After update kernel from 2.6.38.3-1 to 2.6.38.4-1 my old laptop (AMD64 Turion MT-30, 1.6GHz, RAM 2Gb) with Archlinux, became freezy. Boot process goes about 8 minutes (instead 20sec on 2.6.38.3-1). Ctrl-Alt-F1 takes tty1 after 1 minute. Additional info: * /usr/bin/top says "all ok", cpu load ~1%. Of course, /usr/bin/top bring main screen after 30sec lock. * /boot has it's own partition Steps to reproduce: just power on. Steps to restore good state: downgrade to kernel 2.6.38.3-1 or 2.6.32-lts Also, I tried to compile the kernel 2.6.39-rc5 from kernel.org without success
the bug is also reported in Archlinux on this link: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/23937
The following links show the cause of the bug. The fix has been sent to -stable, so it should be in 2.6.38.6. commit "x86, AMD: Set ARAT feature on AMD processors" in both 2.6.38.4 and 2.6.35.13 http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/linux/kernel/1369696#1369696 fix "x86, AMD: Fix APIC timer erratum 400 affecting K8 Rev.A-E processors" http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/linux/kernel/1373217#1373217