Linux 4.15 Is A Huge Update For Both AMD CPU & Radeon GPU Owners

[RavFX]

I just added a bugs asking specifically to revert the IBM dude patch
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=197923

Please add weight, it should be available for distribution to enable by default.

[plasmasnake]

Add me to the list of regretful Ryzen customers who is experiencing the idle-freeze bug... I am EXTREMELY disappointed with AMD's continued refusal to publicly acknowledge this issue. And tech support has the nerve to blame our expensive 80Plus Gold power supplies. Sorry AMD but we have multiple systems all affected by the same issue. The problem is your CPU, not our power supplies. Is it too much to expect a simple "we're investigating the issue" response?

[sa666666]

I hated to do this, but I've already ordered an 8700K system to replace my Ryzen 1800x. I really want to support AMD here, but I just can't have an unstable system; it's being used for stuff where I can't have downtime. And the maddening lockups at seemingly random times really have an anxiety-inducing effect; at every keystroke I'm thinking "is this the moment the system is going to freeze?"

I haven't decided what to do with the Ryzen CPU/board yet; sell it to a Windows user (where there are no issues at all), or keep it until it works in Linux. Problem is, it's been 6 months of suggestions on how to fix the Linux issues, and still we don't have a final solution (everything I try works for a while, but never rock-solid). At least I will still be using AMD graphics cards; they have the best support in Linux, and with the new DC code committed, it looks like it will stay that way.

EDIT: I will say that the last 3 months have been the most nerve-wracking in almost 30 years of building computers. I've never had as much problems with an unstable system. I think AMD really has a problem on their hands here, because I'm afraid this has soured my opinion of the platform, and it will be a long time before I try AMD CPUs again. I am satisfied with their video cards and use them almost exclusively. But the CPU situation is beyond frustrating. It's even affected my development activities, and caused deadlines to slip (self-inflicted deadlines, but deadline non-the-less).

Finally, benchmarks show that the 8700K and the 1800x have similar compile times (my main application), so there's not even that advantage anymore. And to top it all off, I actually paid much more for the AMD CPU/board than I just did for the Intel stuff

At this point, even if the kernel guys would come out with a fix tomorrow, I have lost confidence in the platform, and would be constantly wondering when something would go wrong again.

[LeJimster]

I hated to do this, but I've already ordered an 8700K system to replace my Ryzen 1800x. I really want to support AMD here, but I just can't have an unstable system; it's being used for stuff where I can't have downtime. And the maddening lockups at seemingly random times really have an anxiety-inducing effect; at every keystroke I'm thinking "is this the moment the system is going to freeze?....

Disabling c-state in UEFI has stopped my random reboots. Before I turned it off, I was getting 1-2 random reboots a day. Still it needs fixing obviously, but I personally don't think it's a big enough problem to force me to ditch my AMD system. Unfortunately, this kind of problem is to be expected of new platforms, usually by the 2nd generation all the kinks are ironed out.

[sa666666]

Disabling c-state in UEFI has stopped my random reboots. Before I turned it off, I was getting 1-2 random reboots a day. Still it needs fixing obviously, but I personally don't think it's a big enough problem to force me to ditch my AMD system. Unfortunately, this kind of problem is to be expected of new platforms, usually by the 2nd generation all the kinks are ironed out.

I've tried everything (and I mean everything) that has been suggested. In fact, in the past month I spent more time researching this issue and trying to get things working than I am on actual software development. And I have lost work because of it too, since the system has locked up before I could save something, and I have to start over.

Perhaps the 2nd gen will be better, but I will be sitting this one out. Maybe near the end of 2018 or early 2019 when they get their processes worked out I will try again. But only after reading about many success stories.

[Kendji]

Was this the kernel most likely to be included in Ubuntu 18.04?

[LeJimster]

I've tried everything (and I mean everything) that has been suggested. In fact, in the past month I spent more time researching this issue and trying to get things working than I am on actual software development. And I have lost work because of it too, since the system has locked up before I could save something, and I have to start over.

Perhaps the 2nd gen will be better, but I will be sitting this one out. Maybe near the end of 2018 or early 2019 when they get their processes worked out I will try again. But only after reading about many success stories.

The other problem with this kind of bug, is that you might be experiencing a separate issue. Faulty ram, cpu, mobo, unstable bios or settings. I left my system on most of the day doing a memtest just to rule that out early on. I can see how it would become very frustrating if you've been trying every workaround to no effect.

[Chewi]

The other problem with this kind of bug, is that you might be experiencing a separate issue. Faulty ram, cpu, mobo, unstable bios or settings. I left my system on most of the day doing a memtest just to rule that out early on. I can see how it would become very frustrating if you've been trying every workaround to no effect.

Very true. As well as the Ryzen issues, it turned out I had faulty RAM. Knowing my Ryzen was faulty, I didn't believe memtest initially but after getting it replaced, the error persisted. I have now successfully worked around that with GRUB_BADRAM until I get the RAM replaced.

[sa666666]

The other problem with this kind of bug, is that you might be experiencing a separate issue. Faulty ram, cpu, mobo, unstable bios or settings. I left my system on most of the day doing a memtest just to rule that out early on. I can see how it would become very frustrating if you've been trying every workaround to no effect.

I've tested RAM, video card and PS in another system (in fact in my old system, which was rock-solid before). I ran memtest for 48 hours at one point. Tested each stick separately, all together, and various combinations. Like I said, I've spent more time trying to get the system to work than I've done actual useful work on the system. If I'd included this time as billable hours, I'd have made enough to buy a new computer. Which is essentially what I'm doing at this point.

[xpander]

uhh.. reading all that here. I have been extremely lucky then. i bought my ryzen 1700X at launch in march. i havent got the segfault bug at least ryzen-kill script didnt throw up anything with 2 times running it, both times about 2 hours, maybe i need some more tests. that freeze/crash bug, i have had it like 3 times only and its always been when im away from computer when it sits in idle, so i havent lost anything usefull. with kernels prior to 4.13 i didnt have issues at all. RAM speeds were a issue way way back in march and april, but now i have been running RAMs quite high speeds, not really on the full speed my ram can do but 4 sticks is harder to get into the correct frequencies. Anyway i have been super happy with my Ryzen for the most part. Compiling something with it is just a breeze, it will chew through everything so fast.

But i agree that AMD has been slow with the supporting and fixing bugs. Those things should have been done before Launching the CPU's, like the temp and volt monitoring and stuff like that. And nasty bugs should have been fixed within few months of the release. but its been taking too long. Sad to say but i say the same about AMD GPU support. New GPUs that launch will not be supported very well at first and it takes way too much time for them to fix things. Nvidia and Intel seem to be faster in those areas sadly.


Still i love my Ryzen CPU. For the price i got it, its amazing in multithreaded workloads as well as performs good enough in singlethreaded workloads.