Given this ‘replacement’ wording, there’s no scoping / limitation of what they replace the 11th Gen Mainboard with. Usually there would be wording to the nature of “equivalent or better”.
For example, if it’s a Logitech mouse, Logitech has been known to replace older model with newer model during RMA.
Could this be the case here as well? Replace the 11th Gen Mainboard, with a 12th Gen Mainboard?
It could be Framework scraping along the edge of compliance (of components. voltages, etc) and when Intel ships chips with silicon bug things start to go south.
I still however think it’s a duff battery.
This is becoming quite the unintended ‘feature’:
You better use the Framework Laptop everyday, or we’ll give you hell.
Force product adoption. LoL.
The biggest thing I am worried about is 8 days without response to my support ticket and no transparency from @nrp or anyone else from framework on what is going to happen next.
I’d be more willing to be patient and give trust if there was communication and commitment to make it right for their backers and customers. Unfortunately, it has been radio silent. This is a very bad omen.
I can’t comment on why Support has not responded as I have no idea, but you might have better results if you tag the Support or Framework-employed moderators (not the volunteer moderators) rather than the CEO.
Of course. However, sometimes (not just with Framework) it can help to get assistance for an open request via other means. I believe that the support queue is based to some extent on last-received message, which can make repeated queries counterproductive - within reason. After several working days absent a response it’s normal to wonder what’s going on. I say that in general - for any given ticket it may be clear that one party feels the matter is at an end or at a clear pause pending additional investigation, but the other party may hold a different opinion.
I did this because so far every support ticket just points to nrp’s post which doesn’t actually help anyone experiencing the issue. Nrp pointed us to support, support points back to or quotes nrp’s post. Neither are actually helping resolve the issue.
Nrp posted here but I had more questions that didn’t get answered. Support finally replied to my ticket and just quoted nrp’s post again. There is zero real concern around this within framework. It seems like they are showing they aren’t going to stand behind their product to ensure investors and backers are kept whole. I’m so disappointed. Other than Valve’s Steam Deck, there hasn’t been a technology offering I’ve been this excited for and this big a cheerleader for in a very long time. I really wanted this to go well but framework is really killing any faith I had.
This thread has been going for so long that I think many people have lost perspective on Framework’s openness, and I want to put some things into a clearer perspective, especially for people who haven’t seen this issue on their own devices as they don’t seem as invested in the topic even if they follow it daily.
This thread was very active for almost a week with several people claiming to have similar issues, and that Support was not following up on open tickets about said similar issues.
The founder made one non-committal post about how Framework suggested this
He also spoke of how they thought there was a possibility of charging the RTC battery from the main battery with a firmware update they don’t know if they can do.
The major issue of the processor going into a bad state probably won’t happen on the second gen boards due to the fact that the bug is part of the 11th gen Intel processors, and the second gen boards are moving to Intel’s 12th gen processors.
Then a week goes by with more people chiming in about support telling them the only thing they could do if they weren’t satisfied with the product is sell the laptop.
There have also been some people chiming in on how Support pointed to the founder’s note which points back to them.
Throughout this time, there has not, to my knowledge, been any further response on the forums from Framework, despite multiple questions being posed about functionality, and how they planned to proceed.
I can imagine that they would need a week to discuss internally about how to proceed, but Support’s responses are definitely troubling, and this is no way for a company to be “helping” people with things that are not well known or common behaviors in the industry.
Yes, I expect to get some flak for putting my opinions here.
Yes, I expect people to say I’m overreacting.
No, I don’t care, because I just want Framework to actually take responsibility for issues they have created.
Support replied and told me they will not fix the issue and that is “final” and advised me again to sell the machine.
After referring several of my colleagues to framework, I will now be actively doing the opposite.
That sucks…
So much for having that post from nrp. Disappointed that you had to do the runaround…and that’s the final outcome.
Framework…The Unrepairable Reparable laptop!
Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
Let the social media backlash begin… 
Basically I use my workstation for 99% of my work. So my Framework sits in my laptop bag (usually 80% charge) for sometimes 3 days or over a week before I use it.
Now before my 12 year old Dell E6410 (I used it as a “I don’t care about this old thing” laptop) would fire up even if I left it for a month or more. Never had to think about it on 2010 tech.
As far as I’m concerned I just want that basic usability with my Framework. Not having to diary in 24 hour charge periods and pre-job boot checks.
