I have a Ryzen 3 1300X at the moment and it’s always had this soft lock freezing bug on Linux. I used to dual-boot Windows on this machine and Windows never had the same problem, so I think it is an issue with the Linux kernel (I’ve also replaced nearly every bit of hardware that I originally built the PC with, except for the CPU and motherboard, so it probably is an issue the kernel has with my CPU, or possibly the motherboard firmware).
I’ve changed the kernel parameters as suggested by the Arch Wiki. The bug is pretty inconsistent about happening so only time will tell if this solves the issue. But if it doesn’t solve the issue, I’d honestly consider just getting a new CPU that doesn’t have this issue, as completely freezing up, unable to get to a tty or anything, and only being able to power off by physically holding down the power button, is a pretty major issue, even if it only happens sometimes.
So if I do get a new CPU, or maybe just for when I’m next buying a CPU for reasons unrelated to this bug (been considering an upgrade to something that’s better for compiling anyway), are there any good options out there? Intel is investing $25 billion into Israel and the BNC has called for “divestment and exclusion” from it (it’s not officially on the BDS consumer boycott list, but I’m still very much not comfortable buying from Intel). But the Arch Wiki article seems to suggest this bug is applicable to Ryzen CPUs in general, or at least it never specifies a particular model or range of models. So maybe I’m limited to non-Ryzen AMD CPUs?
I’m guessing this is one of the situations where two companies have a complete duopoly over the market and there isn’t an all-round good solution, but thought I’d ask in case anyone had some useful input.
I think if you start with political positions of bigtech companies…
Just buy used
I have a Zen 2, Zen 3+ and a Zen 4 system and they all work well very with various Linux distros (Arch, Fedora) and recent kernels.
It’s very likely that your bug is specific to early Ryzen CPUs/chipsets. A couple of folks on those reports mentioned their issues went away after a motherboard/BIOS upgrade. So I think you’ll be fine if you went for a more recent AMD CPU+mobo.
Well, that brings to light why I had an issue with my 3900x. Couldn’t find it on google to save my life, but then it shows up randomly here, lol.
If it means anything, my 7800x3D doesn’t have that bug. I’ve been using it now for about 3 months without issue. So maybe the rest of the 7000 series is good to go?
EDIT: I’d also like to mention that I’m heavily biased against Intel processors for that long line of severe security issues that they had on their processors a few years ago. I don’t trust them at all.
Ah, that sounds a bit unfortunate. I’ve run AMD CPUs on Linux desktops with Bulldozer / Piledriver / Ryzen 7, my current laptop is a Ryzen 7 as well, never run into that at all. Hopefully the Arch wiki will sort you out. If not that, the third option would be ‘install Linux on an M-series Mac’ - don’t know how feasible it is at the moment, and paying the ‘Mac premium for hardware and software integration and then overwriting the software’ doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Holding out for the Oasis, myself. Cores licensed from SiFive and compliant even with the 1.0 rev of the Vector Extension (SG2380).
Did you pre-order?
Not yet but planning to at the weekend.
RK3588 is used in many Linux devices, but I’m not sure if Rockchip is in the BDS list. I don’t know which factory was RK3588 from.
I’ve never had any issues with Ryzen, but I never had first gen. If you don’t want Ryzen, and Intel is unethical, maybe you could try a Epyc /s?
Buying used Intel stuff might also be an option. No more money would go to Intel, and using used stuff is good on the e-waste front.
Here I was hoping we would get a breakdown on the companies making ARM processors … Still an informative comments section.
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Get another AMD chip, you’ve just been unlucky. I’ve had AMD running Linux for 5 years with no issues.
Print your own
…in 10 years
I never managed to fix this bug with my first gen Ryzens. Worth upgrading to something newer for sure.
Ah. I’m getting this answer a lot actually. I might try a newer Ryzen then if a lot of people are saying the newer Ryzens work
Newer ryzens are better, especially because they get frequent updates to their microcode that fixes a lot of the issues you’re experiencing.
I’ve heard that newer Ryzens play nicer with Linux.
Yeah First Gen Ryzens definitely had a Linux lock up bug. My x1700 had it all the time and could never fix it.
Do you know if it’s limited to first gen Ryzens? I’m looking into getting a Ryzen 5 5600X and I want to be sure I’m not gonna have the same issue
Yes, AMD was replacing Ryzens that had that bug. I’m not sure if they are anymore though. But it’s 100% a confirmed thing. I have not heard anything Zen 2 and newer having this problem and have no experienced any Linux issues with my 3000, 5000 and 7000 series CPUs.
Ah rip. I didn’t know they were replacing Ryzens. I’ll reach out to them but the warranty on my CPU is almost definitely voided after so long.
I have a 5600h system(laptop) and I have not run into the issue you mention. In fact in the past six months after the fTPM bullshit was fixed, I haven’t run into any issues.
the fTPM bullshit
Wait, what’s that?
In zen 2 and above firmware TPM was being used for a random number generator. This led to stutters during RN generation. Eventually this was fixed in 6.3.x series(or 6.4.x I can’t remember) and then the fix was backported to all lts kernels
I have a Ryzen 7 5800X and I’ve had no problems
Yeah, my 5800X3D works perfectly; absolutely zero issues. I’m guessing it’s making use of the 3DvCache too since I don’t notice any performance degredations compared to Windows.
I have a 3600X and haven’t had any problems under Linux.
Can confirm (but mine is the regular trim rather than the X version).
It’s better value anyway. Only got the X because it had a rebate while the standard didn’t.
Risc v maybe? Rock 64?
What kernel version are you seeing that lockup bug on? I have a similar bug on Ryzen 5 2600x with kernel versions >= 6.7. 6.6 is fine.
More directly: Buy used. Lots of reputable sellers on eBay and their returns policy for defective products is unbeatable.
hardened kernel v6.7.9, but I also had the same problem on the regular Linux kernel a while back. It’s been a while since I’ve used the regular Linux kernel though so it might have gotten fixed on the regular kernel but not the hardened version?
I have this same bug on the same platform! It was infuriating to track down. I was able to get around this by disabling c-states in the bios. I’ve heard that updating your aesga firmware also helps, but I can not confirm that.
