Arch Linux

drewofdoom

Member

From: Waynesville, NC

Registered: 2008-02-08

Posts: 35

Website

Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

If anybody else is struggling with getting ACPI to work on their Thinkpads, I just want you to know that it IS POSSIBLE.

Some important things to know about how I did it:

Firstly, this is specifically for the X31 laptop.

You must use the noapic option on your grub kernel line.
I am using the Thinkpad+ Kernel available http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?d … s=0&SeB=nd
You must compile and use a custom DSDT file from http://acpi.sourceforge.net/, then rebuild initramfs
You must completely throw out your ACPI handler.sh and "anything" file and create your own, custom handlers

All in all, not that bad of a task to get it all working.  A little note, though.  HAL still does not correctly interface with the bios, and therefore the backlight will remain on during sleep.  The workaround for this is to not use HAL, but instead write a custom script which changes to a terminal and runs radeontool (available at http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?d … s=0&SeB=nd) before sleeping, then changes everything back afterwards.

Another note, I am using PM-Utils for sleeping, and TuxOnIce/Suspend2 (pre-patched in the Thinkpad+ kernel) for hibernation.  There is occasional screen garbage when waking, but this is rare.

If anyone has more interest in how I got this working, I will create an in-depth wiki with details.  Also, anyone who wants my custom handler scripts is welcome to them.  Just e-mail me or post in this forum.

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Sweet zombie jesus!

andywxy

Member

From: Winnipeg, Canada

Registered: 2007-09-27

Posts: 36

Re: Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

OK,why not post the details plz? Im using X41 and maybe your experiences will be very helpful~ THX!

loosec

Member

Registered: 2007-03-08

Posts: 134

Re: Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

Sounds really interesting, have been using an X31 for 5 months now but without hibernation, sleep or automagic cpu frequenzy scaling. My vote goes to a wikipage for the X31.

benoitb

Member

Registered: 2007-06-28

Posts: 9

Re: Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

I would be very interested as well. I have been using Arch on my X31 for 6 months and then went back to windows for various reasons.
I'd like to go back to Arch someday so any input on the specific x31 issues are warmly welcome !
That includes :
- all ACPI/suspend matters
- cpufreq matters, radeon freq tuning (does it exist to save battery life ?)
- radeon driver, xorg.conf finetuning, extended desktop with an external screen connected, 3D acceleration
- any input on how to save battery life by tuning the cpu, gpu freq and with the atheros wlan driver

Soupbean

Member

From: China

Registered: 2008-02-21

Posts: 2

Website

Re: Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

Here's another vote for an x31 wiki page. A detailed description of how you set you x31 up would be fantastic.  Thanks.

rttommy

Member

Registered: 2007-12-27

Posts: 19

Re: Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

I made an ArchWiki page for those interested: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/IBM_Thinkpad_X31

benoitb

Member

Registered: 2007-06-28

Posts: 9

Re: Success on an IBM Thinkpad X31 with ACPI!

I made an ArchWiki page for those interested: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/IBM_Thinkpad_X31

Excellent, your page is very clear and full of infos !
When I install it again, I'll add a section on the Atheros Wifi card (I have this one in my x31). Maybe this summer.
I'll also probably add infos about how to use an external monitor and the IBM screen as one big desktop. I often use my laptop in this configuration when sitting at my desk.

Thanks a lot for this documentation.

Last edited by benoitb (2008-05-21 02:36:22)