New install on Dell -- Need help

[Kevin Oberman]

> Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:22:31 -0800 (PST)
> From: "W.K. Vladmir Ward" <web_raptor.geo at yahoo.com>
> Sender: owner-freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org
> 
> Hello...
> 
> I just installed FreeBSD 5.1-RELEASE on my Dell
> Inspiron 8200 last Friday and have been working to get
> things running. I know a little bit about FreeBSD from
> what I've picked out of the handbook, and from my past
> experience with Linux, but I'm still in the dark.
> 
> I'm having a lot of ACPI troubles, and I'm wondering
> if anyone knows what the fix for the battery mis-read
> error is. I've disabled APM in my kernel config
> (according to some sources I've found it doesn't like
> playing nice with ACPI). Also, running GKrellM with
> tz0 enabled shows temp ranges from 125 to 160 degrees
> F... is there some way to fix this with scaling/offset
> options? I've already applied the ACPI patch to be rid
> of the error messages on boot, but I'm still working
> on those two problems listed above.

First, ACPI and APM simply do not play together, period. It's one or the
other, although ACPI does provide an APM emulator so that the APM
interface is still available to programs. But, if the BIOS on your
system supports APM, you might want to turn off ACPI and try running
with APM instead. 

To turn APM on, DON'T rebuild your kernel. Just add the line:
apm_load="YES" to /boot/loader.conf and edit /boot/device.hints by adding:
hint.acpi.0.disabled="1".

You can switch back to ACPI by commenting out the lines.

Take a look at 'sysctl hx.acpi.thermal and see what values are actually
coming back from BIOS. The numbers are in unit of 1/10 degree Kelvin.

Finally, ACPI has had major changes since 5.1 and is MUCH better. I'd
suggest 5.2 as soon as it is released which should be very soon. (If you
feel a bit brave, you might go with the latest pre-release in
RELENG_5_2.)
-- 
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: oberman at es.net			Phone: +1 510 486-8634