[Discuss] Issues with new Linux computer mostly addressed

[Alan W. Irwin]

After the BIOS upgrade this AMD Ryzen 7 1700 computer with AMD RX 550
graphics card has been up for 29 days and counting without a lockup!
This is for heavy Linux desktop use by two simultaneous users (one
who uses direct display with the RX 550 and the other who uses a thin
client (X-terminal) to display their desktop for this computer).

So it is looking good so far, but I will be a lot surer this is the
ultimate solution to this ~1-year headache if this AMD computer
achieves ~60 days of uptime with this current non-standard kernel and
also if I am able to follow up by similar good stability results for
~60 days for a standard Linux kernel.

Assuming I achieve both of those stability goals, then I am obviously
going to be happy that I have finally achieved stability for this
outstanding hardware.  But the important question remains why did AMD
shoot itself in the foot by selling their Ryzen systems with initially
bad BIOS's?  This problem and especially [AMD's close-mouthed response
to it](https://community.amd.com/thread/225795) has given AMD hardware
a black eye with at least the Linux community.  And if you do a google
search for the terms (without quotes) "ryzen instability" there are an
enormous number of hits so I don't think the issue is limited to just
Linux platforms.

For my recent additional remarks about overcoming Linux Ryzen
instabilities to another Debian user who is encountering the same
problem, see
<https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=900087#35>

Alan
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Alan W. Irwin

Programming affiliations with the FreeEOS equation-of-state
implementation for stellar interiors (freeeos.sf.net); the Time
Ephemerides project (timeephem.sf.net); PLplot scientific plotting
software package (plplot.org); the libLASi project
(unifont.org/lasi); the Loads of Linux Links project (loll.sf.net);
and the Linux Brochure Project (lbproject.sf.net).
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Linux-powered Science
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