Linux 5.4.7 / 4.19.92 / 4.14.161 Bringing The AMD MCE Fix For New Threadripper CPUs

With the recently launched Threadripper 3960X / 3970X processors there was a workaround needed to boot them on Linux until an AMD MCE driver issue was resolved. That patch was upstreamed last week into the Linux 5.5 development kernel while now is getting ready to make its debut into supported Linux stable release branches.

Getting back onto his stable kernel maintenance duties now that Christmas week has passed, Greg Kroah-Hartman sent out his hundreds of patches back-ported for the Linux 5.4 / 4.19 LTS / 4.14 LTS stable series he oversees. Besides the kernel mailing list, the hundreds of patches queued for the next point releases in those branches can be seen via linux-stable-rc.git. Catching my eye from those patches is that the AMD MCE fix for the newer processors is indeed part of the queues for all three stable series.

So within a few days he'll have released them as Linux 5.4.7, Linux 4.19.92, and Linux 4.14.161 and with that the AMD MCE fix is ready to allow the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3900 series to boot without the need for any workaround (booting with MCE disabled via mce=off) or having to use the Linux 5.5 Git kernel.

It's a pity that it took just over one month past the actual hardware shipping for this issue to be resolved with stable kernel series, but better late than never (in having to otherwise wait for Linux 5.5). We're crossing our fingers that AMD will be able to deliver more punctual Linux support/fixes with their hardware launches of 2020 and beyond.