Black screen during 3.05 → 3.07 firmware update

[Vectornaut]

Device Information

System Model

Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)

BIOS version

Updating 3.05 → 3.07

DIY Edition information

Memory: DDR5-5600 (32GB)
Storage: WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe M.2 2280 (2TB)

Describe the bug

My issue is very similar to the ones reported a year ago, here and here, for 3.03 → 3.05 updates.

During a 3.05 → 3.07 firmware update, started via the Ubuntu software updater, the screen went black. I waited four or five hours, did a hard shutdown by holding the power key, and then turned the laptop on again. Thankfully, the laptop booted normally, and dmidecode reported firmware version 3.07.

Steps To Reproduce

1. The Ubuntu 22.04 software updater offered a firmware update from 3.05 to 3.07.
2. I plugged in the charger that came with the laptop.
   • The GNOME battery indicator and the orange side LED showed that the laptop was charging.
3. I installed the update and restarted, as instructed.
   • The firmware update progress bar started moving.
   • The fan started running.
4. I walked away from the laptop and came back after maybe 10–15 minutes
   • The screen was black.
   • The power key LED was white.
   • The side LED was white, indicating that the laptop was fully charged.
   • I could control the keyboard backlight by pressing fn + space, but the laptop didn't respond to any other keyboard or touchpad input that I tried.
   • The fan was off.
5. I waited four or five hours, as recommended here.
6. I pressed the power key.
   • No response.
7. I held the power key for a few seconds.
   • The laptop powered down.
8. I pressed the power key.
   • *The laptop booted normally.
   • The firmware splash screen didn't show any firmware update success or failure message.
9. I logged in and called sudo dmidecode --string bios-version
   • The reported BIOS version was 3.07.

Expected behavior

• Some clear indication that the firmware update process had finished.
• Either an automatic reboot or instructions to reboot.

Operating System (please complete the following information):

• Operating system: Ubuntu 22.04
• Kernel Version: 6.8.0-57-generic

Additional context

This firmware upgrade was recommended to me by Framework support team. Because I'd been burned by Framework's insufficient software testing before, I asked:

Do you agree with [previous support representative] that I should update to firmware version 3.07? If so, could you walk me through the recovery procedure I'll use if the update to 3.07 fails? I rely on this laptop for everyday work, so I need to plan carefully around any updates that can make it unreliable—especially updates that can't be rolled back.

The support team dismissed my concerns:

We highly recommend that you update your BIOS to the latest version. While you cannot rollback to the previous version once you updated the BIOS, version 3.07 is an official update and not beta, so it is tested and is stable.

At this point, my trust in Framework's testing and support are basically gone. This kind of problem was first reported a year ago (1, 2) for 3.03 → 3.05 firmware updates, but it seems like nothing has been done to address it, and the support team won't even acknowledge the possibility that a firmware update could go wrong.

[quinchou77]

When you update the BIOS, you are in the standalone mode or non standalone mode?