Framework 13 with AMD Ryzen 7 7840U, R4.2.3

---
layout:
  'hcl'
type:
  'Notebook'
hvm:
  'yes'
iommu:
  'yes'
slat:
  'yes'
tpm:
  'unknown'
remap:
  'yes'
brand: |
  Framework
model: |
  Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040Series)
bios: |
  03.05
cpu: |
  AMD Ryzen 7 7840U w/ Radeon  780M Graphics
cpu-short: |
  FIXME
chipset: |
  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:14e8]
chipset-short: |
  FIXME
gpu: |
  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Phoenix1 [1002:15bf] (rev c4) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
gpu-short: |
  FIXME
network: |
  Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX210/AX211/AX411 160MHz [8086:2725] (rev 1a)
memory: |
  96060
scsi: |

usb: |
  8
certified:
  'no'
versions:
  - works:
      'FIXME:yes|no|partial'
    qubes: |
      R4.2.3
    xen: |
      4.17.5
    kernel: |
      6.11.10-1
    remark: |
      FIXME
    credit: |
      FIXAUTHOR
    link: |
      FIXLINK

Remarks

After a bit of troubleshooting, I can now say this laptop is the best Qubes laptop I’ve ever owned. My previous was starting to feel a little dated. 64GB of RAM was starting to feel a bit tight (yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds).

With the Framework, I was shockingly able to buy a new mainboard and RAM and convert my Intel laptop into an AMD. Now I have 96GB of DDR5, and common operations like starting a Qube are noticeably faster. In fact, this has changed my workflow: Previously I switched to doing something else while a Qube was starting, but now it’s fast enough it doesn’t break my workflow.

Installing 4.2.3 was pretty painless:

  • Disabled secure boot in BIOS
  • Make sure the system clock is set correctly in BIOS, or install will fail at networking setup stage
  • Boot using latest kernel
  • Fix touchpad with ioapic_ack=new as described here
  • If the F-keys don’t work, you probably have fn-lock on (hit Fn-Esc to turn off)
  • Do NOT buy the Mediatek/AMD RZ616 WiFi module. Instead, get an Intel AX210. I got the Mediatek because I assumed it would be better/more compatible with the AMD chipset. Not so, at least on Qubes. The WiFi would disconnect often, and sometimes could not be fixed with a sys-net restart. Occasionally not even a warm reboot would fix it (you need to fully power off, wait, restart). I also believe it was causing system instability, resulting in crashes after suspend/resume.
    • The AX210 also sometimes doesn’t work after suspend/resume (maybe 10% of the time), but you can reliably fix it by reloading the iwlwifi module, or just suspending/resuming again. This was the same as on my previous Intel laptop. I have bound qvm-run -u root sys-net 'rmmod iwlmvm iwlwifi && modprobe iwlmvm' to a keyboard shortcut. There’s surely a better way to do this, but it works for now.
  • Suspend works, but only in s2idle. Unfortunately, this chipset does not support deep, so mem_sleep_default=deep will not do anything except pollute your logs with errors.
    • I honestly did not think that suspend would work as well as it does. Major kudos to the Qubes devs. When battery is fully charged, during suspend it consumes about 4W, which is not ideal (my previous laptop in deep sleep consumed about 1.7W), but is good enough for my use-case. As long as I can throw it in a bag for 12 hours or so without it shutting down I’m happy.
  • Screen scaling is another thing that is better with the AMD. On my previous Intel laptop, everything on the screen was slightly too small for comfort, which I partially compensated by increasing font sizes, but the screen scaling in the Display settings did not work. In AMD it does. Scaling by 0.8 is just right.

Attachments

hcl.yml (842 Bytes)

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I forgot to mention, but everything other than what I said above works fine:

  • Audio
  • Microphone/webcam, including cut-off switches
  • USB-A, USB-C (just make sure you put your USB-C charging ports in the back slot – it’s apparently a limitation of the AMD chipset)
  • HDMI
  • Brightness and volume keyboard Fn keys
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