Computer/OS combination failure

[rdl]

I've been struggling for days trying to get a new version of Linux to run on an old computer. It took that long for me to discover that, generally speaking, the computer is probably one of the worst possible choices to put a modern Linux on. So I give up.

The computer is a Gigabyte BXBT-1900 with a Baytrail Celeron J1900 SoC that has issues running Linux. It wasn't always that way, but it is now.

I guess I'll just buy a new machine, because I'd really like to have something working soon for day to day internet usage. For a cheap machine that won't need to do much more than internet and email, I was looking at this:

https://www.newegg.com/intel-boxnuc7cjyh1/p/N82E16856102203

Another alternative would be some kind of business refurb machine, probably Lenovo. I might just buy both, keep whatever is seems best and sell the other. Odds are I'll order something today, but if anybody has any input it would be appreciated even if the advice is too late to do me any good.

[Monkeh]

What sort of issues?

[rdl]

Freezing. Locks up, unrecoverable. Have to unplug the power supply to reboot. Sometimes it will run for hours, but most of the time it's much less, as little as 15 minutes or so.

[Monkeh]

Ah. That. Happy chipset bug!

Some recent kernels may be better.

Honestly, I'm this close to giving up on Intel for video (this is a video issue, fwiw). Some claim they're perfect, I've yet to have one single generation work reliably.

[rdl]

I thought it was something to do with processor power saving modes? Not that it matters, unusable to me either way. Odd thing is, I've run Debian 8 on it for years with no problems. Using it to post this as a matter of fact.

[RoGeorge]

Might be some hardware issue.  Try a Linux CD that has a MemTest86 tool, or some other hardware testing tools you might find.

About software, I'll try the current Fedora 31 and Ubuntu 19.10.  Fedora tend to have the latest kernel (so the latest drivers, too), while Ubuntu is tested on a much larger audience.  CentOS is not so shiniest yet it's famous for being rock solid.

[Monkeh]

I thought it was something to do with processor power saving modes? Not that it matters, unusable to me either way. Odd thing is, I've run Debian 8 on it for years with no problems. Using it to post this as a matter of fact.

Symptom as opposed to cause. There appear to be a number of ways to lock the chip up during graphics operations while the CPU is transitioning power states. Basically, faulty chip design (Intel fanboys in 3, 2..). It may have worked better in the past due to much, much more rudimentary drivers.

I would seriously consider looking into AMD graphics for a replacement machine. They seem to have less fatal bugs.

[rdl]

I decided to take a chance on one of these,

https://www.newegg.com/lenovo-m82/p/N82E16883998069

which is considerably better than what I'm using now and should be more than good enough. I will not be using the 500GB HDD.

[Monkeh]

Welp, at least you can pop a GPU in if it behaves as badly as some of mine.

[rdl]

I finally have the Lenovo up and running with Debian 10. When I bought it I overlooked the fact that it only had VGA and DisplayPort. I had to order and wait for a DP to HDMI cable. I could have just used VGA but I wanted to be sure there would be no problems using an HDMI monitor. I've been using it five days now with no issues. There are a few things about the machine I wish were different, but nothing that can't be dealt with. It actually turned out to be a pretty nice computer considering the price.