Changelog Master Feed The 4 DIMM problem (Changelog & Friends #119)
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Nov 28, 2025 Lars Wikman, an Embedded systems and Elixir developer, returns to share his expertise on Nerves and IoT devices. He discusses the challenges of Linux distro hopping, especially his experiences with Arch. Lars dives into the Nerves project, highlighting its potential in home automation and fleet management. He also shares insights into integrating sensors with Home Assistant for real-time greenhouse monitoring. Plus, he reflects on the benefits of karate and its discipline, connecting it to community building in tech.
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Leverage The Arch Wiki
- Use the Arch Wiki as a reference even if you don't run Arch because it documents Linux tooling and commands well.
- Consult it to solve issues across distributions before reinventing solutions.
Arch Upgrade Bite
- Adam describes learning Arch the hard way after doing a full upgrade without reading the news and breaking his system.
- He lost GDM and abandoned Arch after being bitten by its read-before-upgrade culture.
The Four DIMM DDR5 Quirk
- Adam ran into the 'four DIMM problem' on modern AM5 DDR5 systems where using four sticks breaks high-speed RAM.
- The issue stems from signal, voltage and controller limits at very high memory transfer rates, not a simple DIMM count bug.