Framework Says BIOS 3.20 Update Bricks Some Ryzen 7040 Laptop 13 Units
Framework says a BIOS update for the company’s Laptop 13 with AMD Ryzen 7040-series processors can brick a “small percentage” of units, leaving them unable to boot. Thankfully, the company is replacing faulty motherboards, even for out-of-warranty devices.
Users started experiencing this issue a couple of months back but didn’t truly gather attention until the reports really stacked up. Owners report their systems freezing on the Framework logo during the BIOS 3.20 update, with the progress bar and two dots stuck and not finishing.
Framework says a small percentage of 7040-series boards fail to boot after this update. The company is investigating the root cause and told The Verge on Thursday that it plans to bring a “Crisis Recovery Mode” to its laptops, a feature already in its latest Desktop BIOS.
For now, impacted users are encouraged to contact support for a motherboard replacement. If, however, you’re an advanced user, people have recovered their bricked laptops themselves by externally reflashing the Winbond W25Q256JW SPI flash chip using a USB programmer and level shifter. This isn’t an official fix and requires technical skills, so attempt it at your own risk.
