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I have a 12th gen Intel Framework running Arch. I love it, although as others have pointed out the battery life could be better. Early kernels shortly after release had some incompatibility issues that required specific kernel arguments to fix. Also I had to blacklist the light sensor as it conflicted with the brightness function keys.
The Arch wiki has a page with details on Framework laptops you may appreciate looking at.
I have a 11th gen Intel Framework 13 running PopOS.
Everything is fine except the ~~bug~~ feature with the rechargeable CHMOS battery. On my model it only charges when the laptop is charging. (They changed that behavior in all later model afaik)
Since I use my laptop only sporadically I can't just pick it up and use it right away because that battery is always empty. When it's empty the power button doesn't work even when the main battery is fully charged.
If you're comfortable soldering I believe they do offer a free CMOS battery substitution module to help with what you're describing: https://guides.frame.work/Guide/RTC+Battery+Substitution+on+11th+Gen+Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2/203
What exactly is a CMOS battery?
It's a coin-cell battery. Traditionally it was used to keep the memory that stores the bios-settings and the real-time-clock powered when the PC was turned off.
By now the bios settings are stored ona different kind of memory, so it doesn't need power when turned off.
But the rtc still needs power when the laptop is off as well as other stuff (for example the circuitry that makes the power-button work)
In the framework it's also rechargeable, so you can't just swap it for a cheap one from the store once it runs out.
I mean that seems like a better way to do it, I'm assuming these things last for years by the fact I've never had to replace one or even know about it
How is it only charging when plugged in an issue if it lasts longer than the laptop's own battery
I guess if you don't use it for long enough it depletes while powered off
Have 16, FedoraKDE not nixOS though, no problems to report in my sector.
No issues with battery life or fan noise? That's what I'm hearing from others
No fan noise, battery could be better but could be worse, but no external GPU which probably exacerbates both.
I'm not planning on getting the GPU anyway, most of my work is done from a terminal and a browser in a lightweight window manager, as long as the integrated graphics can handle that it'll be fine
Oh for sure, it can handle 2160p video on the integrated, and a terminal and browser (with 16gb ram anyway), no problem. It'll stutter a bit if I am file transferring with all that though.
Honestly? Not that good. My favorite computer hardware I've used period, no competition. I like the design, the keyboard is fantastic, and the build is very high quality. Seeing it online doesn't do it justice. That aside, the Linux experience? It's been straight up bad. I bought this computer for school. it ended up being around $1300.00 which is absolutely not cheap by anyone's standards (easily 3x as expensive as any laptop I've ever bought) but then again this is the first current gen computer I've bought as well. The first week using it was pretty good, actually. I've been using Ubuntu which is officially supported for this framework by the Ubuntu devs. Fast forward to week 2, the wifi stops working. Mind you, I'm using this FOR SCHOOL. The computer will connect to wifi no problem for the first few (literally maybe 3) minutes but after this the wifi will disconnect and will straight up refuse to work unless I restart the entire computer, and even after I do the problem will occur again in under 4 minutes. Doesn't matter if I turn wifi off and back on in the quick settings or restart the wifi services in the terminal, no dice. I tried updating the kernel, etc etc etc. in order to get any of my school done I did literally have to restart my entire computer 3-5 times for every single class or for any time I wanted to use the computer. Again. $1300 computer I bought SPECIFICALLY FOR SCHOOL. The insanity of having to drive to my school and use their computer lab and work around the hours that the computer lab is open after spending that much on something is infuriating to me. I asked on Reddit, the best advice they could give me was replace the wifi card (Framework AMD) as 'mediatek is crap' which I thought should not be necessary. So I ate $20 after just spending $1.3k and bought one of the compatible intel wifi cards and for a few days, I though the issue was solved. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I still have to restart the computer 2-4 times per day. I'm just so sick of troubleshooting something every single day, and more than that I legitimately don't have the time anymore even if I did have the energy. I believe in the concept and see the vision but I don't have the time in my life to spend 2+ hours tinkering and troubleshooting and fixing something every day, (especially on an OS that is officially supported by the manufacturer and OS maintainers, mind you). I plan on wiping the computer and installing a different officially supported OS and if this does not fix the issue, I will be getting in touch with framework to ask for a refund.
P. S. - I'm sure this might be a duh thing when it comes to Linux on laptops but the battery life is not that good. It hasn't been absolutely horrible, but I also haven't been measuring it outside of "will this get me through the day" nor have I been doing much heavy work on it beyond the regular. I have not found the battery drainage issue to be a problem for me personally , although I have noticed it drain some especially after a couple of days. But if you leave it alone for a few days with a decent amount of charge it's not going to be dead when you go to use it.
Edit: I also cannot for the life of me get my drawing tablet to work with it even though I have the drivers installed, but this could be a Linux issue.
I have the Framework 13 and am currently running the COSMIC alpha on Pop!_OS. I love my current setup, but have tried Fedora Kinoite as well, and also had a great experience. Apart from running a few commands to get the fingerprint reader working, I haven't really had to troubleshoot anything. Its been a solid experience from Day 1.
I have a Framework 13 with the Ryzen 7640U. I absolutely love it! When I first got it, it had a really weird issue where alternating lines on the screen went black for a quarter of a second randomly, but I contacted support and got a new display and it's been great! The fingerprint sensor is amazing. I have the config from nixos-hardware for whatever improvements that adds, and it's been working well! I get pretty good battery life for it being an X86 laptop too. You do have to remember to configure the regulatory domain if you get the AMD one or else you'll be stuck with 2.4GHz wifi! The archwiki page for Framework has instructions!