Framework Embedded Controller GUI

Framework Embedded Controller GUI (fw-ec-gui) is a graphical interface for controlling the Framework Laptop 13's Embedded Controller (EC), developed by community member Yisroel Newmark (GitHub: boredom101). Written in Python with PySimpleGUI and tkinter, it provides a point-and-click interface for fan speed control, LED color selection, and battery charge limiting by wrapping DHowett's fw-ectool¹².

The project was notably created before the author owned a Framework laptop — they developed it based on the documented EC protocol and sought community testers¹.

Features

Feature	Description
Fan control	Set fan speed via EC commands
LED color	Choose and apply colors to the power LED and side LEDs
Battery charge limit	Set maximum charge threshold
Cross-platform	Supports both Windows and Linux

Dependencies

The GUI wraps command-line ectool binaries, which must be provided separately²:

Platform	Required tool	Source
Linux	ectool (built from source)	DHowett/fw-ectool3
Windows	ectool.exe	DHowett/FrameworkWindowsUtils4

Python dependencies: pysimplegui and tkinter².

The underlying EC protocol was reverse-engineered and documented by Dustin Howett (DHowett), a former Framework engineer, in his comprehensive writeup on the Framework Laptop's Embedded Controller⁵. The Framework EC is based on the Chromium EC (CrOS EC) and communicates over LPC ports⁵.

Usage

1. Set the path to the ectool binary in the GUI²
2. Choose a color for LEDs and press Set²
3. Adjust fan speed or battery charge limit as needed

On Linux, the cros_ec_lpcs kernel driver must be loaded, and Secure Boot must be disabled (kernel lockdown prevents raw LPC port access when Secure Boot is enabled)⁵.

Technical Details

Detail	Value
Language	Python
GUI toolkit	PySimpleGUI + tkinter
License	MIT
Stars	8
Commits	6
Contributors	1 (boredom101)
Releases	None (run from source)
Created	March 2022
EC interface	Wraps DHowett's fw-ectool via subprocess

Historical Significance

This was one of the earliest community-built GUI tools for interacting with the Framework Laptop's Embedded Controller, predating later tools like Framework Control, YAFI, Framework Tool TUI, and Framework Deck. It demonstrated the feasibility of user-friendly EC control on both Windows and Linux at a time when the only option was the command-line ectool¹.

Related Projects

Project	Description
DHowett/fw-ectool	Command-line tool for Framework EC communication3
DHowett/FrameworkWindowsUtils	Windows EC driver and utilities4
FrameworkComputer/EmbeddedController	Official Framework EC firmware source6
YAFI	Cross-platform GTK4/Adwaita GUI for Framework EC
Framework Tool TUI	Terminal-based dashboard for Framework hardware

Footnotes

1. Framework Embedded Controller GUI I Made — Framework Community ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. boredom101/fw-ec-gui — GitHub ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. DHowett/fw-ectool — GitHub ↩ ↩²

4. DHowett/FrameworkWindowsUtils — GitHub ↩ ↩²

5. The Framework Laptop's Embedded Controller — HowettNET ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. FrameworkComputer/EmbeddedController — GitHub ↩