4 ms·

Framework 13 AMD Setup with FreeBSD

65 points by hggh 2y ago

mcflubbins 2y ago
I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Framework 13 AMD this year due to two things: This repo: https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework And this: https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/laptop-support-and-usability-project-update-first-monthly-report-community-initiatives/ https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/laptop-support-and-usabil... Sadly, I'm running Windows on the thing at the moment, due to needing a reliable laptop for a long-distance work trip last month. But will definitely be putting FreeBSD on it in the next month or so. Also, I've had zero regrets on the purchase its a very nice laptop!
- yellowapple 2y ago
  You could always do what I do with mine: use Rufus to install Windows to one of Framework's storage modules in "Windows2Go" mode, and then just pop that in when you need to turn your otherwise-BSD laptop into a Windows laptop. Since the storage module fits flush with the laptop's chassis, it doesn't have the jank factor that you'd usually feel from running off a USB drive. The only downside is that you lose a module slot, which hurts when you've only got four of 'em like with the Framework 13. It'd be neat to see storage modules that expose Type-C ports of their own, making this downside less painful.
  - mcflubbins 2y ago
    That's not a bad idea. Thanks for the suggestion I might go that route! My adventures of swapping out the internal NVME drive have not been very good. I have to disable secure boot for FreeBSD and then re-enable it for Windows (else have to hand-enter a bitlocker key) and even when doing that Windows "forgets" my Pin and Fingerprint. Possibly due to the way I set it Windows initially but still, annoying. Recently picked up a new WiFi card that works with FreeBSD but haven't had a chance to install it yet.
42772827 2y ago
Is anyone here using Framework with GNU/Linux and not with a big list of caveats? That means suspend working, battery life above 6 hours, palm rejection working, wifi working, fractional scaling working?
- ancaster 2y ago
  Yup. Framework 13 AMD with Fedora 41, gnome or sway. Works great.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
  Are you using a supported distro?
  - nrp 2y ago
    See https://frame.work/linux https://frame.work/linux for the distros we recommend for each generation.
- jfyne 2y ago
  I am. Running arch with sway. Im on an older intel one, everything just works. Suspend works Fingerprint reader works Battery life when not running heavy workloads is around 13 hours
  - yellowapple 2y ago
    > Fingerprint reader works That blew me away when I found that out. Fingerprint readers never work on Linux, and yet (with openSUSE Aeon) the fingerprint reader built into the Framework 16's power button works out of the box. Felt like fucking magic.
- buildfocus 2y ago
  All except fractional scaling worked for me out of the box with Mint. Fractional scaling isn't working just for Linux reasons rather than a Framework limitation (in my case, I'm using Regolith, and wayland is still experimental and not default).
ahdanggit 2y ago
Something both this blog post and the Github Repo[0] do not point out very clearly is that the stock wireless card that comes with (if you choose it), at least, the AMD 13 isn't supported by FreeBSD[1]. Of course, you can swap it for a compatible one though. [0] https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework [1] https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops/Framework_Laptop/13_AMD_Ryzen_7040_Series https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops/Framework_Laptop/13_AMD_Ryz...
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
returningfory2 2y ago
If anyone from Framework is reading, I've noticed something weird about your website which I think would be worth fixing. When I go to the Framework Laptop 13 page [1] the only buttons I see are "pre-order now" which makes me think I can't buy one today. But when I click "pre-order now" and go to the shop, I can choose older version of the 13 and buy them today. Context is I've a friend who told me last night he wants one of these laptops but that they're not currently available...overall seems the website is a bit misleading on current availability. [1] https://frame.work/laptop13 https://frame.work/laptop13
- macote 2y ago
  It's the AMD 7000 series that is available. Only the AI 300 can be pre-ordered if I understand correctly, and that's the one being referenced by the featured model on that page.
  - brewtide 2y ago
    Point is, they need a link saying there is an option available, even if it's not the new new new (which is in pre order). I just bought an AMD 13", and had the same "wtf, that's silly" thought about the site. Also, Ubuntu 24.04? Lts works great. Suspend eats some battery, but can't be more than 1% an hour. If I suspend it overnight, it's not the end of the world. I have it hooked to some Amazon USB4 dock, with wireless dongles for keyboard and mice, and 2 1080p displays. One horizonal, one vertical. Those work as expected, and all scaling between them works and makes sense. It did take a few moments to get it all to align up but once it did it's worked great. New bios update mangled my battery charge limit behavior in weird ways. Prior to mid month update, it worked great! Sometimes now it works, sometimes it's at 100%. Since the battery can be replaced in no time, I've honestly not fret it much. The speakers are not great but I found some customized eq settings for an app. (Easy .. something) That made them sound 80% better, immediately). Battery life, I dunno. I'm one of those people who kills all their batteries by panicking at 56%. If light duty, 6 hours no problem, maybe 8? I love it. A bit of coin but I'm hoping they stay around so when things break , they can be replaced. Tired of forced updates and controlled subscribe behaviors. A laptop one can replace broken pieces themselves and an OS that thus far lets you use the damn computer.
mrbonner 2y ago
Could someone with a Framework desktop let us know the situation of: 1. Running Linux 2. Inference speed of any of the LLMs I'm thinking about getting the 128GB one.
- StrLght 2y ago
  Framework Desktop won't be out until Q3 this year. Other devices with Ryzen AI Max+ 395 are just starting to ship. At best, you may find answers to these questions in a few months.
qchris 2y ago
If anyone's interested, there's a slightly more recent update on this work at the link below, dated about a week after this post (23 March vs. 16 March 2025 on the main link). [1] https://euroquis.nl/freebsd/2025/03/23/framework.html https://euroquis.nl/freebsd/2025/03/23/framework.html
pcdoodle 2y ago
Cool, I hope efforts like these help make framework the goto laptop for power users.

