Frame.work laptops

hern42

hern42

hi all,
i'm considering buying a new laptop and am looking at https://frame.work/fr/en/products/laptop13-diy-amd-ai300/configuration/new
do any of you have experience with this brand? of course i'd like to keep freebsd as my os of choice...

(as a side, if someone has *the* best laptop in terms of support i'm listening... my usage is: i3wm, lotsa TUIs, scribus/gimp/rawtherapee/inkscape (i produce a photo magazine), qgis (i'm a forester and make forest management maps), a bit of python and rust... of course web-browsing (currently on fire- and waterfox), mplayer and mp3 listening, etc. and 14" max size)

if this is the wrong place in the forum to ask, let me know and i'll move it.
cheers,
a-
 
I heard only bad experiences with Framework laptops and FreeBSD, sorry. Maybe the AMD versions are better, I don't think I know anybody who uses them with FreeBSD.

Myself I use Thinkpad T14 with AMD processors laptops.
 
There are several threads on the Frame.work laptops in the forums:
T

Thread 'Framework Laptop 16'

They haven't opened orders for my country (Norway) yet, but I'm already a bit exited about the Framework Laptop 16. They main attraction for me (in addition to being user customizable) is that I can get it with an AMD cpu. For some reason I prefer AMD CPUs. See also Introducing the Framework Laptop 16.
I only hope I have enough money to buy one.

Of course I'm going to run (at least try) FreeBSD on it!

Is anyone else planning to buy one?
rotaecho

Thread 'Frame.Work 16 (Framework 16) - FreeBSD scratch spot'

Well, I must be a masochist, I rather get FreeBSD on this laptop than a Linux distro. I'm a retired *NIX/OpenSource engineer and this is my hobby/project to get my daily OSX laptop migrated to FreeBSD while my current daily works; I've done a lot of FreeBSD/Linux to Solaris and the other way migrations in the past.

I just need the basics working;

Keyboard Input
Touchpad
graphics
Wifi
Bluetooth audio

Sounds simple enough huh?

I'm not a huge Linux distro fan. The bloat and creep is as bad as Windows now. I always preferred Solaris x86/SPARC as FreeBSD till OSX intel came around. I ran...

It has been chosen as the reference model for the Laptop and Desktop Work Group
C

Post in thread 'Feedback please: foundation of a laptop and desktop work group'

My understanding is, that the Framework is an affordable reference model; there is no expectation what the community will buy or use. I'd also argue that the 13 and 16 are very much interchangeable.

I'd say there's hope that being able to point to an open manufacturer that offers devices that work well will generate more users willing to commit to FreeBSD as daily driver.

I've switched back to a Lenovo at the moment because my frame.work unfortunately is playing dead and I'm waiting for frame.work's support to get back to me. My x270 is old but damn that thing just keeps on going...

Doesn't mean that there are no problems, but at least you're in good company.
 
I'm on the framework 16 AMD and it's mostly good, though there are some pain points. The wifi chip it comes with is not currently supported, so I've been using an ethernet adapter for internet access. Intel AX210 seems to work out of the box, a lot of people I've seen online have been using that instead.
Previously the built in speakers didn't work, but now they do. I can change the volume with keys but I had to set them myself and it doesn't seem to recognize when I press the "fn" key.
I cannot change brightness at all yet but this is probably a config issue I just don't understand very well yet.
Battery life is about 2 hours depending on what you're doing. It tends to run a bit warmer and so the fans will kick on more often than they would on Linux. I used desktop-installer to get a working desktop, cinnamon works well. I imagine i3 would as well.
 
ringdinger said:
I'm on the framework 16 AMD and it's mostly good, though there are some pain points. The wifi chip it comes with is not currently supported, so I've been using an ethernet adapter for internet access. Intel AX210 seems to work out of the box, a lot of people I've seen online have been using that instead.
Previously the built in speakers didn't work, but now they do. I can change the volume with keys but I had to set them myself and it doesn't seem to recognize when I press the "fn" key.
I cannot change brightness at all yet but this is probably a config issue I just don't understand very well yet.
Battery life is about 2 hours depending on what you're doing. It tends to run a bit warmer and so the fans will kick on more often than they would on Linux. I used desktop-installer to get a working desktop, cinnamon works well. I imagine i3 would as well.
Click to expand...
Using the same. Brightness adjustments work fine for me with the kmod driver (set up as described in the threads linked above).

