Torvalds: Investigating ACPI Problems
In a post on the Linux Kernel mailing list, Thomas Gleixner claims to have fixed ACPI suspend and resume problems. Linus Torvalds praised him for doing so, but also has his doubts.
"Sorry, it took me quite a while to realize the real root cause of the VAIO - and probably many other machines - suspend/resume regressions, which were unearthed by the dyntick / clockevents patches.", Thomas Gleixner explains, referring to two patches, aimed to resolve the suspend error that Andrew Morton noticed on his Vaio notebook.
The first developer to respond was Linus Torvalds. He praised the patches - "Ok, so the patches look fine," but goes on to criticize Gleixner in the same sentence, "but I somehow have this slight feeling that you gave up a bit too soon on the "*why* does this happen?" question." Torvalds then goes on to answer the question himself: "I realize that the answer is easily "because ACPI screwed up". Torvalds guesses that the patches don't actually fix the problem, but just work around it: "Because we don't necessarily understand what the real background for the problem is, I'm not sure we can say that it is solved."
Torvalds also assumes that the kernel completes the preparations for Suspend mode, and that ACPI triggers the right steps. But the "stupid firmware" doesn't expect any further calls to achieve low power status. And this is where Torvalds sees problems. Despite this, he is still going to apply the patches as is, even though he would feel better if he understood why.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.