65 points by hggh 2y ago

I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Framework 13 AMD this year due to two things: This repo: https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework And this: https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/laptop-support-and-usability-project-update-first-monthly-report-community-initiatives/ https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/laptop-support-and-usabil... Sadly, I'm running Windows on the thing at the moment, due to needing a reliable laptop for a long-distance work trip last month. But will definitely be putting FreeBSD on it in the next month or so. Also, I've had zero regrets on the purchase its a very nice laptop!

yellowapple 2y ago
You could always do what I do with mine: use Rufus to install Windows to one of Framework's storage modules in "Windows2Go" mode, and then just pop that in when you need to turn your otherwise-BSD laptop into a Windows laptop. Since the storage module fits flush with the laptop's chassis, it doesn't have the jank factor that you'd usually feel from running off a USB drive. The only downside is that you lose a module slot, which hurts when you've only got four of 'em like with the Framework 13. It'd be neat to see storage modules that expose Type-C ports of their own, making this downside less painful.
- mcflubbins 2y ago
  That's not a bad idea. Thanks for the suggestion I might go that route! My adventures of swapping out the internal NVME drive have not been very good. I have to disable secure boot for FreeBSD and then re-enable it for Windows (else have to hand-enter a bitlocker key) and even when doing that Windows "forgets" my Pin and Fingerprint. Possibly due to the way I set it Windows initially but still, annoying. Recently picked up a new WiFi card that works with FreeBSD but haven't had a chance to install it yet.

42772827 2y ago

Is anyone here using Framework with GNU/Linux and not with a big list of caveats? That means suspend working, battery life above 6 hours, palm rejection working, wifi working, fractional scaling working?

ancaster 2y ago
Yup. Framework 13 AMD with Fedora 41, gnome or sway. Works great.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
Are you using a supported distro?
- nrp 2y ago
  See https://frame.work/linux https://frame.work/linux for the distros we recommend for each generation.
jfyne 2y ago
I am. Running arch with sway. Im on an older intel one, everything just works. Suspend works Fingerprint reader works Battery life when not running heavy workloads is around 13 hours
- yellowapple 2y ago
  > Fingerprint reader works That blew me away when I found that out. Fingerprint readers never work on Linux, and yet (with openSUSE Aeon) the fingerprint reader built into the Framework 16's power button works out of the box. Felt like fucking magic.
buildfocus 2y ago
All except fractional scaling worked for me out of the box with Mint. Fractional scaling isn't working just for Linux reasons rather than a Framework limitation (in my case, I'm using Regolith, and wayland is still experimental and not default).

ahdanggit 2y ago

Something both this blog post and the Github Repo[0] do not point out very clearly is that the stock wireless card that comes with (if you choose it), at least, the AMD 13 isn't supported by FreeBSD[1]. Of course, you can swap it for a compatible one though. [0] https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/freebsd-on-framework [1] https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops/Framework_Laptop/13_AMD_Ryzen_7040_Series https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops/Framework_Laptop/13_AMD_Ryz...

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

returningfory2 2y ago

If anyone from Framework is reading, I've noticed something weird about your website which I think would be worth fixing. When I go to the Framework Laptop 13 page [1] the only buttons I see are "pre-order now" which makes me think I can't buy one today. But when I click "pre-order now" and go to the shop, I can choose older version of the 13 and buy them today. Context is I've a friend who told me last night he wants one of these laptops but that they're not currently available...overall seems the website is a bit misleading on current availability. [1] https://frame.work/laptop13 https://frame.work/laptop13

macote 2y ago
It's the AMD 7000 series that is available. Only the AI 300 can be pre-ordered if I understand correctly, and that's the one being referenced by the featured model on that page.
- brewtide 2y ago
  Point is, they need a link saying there is an option available, even if it's not the new new new (which is in pre order). I just bought an AMD 13", and had the same "wtf, that's silly" thought about the site. Also, Ubuntu 24.04? Lts works great. Suspend eats some battery, but can't be more than 1% an hour. If I suspend it overnight, it's not the end of the world. I have it hooked to some Amazon USB4 dock, with wireless dongles for keyboard and mice, and 2 1080p displays. One horizonal, one vertical. Those work as expected, and all scaling between them works and makes sense. It did take a few moments to get it all to align up but once it did it's worked great. New bios update mangled my battery charge limit behavior in weird ways. Prior to mid month update, it worked great! Sometimes now it works, sometimes it's at 100%. Since the battery can be replaced in no time, I've honestly not fret it much. The speakers are not great but I found some customized eq settings for an app. (Easy .. something) That made them sound 80% better, immediately). Battery life, I dunno. I'm one of those people who kills all their batteries by panicking at 56%. If light duty, 6 hours no problem, maybe 8? I love it. A bit of coin but I'm hoping they stay around so when things break , they can be replaced. Tired of forced updates and controlled subscribe behaviors. A laptop one can replace broken pieces themselves and an OS that thus far lets you use the damn computer.

mrbonner 2y ago

Could someone with a Framework desktop let us know the situation of: 1. Running Linux 2. Inference speed of any of the LLMs I'm thinking about getting the 128GB one.

StrLght 2y ago
Framework Desktop won't be out until Q3 this year. Other devices with Ryzen AI Max+ 395 are just starting to ship. At best, you may find answers to these questions in a few months.

qchris 2y ago

If anyone's interested, there's a slightly more recent update on this work at the link below, dated about a week after this post (23 March vs. 16 March 2025 on the main link). [1] https://euroquis.nl/freebsd/2025/03/23/framework.html https://euroquis.nl/freebsd/2025/03/23/framework.html

pcdoodle 2y ago

Cool, I hope efforts like these help make framework the goto laptop for power users.