apmd and Dell Inspiron 5000e not powering down

drumz · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Posts: 213

I have a Dell Inspiron 5000e that I have installed Gentoo 1.4_rc1. Everything is working great except it won't power off when you do a shutdown (halt). I know this is possible because I previously ran RedHat (6.2 - 8.0) and it worked fine.

Specs:

Laptop: Dell Inspiron 5000e
Memory: 256mb
Disk: 40 gb
BIOS: UPdated to latest Dell has
Processor: PIII 600mhz
OS: Gentoo Linux 1.4_rc1

Here's what I have done so far:

1. I have searched all of the forums numerous times and tried everything (see below).

2. Compiled apm in kernel and emerged apmd and added apmd to the default run level. When doing a shutdown it just stops at 'Power Down' message on screen and sits there.

3. Compiled apm in kernel, emerged apmd (added to default run level) and added the last option under APM in the kernel for broken bios. Same results, shutsdown but does not power off.

4. Turned SMP off in kernel and repeated 1 and 2 above with same results.

5. Turned off APM in kernel, unemerged apmd. Turned ACPI on in kernel and emerged acpid and installed it in the default run level. On boot the machine freezes when loaded acpi.

6. Looked at another machine running RedHat to see what kernel settings are set to. They have APM turned on in kernel with the option of storing time in system clock in GMT turned on as well. They also use apmd. So other than trying to turn on the GMT option for apm there's nothing different from what I've already tried - at least at a quick glance.

Suggestions, other things to try, other oddities others have run across are welcome. It's frustrating that this is the ONLY thing not working when I know that it should be.

Drumz

qwkbrnfox · Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2002 4:47 pm Post subject:

This guy claims to get apm to work on the 5000, you may have to update your BIOS. Check out Linux on laptops for lot of hints.

T

drumz · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Posts: 213

Thanks for the links, much appreciated, but I do have the latest BIOS installed so it's not a problem specific to the hardware/BIOS.

It worked fine under Redhat under all of the versions I had running on it - and they use apm/apmd which I have installed under Gentoo. There's something that I'm missing under my Gentoo install that's causing it not to shutdown - kernel tweak or config file setting.

Drumz

drumz · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Posts: 213

Ok, a friend of mine who switch from Redhat to Gentoo is experiencing the same problem as me. He's on an IBM Thinkpad (not sure which model, has a PIII at 900 mhz). Redhat properly powered the machine down for him but Gentoo doesn't.

I've completely gone through the kernel settings and found nothing else to try....suggestions welcome....

Drumz

drumz · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Posts: 213

My friend now has shutdown (and sleep mode) working properly on his IBM Thinkpad - he enabled more options under APM in the kernel.

So the only difference between his box and mine was the kernel - he was running the gentoo kernel and I'm running the plain vanilla one.

So I switched kernels from the plain vanilla to the gentoo one and still no change. It still doesn't power down on shutdown. I think that I have finally run out of options to try and will just have to live with it - disappointing to say the least in an otherwise excellent distribution.

Drumz

guero61 · l33t Joined: 14 Oct 2002 Posts: 811 Location: Behind you

Are you sure it's APM and not ACPI? Under ACPI, you need to enable the Bus Manager and the System to shut down. For APM, I think it's either the "real-mode APM BIOS call to power off" or the "enable pm at boot time".

That said, my success with shutdowns has been hit/miss. I would like to say, though, that I've compiled vanilla kernels on RedHat that don't shut the box off -- it's definitely not the distro but the kernel. I finally messed around with the power management enough to get it to turn off. :oops:

drumz · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Posts: 213

I'm sure it's APM. APCI causes the machine to lock on boot.

I installed a '.config' file from a Redhat install, rebuilt the kernel (after doing a 'make mrproper') and installed it. Now it works - it powers off on shutdown.

I have now started the process of turning stuff off (Redhat turns EVERYTHING on YIKES!). Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what it is that makes the difference and make the post.

So for those that can't wait, do the following: Grab a '.config' from a default Redhat install in the kernel source directory (I'd probably try to match kernel versions just to be safe). Drop it into place in your Gentoo box AFTER doing a 'make mrproper'. Then do a 'make menuconfig', maybe clean it up a bit and save it. Then do the normal compile/install business.

Now back to cleaning/recompiling the kernel......

Drumz

drumz · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2002 Posts: 213

For a Dell Inspiron 5000e laptop do NOT enable in the kernel (module is ok as long as it's not loaded):

Processor type and features --> Dell laptop Support

Although it lists that it should work on any Dell Inspiron or Latitude laptop. The Inspiron 5000e may be a special case situation - it was NOT actually made by Dell, but is made by another company. It is actually a Compal N30 series as found on an unofficial FAQ about the machine.

Drumz