Updated AMD APU Firmware Helps Systems Stuck On High Memory Clocks, Wasting Battery

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Updated AMD APU Firmware Helps Systems Stuck On High Memory Clocks, Wasting Battery

Hitting the linux-firmware.git tree were updated AMD firmware images for Picasso, Raven, and Raven2 hardware with a rather important fix...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=AMD-APU-FW-VCN-Fix

[deusexmachina]

Relevant thread: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/amd/-/issues/1455

[Go_Vulkan]

The problem is called "old system BIOS"! There are still far too many people who think BIOS updates were just made for the fun of it.

In addition to issues like this, they also fix security holes!

[muncrief]

I bought an Athlon 5370 APU for $60 way back in June 2016 and it's still the reliable beating heart of my home theater system. They were the last in the Kabini line, and were only available for a year or so, so I'm really glad I snagged one.

I'd be happy to upgrade to a more modern APU though, but only if it improved the ability to natively play Blu-rays. There are some workarounds, like MakeMKV libraries, that work most of the time on my current system, but if a newer AMD APU could finally enable all the ridiculous DRM stuff to work reliably I'd definitely invest in it. But it seems like even Intel is deprecating some Blu-ray support now, so my quest may be a lost cause.

[Mershl]

The problem is called "old system BIOS"! There are still far too many people who think BIOS updates were just made for the fun of it.

In addition to issues like this, they also fix security holes!

To be fair: Lenovo never issued a BIOS update fixing the issue for the affected notebooks. While the system BIOS is "old" from AMD's point of view it is the "latest" from Lenovo - as Alex (AMD) confirmed it's not reproduciable on their reference implementatio.

[slalomsk8er]

The problem is called "old system BIOS"! There are still far too many people who think BIOS updates were just made for the fun of it.

In addition to issues like this, they also fix security holes!

If it only was this easy. I'm stuck on the second newest update as I would loose memory performance if I would update to the newest BIOS update and none of the other "fixes" in there worth the performance hit for me.

Also René has some videos to disillusion you about blindly updating BIOS

[betty567]

I might have to consider upgrading my ancient laptop to the newest AMD laptop before they start shipping Pluton. I know that ALSA drivers for AMD chipsets are curiously bad, but otherwise do AMD laptops work well with Linux?

[themightyug]

Will this affect the Steam Deck?

[Black_Fox]

I might have to consider upgrading my ancient laptop to the newest AMD laptop before they start shipping Pluton.

See this for why Pluton is not really a risk for the foreseeable future, especially if you don't run Windows: https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/58125.html

[Jabberwocky]

I might have to consider upgrading my ancient laptop to the newest AMD laptop before they start shipping Pluton. I know that ALSA drivers for AMD chipsets are curiously bad, but otherwise do AMD laptops work well with Linux?

TL;DR I'm a early adopter of a Dell Ryzen 2500U I have been using it since 2017. It's the second best laptop I've ever used for work.

I've had many friends and colleagues that had bad experiences with Intel and AMD laptops. For some reason people don't check before they buy, this includes top performing engineers and managers with very impressive CVs.

Dell provided official RHEL, SUSE and Ubuntu support for my laptop. The mic is not the best in the world but there's nothing wrong when you connect a headset to it. I have not had any problems with ALSA. I have been hopping mostly between Ubuntu and Fedora (with a bit of Arch in-between). There was issues with the touchpad initially, but it was fixed after a few months. I am still using it as my daily driver for work. My laptop has been on (actively used not sleeping) for more than 2 years. I have been using it for ~4.5 years. My battery only has 42Wh (62%) of it's original 68Wh but it's not too bad considering the temperatures here in Africa ofternly exceeding the operating temperature of the Laptop. I honestly have no regrets and with a IPS FHD screen, 32GB RAM and 2x2 802.11AC for now I have no compelling reason to upgrade just yet.

The best Laptop for work IMO was Macbook Pro but the Dell Ryzen was 1/6th of the cost. Price/perf or Price/productivity the Dell wins. Price/swagg the MBP wins LOL.