At the end of the day I may just try and live with it. But I won’t be recommending Framework going forward. Had Framework said “Yes we have found this to be an issue and we confirm we will be working on a firmware update or fix to mitigate this!” I would be more on board. The firmware fix etc. may not have worked but it would have been nice to see more confidence and affirmative action from Framework till we got to that point.
Instead, reading between the lines it feels like “Oh sh*t, they have found that bug we knew about months ago and now want us to fix it! Trouble is we are now fully committed to getting the 12th gen stuff out! This is the last thing we need so downplay it and hope they go away!”
I still think there are other things they could do rather than just fob us off. I’m just waiting for the fix to appear as “Well if you purchase a new £700 12th gen board the issue is fixed!”
I mean, could it be possible that folks who are having this problem often are just dealing with a rechargeable battery that has drained too many times and for too long and just doesn’t have anywhere close to its factory capacity? In this case getting a new battery should do the trick.
I really get how this is frustrating to folks who just want their laptop to work.
I do think Framework is doing the best they can. On the one hand they designed a product based on Intel’s spec sheets, and now find that there is an Intel bug which exacerbates one of their design decisions. It isn’t fair to Framework, but this is the situation.
I would ask those of you who are not frustrated beyond your threshold to remember the bigger picture. At least give Framework a chance to address the problem by sending you a new battery or mainboard (where warranted).
To reiterate, the 2 framework laptops I have to do not have this problem. I do use mine kind of regularly though.
My apologies in advance for only skimming, and not thoroughly reading all 210 posts here, but…
Would it be feasible for an end user to switch in a non-rechargeable coin cell into the OEM holder? If so, what are the exact makes and model numbers that are compatible? If not, why not?
Thanks
DH
I would imagine that the charging circuitry would try to charge the non-rechargeable battery, which could cause a lot of problems.
Same for me. Same use case pattern as all of my previous personal / hobby laptops but never had an issue in ~20 years of laptops.
My feelings exactly. To me, the responses from support seemed so dismissive and unhelpful. They also seemed to hide the fact it was a known issue.
It’s not actually confirm fixed in the 12th Gen but I’m sure it will be mitigated. Unfortunately even this path is not currently possible. Support will not help swap an 11th Gen board for a 12th Gen. Not for free or for an upgrade charge. The 12th Gen board is not order able right now either. You could get in line for a complete 12th Gen laptop but why would you want to given how the Framework warranty and support means so little?
If you have to buy a new laptop after a few months to get basic functionality we had 20 years ago, how is that better for sustainability / repairability versus buying from one of the big brands?
My machine is basically brand new as I’ve only used it for a handful of hours or so. It shouldn’t need replacement. Framework confirmed that even a new 11th Gen main board wouldn’t fix the issue. My guess is the factory capacity is too small given the drain in the design or the RTC circuit design has much higher drain than other machines and does not have a path to charge from main battery, only AC.
Uhh- I have a bit of a grievance with this post, this bug doesn’t make it unrepairable and only affects a limited number of people, many people who have read through this thread aren’t quite as enraged as you… Although there should be some backlash, I don’t see this as a big problem, much less a product-ending one.
Potentially it’s a bug laying in wait for every Framework user. We’ll just never know. However, as more and more buy in the problem could just get more wider.
The issue is Framework just appear to not be all that interested in it.
One of these things that “it’s never that important…till it happens to you!” If you bought a brand new top of the line car and left it on your drive for a week and it wouldn’t start and the manufacturer/dealer said “Ah well that’s how it works, just charge it up for a day” You’d probably not be too chuffed and would expect more. My ‘Framework Car’ has the equivalent of 400 miles on the clock and already has an issue that affects me and my usage of said product.
I can live with wobbly hinges and I got around hibernation/sleep issues by just turning them off so I’m already making big adjustments for this product that I have not had to with previous ones.
Someone has made a reddit post on the topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/framework/comments/vdo3i6
There is some good info here for potential buyers. I know I went to that sub and read what folks were saying before I placed my order. Good to get an idea of the types of issues owners are experiencing but for me, the type of support and company you are choosing to do business with. It appears some very reasonable comments from those affected are being downvoted. Reddit downvote system can be a real curse when “that doesn’t affect me” = downvote when it should be used for comments that do or do not contribute to the discussion.
It looks like a framework employee has commented on the thread (with the infamous nrp quote) but more interestingly it looks like Louis Rossmann commented in there this morning. Maybe we’ll get more technical eyes on this after all.