I have replaced the WIFI chip with an AX200 card (you can buy it for little money) so WIFI works out of the box, too. Just make sure you don't get the AX201 as this only works with Intel CPUs...
 
pebkac said:
Using the same. Brightness adjustments work fine for me with the kmod driver (set up as described in the threads linked above).

I have replaced the WIFI chip with an AX200 card (you can buy it for little money) so WIFI works out of the box, too. Just make sure you don't get the AX201 as this only works with Intel CPUs...
Click to expand...
P.S. I must admit though that after using it for about a year or so as my daily driver, I am no longer too convinced about the hardware build quality - which has nothing to do with FreeBSD of course.
 
pebkac said:
P.S. I must admit though that after using it for about a year or so as my daily driver, I am no longer too convinced about the hardware build quality - which has nothing to do with FreeBSD of course.
Click to expand...
What's up with the build quality? Just curious
 
Space Banana said:
What's up with the build quality? Just curious
Click to expand...
There is a connector connecting the input modules (touchpad, keyboard) to the "midplate", the component below. Due to the vibrations of typing on the keyboard directly above, the connector unplugged itself until I pinched it with a small piece of rubber (which works well enough, so this is a minor issue for me).

What is a bigger problem for me though is that the touchpad stops working from time to time (every few weeks to few months) and powering down the computer doesn't help. Until it suddenly starts working again after a few days.

The Framework service desk team handling tickets is only semi-helpful: Each time you reply to one of their questions, somebody else reads your reply. They ask the same questions again. They tell you each time that FreeBSD is not supported and you should test it with Linux and confirm if you have the same issue with Linux. You need to convince them again and again that it obviously is a hardware issue if it the touchpad does not start working again even after the computer has been powered down completely for many hours. Also that you can not just for the fun of it try to run Linux for a few weeks to see if the touchpad stops working there, too, if you need the computer for your daily work.

They sent me a replacement touchpad which did not solve the problem. After some further fruitless discussions, I bought a new midplate in their store myself (because I need this to work) but that also did not fix the issue.

From looking at their forum it seems like I am not the only one with touchpad issues but they mostly look different, so maybe I am simply unlucky with my specific device.

Right now I can live with this problem as I mainly use the computer on my desktop with a USB mouse, so if the touchpad stops working, it is no show stopper for me. But if I would need this device as a truly mobile device (as I would have if my life/work situation would not have changed for the time being), this wouldn't be too funny.

Don't get me wrong: I like the idea of the device. I love the idea that I could easily replace e.g. the keyboard if a key is broken, something that happened both on my previous Dell XPS13 (which I also used with FreeBSD btw) and Macbook which were otherwise still ok. But the Framework 16 is not cheap and I am not so sure if I really will be able to use this notebook for much longer than I could use some other off-the-shelf notebook...
 
pebkak are you aware of the Keyboard Deflection Kit for the Framework 16? They sent me one without me having to ask.

I have not yet fitted the kit, but I have not had any problems with the keyboard. I dislike touchpads, and always use a small wireless mouse, so I can't shed any light on touchpad reliability.

I run Ubuntu, with KVM for a FreeBSD VM, because I just need FreeBSD to work when I'm away from home (which is often), but if I ran FreeBSD native, I'd install a supported Linux (Fedora 42 or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) on a USB stick for testing.
 
That's what I like about classic thinkpads. I can get a full hardware service manual from lenovo with a complete parts list, and completely disassemble the machine right down to its basic components with standard tools, no special tools needed, and replace individual parts, which are usually available on ebay. Still, since lenovo caught the apple thinness disease I don't know whether the modern thinkpads are as repairable as the old ones! Of course with an old thinkpad you're stuck with older processors and less RAM than you get in a modern machine, by and large.
 
gpw928 said:
pebkak are you aware of the Keyboard Deflection Kit for the Framework 16? They sent me one without me having to ask.

I have not yet fitted the kit, but I have not had any problems with the keyboard. I dislike touchpads, and always use a small wireless mouse, so I can't shed any light on touchpad reliability.

I run Ubuntu, with KVM for a FreeBSD VM, because I just need FreeBSD to work when I'm away from home (which is often), but if I ran FreeBSD native, I'd install a supported Linux (Fedora 42 or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) on a USB stick for testing.
Click to expand...
They did not send that one to me, but that doesn't bother me: With the keyboard itself I am quite happy and since the sponges are below the midplate, I assume that it won't help with the midplate connector problem (and the rubber piece has solved the problem for me anyway).

Also, the haptics of the touchpad work really well for me (as long as it doesn't stop responding).
 
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