Re: toshiba 1605/1625 hibernation issues [problem with ALi 15x3 driver]

Joseph Pingenot (trelane@digitasaru.net)
Fri, 11 Apr 2003 22:32:38 -0500


[forwarded for posterity]
[From: Joseph Pingenot <trelane@digitasaru.net>]
[To: Gary Schulte <xxx@xxx.org>]
[Subject: Re: toshiba 1605/1625 hibernation issues]

>From Gary Schulte on Thursday, 10 April, 2003:
>Hi Joseph,
>Did you ever get resolution on this problem? I am experiencing it as
>well and can't decide what the problem is...
>Thanks in advance,

Yup.
Well, actually, it's a workaround, not a fix.
Remove support for the ALi 15x3 chipset support (under IDE drivers). Just
use the generic.
Here's the tradeoff: ALi 15x3-enabled kernels allows the laptop to do DMA.
However, you can't suspend (it freezes). Without the ALi 15x3 stuff, it
doesn't do DMA, but it suspends to disk.
The workaround is to have one kernel with ALi 15x3 enabled. This will
somehow let the BIOS know that it's OK to do DMA, and, until you do a
harder reboot than just using the reboot command, even non-specialized
kernels (i.e., without ALi 15x3) will then do DMA. So, you boot up your
specialized DMA kernel, then, once you get to the appropriate point (I
wait until disks have been mounted), you CTRL+ALT+DEL reboot (or use the
reboot command) into your generic IDE kernel. Then you have DMA (at least
theoretically) *and* can suspend to disk.
If anyone can give me sufficient documentation, I might be able to poke
around in the 15x3 driver and maybe see what's being broken.
Unfortunately, nobody's giving me (nor does semi-assinine "we don't
support the Linux platform" Toshiba seem anything more than extremely
reluctant to give me) [or at least give a proper kernel developer] the
specs to make the 15x3 driver play nice with the BIOS/laptop in general.
*sigh*.

So, until Toshiba gets around to it, or somebody stumbles upon the proper
documentation, the workaround is all we've got. :(
Luckily, I've managed to get everything else on the laptop working [with
the exception of some weird lid-closing-freezes-things problem] working
on my Satellite 1605CDS, in case you have any questions.

May I bounce this to the linux-kernel list for posterity?

-Joseph

-- 
Joseph===============================================trelane@digitasaru.net
" I'm all for using the best tool for the job, but what happens when the
 restrictions that go along with that tool take away your rights? I believe
 it then stops being the best tool for the job."  --randy@digitalrights.org

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Joseph===============================================trelane@digitasaru.net
" I'm all for using the best tool for the job, but what happens when the
 restrictions that go along with that tool take away your rights? I believe
 it then stops being the best tool for the job."  --randy@digitalrights.org
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