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kconfig mentioneds 'hibernation' not just swsusp

PATCH In review David Brownell 4 participants 5 messages Apr 22, 2007

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#0 lore raw

PATCH 1/1 kconfig mentioneds 'hibernation' not just swsusp

Clarify that "software suspend" is what's called "hibernation" in most user interfaces, shrinking a terminology gap. (Examples include Gnome and MS-Windows.)

Also provide a more succinct description of what it does, so you won't have to read the whole novel in Kconfig; and highlights just why the lack of BIOS requirements for swsusp are a big deal.

---
 kernel/power/Kconfig |   11 ++++++++---
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
kernel/power/Kconfig +8 -3
@@ -78,17 +78,22 @@ config PM_SYSFS_DEPRECATED
 	  are likely to be bus or driver specific.
 
 config SOFTWARE_SUSPEND
-	bool "Software Suspend"
+	bool "Software Suspend (Hibernation)"
 	depends on PM && SWAP && ((X86 && (!SMP || SUSPEND_SMP)) || ((FRV || PPC32) && !SMP))
 	---help---
-	  Enable the suspend to disk (STD) functionality.
+	  Enable the suspend to disk (STD) functionality, which is usually
+	  called "hibernation" in user interfaces.  STD checkpoints the
+	  system and powers it off; and restores that checkpoint on reboot.
 
 	  You can suspend your machine with 'echo disk > /sys/power/state'.
 	  Alternatively, you can use the additional userland tools available
 	  from <http://suspend.sf.net>.
 
 	  In principle it does not require ACPI or APM, although for example
-	  ACPI will be used if available.
+	  ACPI will be used for the final steps when it is available.  One
+	  of the reasons to use software suspend is that the firmware hooks
+	  for suspend states like suspend-to-RAM (STR) often don't work very
+	  well with Linux.
 
 	  It creates an image which is saved in your active swap. Upon the next
 	  boot, pass the 'resume=/dev/swappartition' argument to the kernel to
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#1 lore raw

kernel/power/Kconfig config PM_SYSFS_DEPRECATED · line 96

Quoted 7 lines
kernel/power/Kconfig +4 -1
 	  In principle it does not require ACPI or APM, although for example
-	  ACPI will be used if available.
+	  ACPI will be used for the final steps when it is available.  One
+	  of the reasons to use software suspend is that the firmware hooks
+	  for suspend states like suspend-to-RAM (STR) often don't work very
+	  well with Linux.

I don't think the help section of a config options is a good place for editorial.

-Len

#2 lore raw

Re: [patch 2.6.21-rc7] kconfig mentions 'hibernation' not just swsusp

Quoted 10 lines · Len Brown

kernel/power/Kconfig config PM_SYSFS_DEPRECATED · line 96

Quoted 7 lines
kernel/power/Kconfig +4 -1
 	  In principle it does not require ACPI or APM, although for example
-	  ACPI will be used if available.
+	  ACPI will be used for the final steps when it is available.  One
+	  of the reasons to use software suspend is that the firmware hooks
+	  for suspend states like suspend-to-RAM (STR) often don't work very
+	  well with Linux.

I don't think the help section of a config options is a good place for editorial.

That doesn't seem "editorial" to me though. It's a basic engineering truth that's repeatedly been borne out over many, many years. The point of help text in Kconfig is, to my thought, to help people understand why to choose something (or not); knowing that firmware hooks (not purely ACPI) are a factor would seem to be such help.

If I'd wanted to be "editorial", I'd have said something more like:

It's too bad chip vendors' video support for S2RAM still sucks so badly, and hardly looks to improve, since ACPI has improved so much in recent kernels.

Today the "standby" suspend state works with Linux on most systems that support it, as does the "disk"
(software suspend) state. But suspend to "mem" is
what most people want, since it's a lot quieter (and more power efficient) than "standby", and comes back a lot quicker than "disk".

Until vendors of graphics silicon start providing enough chip specs to let Linux systems reliably restart graphics after suspend-to-RAM, anyone who wants to us suspend-to-RAM is advised to be VERY selective about video card support. Choose only among the following video devices: <insert short list here ... who should be on it??>

See the difference? :)

... and yes, there are other drivers that may need tweaks to work better with STR, but video has been the forever-headache.

- Dave

#3 lore raw
In reply to David Brownell
Quoted 9 lines · David Brownell

Clarify that "software suspend" is what's called "hibernation" in most user interfaces, shrinking a terminology gap. (Examples include Gnome and MS-Windows.)

Also provide a more succinct description of what it does, so you won't have to read the whole novel in Kconfig; and highlights just why the lack of BIOS requirements for swsusp are a big deal.

Fine by me.

Greetings,
Rafael

#4 lore raw
In reply to David Brownell

Hi!

Quoted 9 lines

Clarify that "software suspend" is what's called "hibernation" in most user interfaces, shrinking a terminology gap. (Examples include Gnome and MS-Windows.)

Also provide a more succinct description of what it does, so you won't have to read the whole novel in Kconfig; and highlights just why the lack of BIOS requirements for swsusp are a big deal.

ACK.
Pavel

Signature · 2 lines
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