Craigslist delight: 2 AMD MB/CPUs and getting them all to work together

This is my exciting time & effort with two AMD cpus and MBs.

I had been searching for a used case to build a new system, exact hardware to be what I could find on craigslist & ebay & newegg, et al.

Started out with craigslist.com post for $60 for iBuyPower case including a non-working MB (ASRock B450M-IBW) & AMD 3 3200G CPU. Interested, because I am always looking for parts for my next build. (I take great delight in building systems and working with computers) And maybe this "non-working" MB is something I could fix and get it to work.

Offered $50 and they accepted; I was told this was her son's gaming pc but it had stopped working; the repair shop wasn't able to get it working again. So when I got the case/MB/CPU home, I took the cooling fan off and removed the CPU only to find that there were numerous bent pins. Too Bad! (not sure who the guilty party was to bend so many of the pins.)

 I bought a magnifying stand with light and attempted to straighten the bent pins, but, alas, it was just too fine a work for my eyes and the tools I had.

So another  craigslist.com posting for an AMD 7 2700X cpu to $80 and I picked this up and tried it in the non-working MB. No joy. (this cpu wouldn't work with this MB's BIOS version)

Next, purchased an inexpensive Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI MB and tried the 2700X cpu in that, only to finally discover that this specific CPU wouldn't work in this MB with its current BIOS F62 07/13/2021. (note to self: next time, check BIOS compatibility with specific AMD cpus beforehand!) so I needed to get an amd cpu that would work with this bios, so I went to ebay.

On ebay.com I bid and won a boxed AMD 3 3200G CPU (which I checked would work with this MB and BIOS level) and this worked and allowed me to update the BIOS to work with the AMD 7 2700X cpu.

Google search: gigabyte b450m ds3h wifi bios update at this URL:

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-1x/support#support-dl-bios and download the latest version F64d 2022/07/20.

And CPU support list for this MB/Bios:

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-1x/support#support-cpu

This worked; updated the bios on this GB B450M DS3H WIFI MB using the 3 3200G cpu and now the AMD 7 2700X cpu works in this MB.

Then plugged the AMD 3 3200G cpu into the original "non-working" MB and it came up. What Joy!! This is very cool. So now I have two, working MB & AMD cpu systems.

The original MB came with one stick of AData 8gb dimm, so to match it up I found an almost identical AData 8gb dimm on ebay and purchased it. System #1 3200G is viable; system#2 2700X is viable but needs an additional video card to work.

I previously had acquired two amd stock cooler fans from somewhere and now they will be used for these two systems.

Additional craigslist searches revealed another computer case (red NZXT) and I picked it up for $40.

Now I have two cases and two hardward assemblies to go in these cases. Both have 2x8gb dimms, 512gb nvme boot unit, windows 10 pro OS oem versions; (greg salazar utube videos pointed me in the direction of his source for cheap win 10 pro licenses).

Now to figure out what to do with these two systems.

 

Finally figured out how to configure a working RDP session on this new Ubuntu 22.10 OS version install

2025-04-30:

Now I have just configured for one Ubuntu 25.04 system to another Ubuntu 25.04 system and the remote desktop link in in Settings/System/Remote Desktop. Again, it doesn't work until after I rebooted the system. Both of them.

 

After going thru the steps in this URL website:

https://linuxhint.com/enable-remote-desktop-ubuntu-access-from-windows/

(which is not specific to Ubuntu 22.10 version) I noticed at the bottom this essential step:

"For the changes to take effect, restart your computer."

After rebooting, now RDP from windows 10 and from MacBook Air OS is not only opening the desktop window on my ubuntu 22.10 host, it also allows the kb and mouse to work. Previously, the remote desktop window would open but kb and mouse were not working.

REBOOTING is the final step to make it all work! Again, I'm a happy camper.

So I spent a lot of wasted time because I didn't reboot after configuring the Settings/Sharing/Remote Desktop section; also, I had to modify the default password assigned to my userid and change it to one I could actually use.

Ubuntu 22.04 and Firefox woes! Now resolved for me after upgrading to Ubuntu 22.10 OS version!!



I originally installed Ubuntu 22.04 when it came out in April 2022, and I noticed that there was a time lag after clicking the firefox icon before firefox came up; it worked ok as I remember after the time lag start.

Next, the symptom was after a new install of 22.04, then when first clicking the firefox icon, the cursor would go around and the firefox app was in the top app bar indicator; but nothing happened; no firefox; this was my experience two times on two different installs.

Thus, I completely removed firefox from snap and downloaded the latest FF*.deb package and installed it to /opt/firefox. Copied one of the /user/share/applications .desktop icons to the desktop, edited it to point to and open this /opt/firefox/firefox app. 

So I always had to start firefox from this desktop icon. And FF would not auto-update nor manually update. I had to download the latest .deb package from mozilla and install it to the /opt/firefox folder, copying over the earlier ff version, which preserved my links/favorites, saved passwords, etc.

I think this is the case because when I first started /opt/firefox/firefox app from my desktop icon, it creates a /home/<username>/.mozilla folder, within which is the active ff session.

But as of now (Oct 21st, 2022), having installed the latest Ubuntu 22.10 version, Firefox is working just fine in the default snap installation.

I'm a happy camper!! (even though my idea of camping is to find the nearest hotel closest to my kids and the grandkids when they are actually camping in the woods!!!)