Hey Benny!

 BP> today tested with 4.14.8 get this:
 BP> Hardware name: Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 8300

I looked it up and Dell claims it is a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, which is a single
core 32-bit processor.  The last 32-bit processors I had were all P3's and
skipped the P4's and went to x86_64's.  From what I can tell it looks like
4.14.8 has smp issues with the Pentium 4 2.8 GHz.

 BP> 4.15 fix this

Excellent.  I just looked and see that they are up to 4.15-rc5 which is dated
as today.  I'd guesstimate that a 4.15 release should be out in short order.

For the record;

----- "<Esc>:read !uname -a" starts
Linux mikey 4.14.8 #1 SMP Wed Dec 20 16:28:26 UTC 2017 x86_64 Intel(R) Atom(TM)
 CPU C2758 @ 2.40GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
----- "<Esc>:read !uname -a" ends

I don't see any issues with the above kernel as far as the C2758 is concerned.

 BP> i like to get rid of vga framebuffers in initial boot, have
 BP> forgot how to make this into the boot line so it takes radeonfb
 BP> always

I believe that is one of the drm ones that I am currently avoiding by turning
them all off, especially the ast one which is what this board has.  Try looking
 in the linux/Documentation/gpu/ directory as well as
linux/Documentation/power/video.txt document for clues.

For vesafb I just add "vga=0x323" to the bootloader's kernel commandline which
gives me a 1280x1024, 32bpp framebuffer console at bootup with 8 pure 64-bit
penguins at the top of the screen.  Other than more penguins, what more could
you possibly want?  As far as I know vesafb should work fine with a radeon but
I'd highly recommend using a standard resolution monitor.  I am betting it will
 work as well with the 4.15 kernels once they become official releases.

 BP> many as more then one :=)

See above.  Pure 64-bit ones too.  :::evil grin:::

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-silvermont-linux-gnu)
 * Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)