Thanks. I submitted another support request, and this time got a form email back. I will quote it here in full. Let me say that I am deeply unimpressed. They require that I disassemble the laptop to take a photograph of the mainboard, and send it to them (somehow, they do not say) and then perform major surgery on the mainboard that THEY designed poorly. What's more, they say that YOU have all liability for the repair and its consequences. How is this acceptable? What happened to a manufacturer sending an RMA and a box and repairing the mistake that they made? Is THIS what we sign up for when we support "repairable" computers, that we should expect to have to solder our own motherboards when they are poorly designed? And that they require a photograph of the mainboard (which requires disassembly) is icing on the cake.

I truly regret my purchase of a Framework laptop. Truth be told, I've never, ever had to repair a laptop more than this one, and I'd prefer a product that I didn't have to repair at all (and if there is a defect in manufacture or design, that the manufacturer take all necessary steps to remedy that error). If I was attracted to their products, including their desktop offering, I would think twice before spending money with them. I really really wish I'd put the money toward a new M-series macbook.

Heck their reminder to keep the BIOS updated makes no mention of the fact that their instructions for Linux are bogus, as their UEFI blobs are not available to fwupdmgr. What's more, to get to 3.20 you have to first upgrade to 3.17, all through EFI boot. It's a really rotten experience.

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PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE FULLY!

This is an automated message sent to all customers that have either been identified as having a power-related issue with an 11th Gen Intel Core Mainboard or have specifically requested either a replacement RTC Battery or the solderable RTC Battery Substitute.

If you’ve needed to perform the Mainboard Reset procedure more than once on your 11th Gen system or the laptop will not power on even after performing the reset, your RTC/CMOS battery may no longer be holding a charge. There are a couple options available that the Framework Support team can provide to resolve the issue:

1. Framework Support can provide a replacement RTC/CMOS battery to you, free of charge, regardless of the status of your warranty. Simply request this option and provide your Framework Order Number along with a clear image/photo of the serial number of your Mainboard. If you do not have access to the Order Number, please provide the email used to complete the purchase on the Framework website. To access the Mainboard serial number, please follow the steps in the guide HERE and find the serial label between the memory slots. Also, please verify your shipping information/address (only in supported countries/regions) to avoid unnecessary back and forth communications. For information on acceptable shipping addresses, please see the following article HERE . If you receive a replacement RTC/CMOS battery it is important to make sure to let it fully recharge by keeping your laptop plugged into power for at least 24 hours. We also recommend keeping your laptop plugged into power during long periods of non-use to avoid letting the RTC/CMOS battery fully discharge. Note that even a normal 5V/900mA USB-C power adapter will sufficiently trickle charge the system and RTC/CMOS battery.

2. Framework Support now has an alternative option for those with the technical skills to solder electrical components. This alternative RTC/CMOS Battery Substitution is a single solder point component which replaces the coin cell battery with a circuit that keeps the RTC subsystem powered from the main battery. You can find the step by step instructions for installing this module in this guide. PLEASE NOTE: You should NOT request this option if you or the person designated for this rework do not have sufficient electronics soldering experience. While it is only a single solder point, failing to solder this correctly can result in damage to the system that is not covered under Framework’s Limited Warranty. If you accept the associated liability, please request this option and provide a clear image/photo of the serial number of your mainboard and your Framework Order Number. If you do not have access to the Order Number, please provide the email used to complete the purchase on the Framework website. To access the Mainboard serial number, please follow the steps in the guide HERE and find the serial label between the memory slots. Also, please verify your shipping information/address (only in supported countries/regions) to avoid unnecessary back and forth communications. For information on acceptable shipping addresses, please see the following article HERE .

Finally, we also recommend keeping your system up to date with the latest firmware releases. Please see the following knowledge base article which has links to the latest BIOS/Firmware and Framework Driver Bundles for each generation of Framework Laptop.

If you have provided the required imagery and your order number, one of our staff will be with you to provide an update on your request. Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any frustration this issue may have caused. Regards, Framework Support

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I got the same email, and I agree they should've taken responsibility for their obvious design flaw and fixed it themselves free of charge.

Also I will again agree that my Batch 4 (or was it 5? I can't remember) FW13 is the most I've had to repair a laptop as well. I'm just gonna chalk that up to them technically being pre-full-production units and hope they have improved their QA in the later gens.

However I will also add that I like having the option to fix it myself (which is something I have some amount of skill/enjoyment in doing) which is certainly NOT an option you'd have with that M-series MacBook (or really any other brand of laptop)