"Sleep" mode : supposed to work on Desktops ?

[Vincent Trouilliez]

Hi,

I see great benefit in power management functions, even though I am
using a Desktop machine, not a laptop.

I understand that these functions were probably not meant to work on
Desktops when they were invented, and I understand that motherboard is a
bit old ('nForce' chipset, 4 year old), but I have got "Hibernate" to
work (though it won't power off the monitor), so I am hoping that there
is no technical impossibility that would keep the "Sleep" mode from
working.

Does anyone have the Sleep mode working on their desktop ? How old is
the machine ? How does it work in practice ? I mean is it supposed to
spin down the hard drives and power off the monitor, and then how do you
wake the machine up ?

All I know of, is the /etc/default/acpi-support file, which has a few
options, which I experimented a bit, without really knowing what I was
doing...

Here is what I modified, and the results:

1) uncommented ACPI_SLEEP=true
2) ACPI_SLEEP_MODE=mem (default)

Result: powers the machine off instantly (but the monitor). But pressing
keys or moving the mouse doesn't wake it up. I need to press the power
button to bring it back to life, and then it goes back through a normal
boot sequence. Doesn't work then.

3) ACPI_SLEEP_MODE=standby

Result: Pretty much inactive: the screen goes black for 2 or 3 seconds
max, then goes back to the desktop. Feels a bit like a screensaver that
goes out when you move the mouse or something. 

4) uncommented RADEON_LIGHT=true
I have a Radeon 9250 video card, so I tried that to see if that would
success in powering off the monitor, but no. It doesn't have any effect.


If it's supposed to work, I welcome any help :-)
It it won't work, should I file bugs, or is the whole Hibernate/Sleep
thing not quite 100% on Linux just yet, and I should just wait and see
as it improves (hopefully) with every new release every 6 months ?

Any input welcomed :o)


--
Vince