Zorin OS on the Framework Laptop

Framework Laptop Linux
#1

Hi everyone, I’m Artyom, co-founder of Zorin OS. We’ve been testing the Framework Laptop to check its compatibility with Zorin OS, and wanted to share our findings and tips with you here.

Special thanks to the Framework team for kindly providing us with a Framework Laptop and 12th Gen Mainboard for testing!

How to Install Zorin OS

To install Zorin OS on your Framework Laptop, please follow our official installation instructions:

For the best experience, we recommend that you install the latest updates from the Software Updater in Zorin OS regularly and install the latest BIOS firmware from Framework:

Hardware Support

Framework Laptop (11th Gen Intel Core)

After testing the compatibility of the Framework Laptop with Zorin OS 16.1, we’re pleased to say that everything appears to work correctly.

Wi-Fi & Bluetooth

Works out of the box without additional setup.

Fingerprint Reader

Works out of the box. You can enable it by opening the Zorin menu > Settings > Users and click on the “Fingerprint Login” option for your user account.

If you aren’t able to enroll your fingerprints in Zorin OS, but previously used the fingerprint reader in another operating system, please use this fix.

Battery Life on Suspend

If you are noticing high battery depletion while your laptop is on suspend mode, you can enable a workaround to get the best suspend battery life. To use it, open the Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and enter these 2 commands:

sudo sed -i 's/^GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT.*/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvme.noacpi=1"/g' /etc/default/grub

sudo update-grub

Afterward, restart the laptop to apply this change.

While testing this workaround on our Framework Laptop, we achieved the following results:

Time Without workaround With workaround
Start 98% 98%
1 hour 95% 96%
2 hours 92% 94%

The workaround causes the battery to deplete by 2% per hour instead of 3% per hour without the fix. It appears that there is an improvement, albeit a slight one.

For additional tips to optimize battery life on the Framework Laptop, check out this thread. However, we only recommend making these modifications to your system if you’re an advanced Linux user.

Framework Laptop (12th Gen Intel Core)

Zorin OS 16.2 onward comes pre-loaded with support for the Framework Laptop (12th Gen Intel Core).

The same notes for hardware support on the Framework Laptop (11th Gen Intel Core) should also apply to the 12th Gen Intel Core variant.

However, please also note the following details about the ambient light sensor and brightness keys:

Ambient light sensor or brightness & airplane mode keys

It’s currently possible to have either the ambient light sensor (for automatic screen brightness adjustment) or brightness up/down (for manual screen brightness adjustment) & airplane mode keys working, but not both at the same time. You can find a technical explanation for this here.

By default the ambient light sensor is enabled, but if you wish to enable the brightness & airplane mode keys instead, please open the Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and enter these 2 commands:

echo "blacklist hid_sensor_hub" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/framework-als-blacklist.conf

sudo update-initramfs -u

Afterward, restart your computer to apply the changes.

12 Likes
#2

Hello @AZorin, first, thank you for taking time to test ZorinOS on the framework laptop !

I will soon receive mine but it’s a 12th Gen Intel, do you have a release date of Zorin 16.2 ? I’ve not found any information on your blog…

Thank you !

#3

Hi @Jerome_Barbato, we’re tentatively planning to release Zorin OS 16.2 within the next month.

While we haven’t tested it first-hand yet, you should technically be able to boot a Zorin OS 16.1 USB Install Drive and install Zorin OS 16.1 to a Framework Laptop with 12th Gen Intel. After the installation is complete, you can to install the latest updates from the Software Updater to get the latest drivers and better hardware support for the newer Framework Laptop model.

#4

Will Zorin OS 16.2 have Kernel 5.19.13 or newer?

#5

Hi @AZorin thank you for your answer ! As soon as I get it I will give it a try and give you updates on this thread.

Update to 16.2 will require a fresh install ?

Thank you for your work ! Zorin is a very nice OS

2 Likes
#6

@Second_Coming It will have the Linux Kernel version 5.15 (Long Term Support) which is the same version as in Ubuntu 22.04

Thanks @Jerome_Barbato! You’ll be able to upgrade to Zorin OS 16.2 by simply installing the latest updates from the Software Updater from Zorin OS 16.1. The upgraded Linux Kernel release – which will be included in Zorin OS 16.2 – is already available as a software update to all Zorin OS 16 users, so you should get better support for the new Framework Laptop as soon as you install Zorin OS and the software updates.

2 Likes
#7

We’ve just released Zorin OS 16.2 today, which adds better support for the 12th Gen Intel Core variant of the Framework Laptop. You can find more details about this release here:

4 Likes
#8

@AZorin Does it have nvidia egpu working out of the box or do we need to install additional packages and drivers?

#9

We haven’t tested eGPU support so can’t 100% confirm whether it works on the Framework Laptop. However, as Zorin OS is based on Ubuntu, it should have the same level of support for hardware like eGPUs.

#10

@AZorin Okay I will give it a try tonight and will let you know

#11

Not home yet to test egu but did notice 16.2 still requires the hid_sensor_hub to be blacklisted in order for the brightness keys to work. Not a big deal but for those that need it here is the fix.

  • The ALS and the brightness up/down keys conflict on currently shipping kernels. You can disable the ALS to restore brightness up/down functionality. First, edit /etc/default/grub as root.
  • Find the line that starts with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT, and modify it to: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=“quiet splash module_blacklist=hid_sensor_hub”
  • Save and close the file. Then in Terminal, run “sudo update-grub” and then reboot.
#12

Thanks @Alex6! I’ve updated the original post (at the top of this thread) with a note about the ambient light sensor and brightness keys on the 12th Gen Intel Core variant of the Framework Laptop.

2 Likes
#13

Framework Laptop is mentioned in the Zorin OS blog. That’s nice.

Stronger security and better hardware compatibility

Many built-in system technologies have received improvements for better security, compatibility, and performance.

Zorin OS 16.2 is now powered by the same version of the Linux kernel as in Ubuntu 22.04 and comes with new drivers, bringing even better support for hardware such as:

  • NVIDIA graphics cards, including the GeForce RTX 4090
  • AMD Radeon and Intel graphics cards
  • Framework Laptop with 12th Generation Intel Processors
  • Xbox One Controller
  • Apple Magic Mouse
  • USB4
  • More Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and audio devices
4 Likes
#14

@AZorin thanks for updating the post with the instructions.

Unfortunately no luck so far getting my egpu with a Nvidia 2080 super. Spent hours trying everything I could find online but no luck. I’m going to keep trying but some assistance would be amazing. I know many people bought the framework to be able to use an egpu with it so I’m not alone.

If there is a better place to post assistance with this please let me know. Also what logs I should share.

Thanks for all your work on Zorin especially with the framework.

Everything else runs and works perfectly with 12th gen from my testing