed smoothly.

Since you’re a new owner you may not know the bit is reverseable and double-headed.

[frostyfriday]

Thanks for the thought Gwen, but no, it was not that easy. It’s a bad bit. The other end is a Philips driver. I didn’t check it it fits the Philips screws. I should. Perhaps they don’t fit too and it is just the wrong size they have sent out. One size too big.

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I have been designing electronic devices for the last forty or so years and was a Supplier Quality Engineer for a fortune 500 company. I know what I am doing, though believe me, I have on occasion done things like not turned the driver the right way around!

When I first read your response I was like $#%! no! and quickly rushed to see that there was not a smaller Torx on the other end - alas no.

Edited:

I just checked again.

Here are two pics on the Framework 16 keyboard for scale. The top bit is my iFixIt bit and the bottom is the Framework 16 bit. The second shot is a bit closer of the ends of the T5. If you look carefully you can see the Framework one is slightly larger. It does not fit the screws. Kinda just rides in the top chamfered part of the hole, whereas the iFixIt (rusty) sinks into the head nicely.

[Gwen]

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel like you had to justify it with pictures.

[frostyfriday]

No worries @Gwen, I already had the pics, meaning to post them with my initial post!
Still loving my 16.