"Sleep" mode : supposed to work on Desktops ?

[Darryl Clarke]

On 28/03/06, Vincent Trouilliez <vincent.trouilliez at modulonet.fr> wrote:
> 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)


I had intentions on playing with this soon on my machine.  One thing I
can tell you though is that the BIOS must support suspend-to-ram for
the machine to completely power off.

In your case, it appears that it is only going into a minimal power
saving mode.  Check the BIOS for a 'suspend type' or 'suspend method'
option.

I think there's also another requirement for suspend-to-ram to work
regarding power supply and how many amps it can deliver on the 3 or
5volt lines - but I can't remember exactly what it was. :)

--
~ Darryl  ~ smartssa at gmail.com
~ http://darrylclarke.com