Kinda disappointing as it shows a lack of care and support for Linux, but hopefully the fix will come out soon.
I look forward to seeing the Linux numbers.
Been pretty involved with Framework, having the first gen and waiting for the AMD upgrade kit to ship.
They've been pretty transparent about these bios issues to the backers, they've been sending emails on the updates and resolution steps between Framework, the bios manufacturer, and AMD.
So yeah, this looks bad from the outside, but all of the stakeholders are on the same page and they're really setting the example for how a company should treat their customers.
It was a kernel regression that caused the issue, not sure that is entirely their fault. I would think that's more on AMD and the kernel devs.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
There's one of the AMD Framework laptops in the lab for Linux testing and benchmarking but unfortunately no review for launch day due to being held up by a BIOS regression and thus unable to properly utilize accelerated graphics until a new BIOS revision is made available in the coming days.
After installing an Ubuntu 23.10 snapshot to the device, there was no working desktop and when connecting via a VT, there were AMDGPU issues.
A pre-6.5 kernel can be booted with the regressed BIOS to a working desktop but will be producing AMDGPU errors.
In any event once the BIOS issue is addressed, it should be fun to see how well the AMD Ryzen powered Framework laptop works under Linux and the same level of upgradeability seen from the prior Intel model.
Those interested can see my prior Ryzen 7 7840U Linux benchmarks from an Acer Swift Edge 16 if wanting an immediate idea over the performance capabilities of this Zen 4 laptop processor.
Long story short, in a week or two should be the Linux review and benchmarks for the new AMD Framework Laptop.
The original article contains 468 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 60%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
This headline is search engine optimized?
I’ve been waiting for a ryzen framework laptop since spring 2021. I’m in batch 1 and can’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m sure they will have these BIOS/firmware issues sorted out by launch, and I’ve been waiting this long so a couple more weeks isn’t that big of a deal.
What is a BIOS "regression"? I've never heard that term before.
It means a functionality that used to work stopped. It's used in software development. It's common for software to go through "regression testing" to see if everything old still works after a new feature is added.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0