Re: [gentoo-user] [Maybe OT]: Instability of system

[Dale]

Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> Hello, Gentoo.
>
> I'm having problems with my machine hanging or rebooting spontaneously.
> It's doing this, perhaps, every three or four weeks.  I think that when
> I'm in X, the system usually reboots, when I'm on a tty, it hangs.
>
> This phenomenon has, up till now, been just below the level at which
> it's annoying enough to do something about.  But my machine just hung on
> me a few minutes ago, and now it's definitely reached tha threshold
> where spending effort fixing it seems justified.
>
> My actual Gentoo installation is fine, in fact, so good that I've not
> needed to post to the list for a long time.  :-)
>
> My system is an AMD Ryzen processor on an Asus Prime X370-Pro mainboard,
> and is just over a year old.  I don't think my RAM is unstable (though
> it's been a long time since I've run that RAM checking program).
>
> I honestly suspect the firmware on the mainboard.  When it was new, the
> board was practically unusable - with two sticks of RAM installed, it
> would crash after about 1 - 3 minutes.  With just one stick of RAM, it
> stayed up long enough to install new firmware (version 0604), which
> appeared to be stable.
>
> Going back to Asus's firmware page, there appear to have been many
> subsequent versions of the firmware released during the last year.
> Would it be a good idea for me to download and attempt to install the
> latest version?  Is this in any way risky?  (My mains supply is
> reliable.)
>
> Other than that, suggestions as to what to do would be welcome.
>
> Thanks!
>


This is the type of problem that I hate having.  Intermittent problems
are hard to diagnose.  Just when you think you got it fixed, it does it
again.  The post from madscientist has some good info including some
things I've tried successfully in the past, with other peoples
computers.  The biggest culprit, dust on fans/heat sinks and sometimes
heat sinks just falling off of chips.  I've had that happen a few times
on those south bridge type chips.  Usually they are glued on and after
several years, they can pop off.  When they get hot, they slow down, a
lot, to protect themselves but make a computer very slow.  Stick the
heat sink back on, off it goes again.  Still, dust is a huge problem.  I
take a air hose to mine at least twice a year, spring time for sure to
be ready for summer heat. 

For the static, a finger trigger type spray bottle with water and a
small amount of fabric softener works well, smells good too.  I haven't
tried dish detergent like madscientist mentioned but if he says it works
and you don't have fabric softener handy, give it a try. 

As to upgrading firmware.  I have a Gigabyte mobo that has that dual
BIOS thing.  That said, I've never had to resort to the backup.  The
updates went smoothly and only took a few minutes.  If ASUS has
something similar, may want to know how to use it just in case.  The
biggest thing, not losing power during the update.  As madscientist
mentioned, a UPS comes in handy there.  In my experience tho, they have
always worked fairly well.  The biggest thing, now exactly what steps to
take before you start.  Mistakes could cause issues. 

You mentioned having problems with having more memory installed.  Was
the firmware upgrade supposed to fix *that* problem?  In other words, is
it a known issue that needed a fix?  I ask because of this.  Could it be
that your power supply, regardless of what rating it claims, isn't quite
up to standards and that little extra power causes issues?  It's
something to think about.  It's hard to know what power supplies are
really good or not.  Generally, I like to find one that has been tested
and known to be good.  I'll post links at the bottom just in case you
are interested. 

If you have checked the cooling and such, then it may be time for a
firmware upgrade if it is supposed to fix this type of problem.  I'd try
to rule out all else first tho. 

Some links that may interest you. 

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Review_Cat&recatnum=13


https://www.tomshardware.com/t/power-supplies/

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/589708-Recommended-PSU-s-True-Tested


I think somewhere on the overclockers site there is a list of known bad
power supplies.  They are supplies that people have tested and they
failed, some in spectacular fashion.  Several included smoke and a few
some fireworks.  Several just had ripple/noise that was outside the
limits.  I think the first links has some of those listed too. 

I hope you find a solution soon.  Random things are aggravating. 

Dale

:-)  :-)