Ubuntu – Ubuntu & Ryzen 3000 CPU

amd-ryzenbioskernelusb-installation

I freshly built a new PC and want to dual boot it with an Ubuntu. Im having trouble to install it from my live usb stick, however.
The pc reaches Grub just fine but if I hit try Ubuntu or install it, the system can't start any module : they all fail to load.

After quick research, I've seen that this is a matter of Ryzen 3000 CPUs compatibility with the linux kernel that ships with Ubuntu.
Has anyone sucessfully installed ubuntu 19.04 on a Ryzen 3000 cpu / x570 shipset ?
My BIOS was updated at the time of building the pc, meaning the 20th of august. (MSI X570 Gaming edge Wifi)

Best Answer

Huge thanks to Rob for providing the right answer. For better readability, I will sum it up here.

So the problem appears to be a compatibility issue of Ryzen 3000 CPUs with the kernel supplied in 19.04's ISO, causing all services to fail to load when either trying to live test it or install it. This regression from previous kernels (including 18.04 LTS's one) can be worked around that way :

  • Create an 18.04 live usb stick

  • Once it is installed the way you want it to be, install Ukuu (kernel manager/installer) and upgrade to the latest kernel available. In my case, it is 5.2.14

  • When its done, upgrade your distro as you usually do, in my case with a sudo do-release-upgrade

  • enjoy your ubuntu 19.04 running on all those Ryzen cores !

If you find you are not having any display on your screen after logging in, you may want to install fresh Nvidia drivers (I used this tutorial) replacing 390 by whichever version is downloadable when you do it, for me it was 418. New drivers also fixed Xorg using 100% of the CPU's 12 threads when hovering the mouse around.

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