Framework Laptop

The Framework laptop, released in 2021, focuses on extreme repairability. The DIY edition in particular, comes without an OS and the devs and community are currently focused on supporting Arch Linux as an alternative to Windows.

Expansion cards
The Framework Laptop features four modular expansion card slots allowing for custom port configurations. Each connects to an underlying USB-C interface. See https://frame.work/marketplace/expansion-cards

Installation
Because of some boot menu and device selection issues, it may be necessary to update to BIOS version 3.06 before installing. See: https://community.frame.work/t/public-beta-test-bios-v3-06-driver-bundle-2021-10-29/10167 This update is also necessary to support the Tempo audio codec in the post-Oct 2021 Framework laptops.

There is not yet a linux-based BIOS update mechanism, but the update can be run in a Windows PE environment such as Windows 10 setup media or Hiren's BootCD PE

Firmware
Firmware from is needed for the GPU, wireless, and bluetooth interfaces. The TigerLake GPU firmware in particular needs to be loaded immediately at boot, so it must be included as a kernel blob or on an init ramdisk. See: Intel

Kernel
There have been significant stability issues with Wifi and Bluetooth in kernels prior to 5.14.15, so we're starting there, although it's not yet stable in portage at this time.