Ubuntu's kernels wont boot without acpi=off

[Pedro Côrte-Real]

I have an Asus M2400N centrino laptop. I'm using hoary and I've tried kernels
2.6.10-4-386 and 2.6.10-5-686. With both the result is the same.

  - With "acpi=off" they boot fine
  - Without it they freeze right after a message like: "ACPI: Subsystem revision
XXXXXXX"

I have a 2.6.9-ac13 kernel that I compiled that boots fine, and has working ACPI
and s3 suspend. I've used all sorts of kernels and I've never had this problem.

[Fabio Massimo Di Nitto (fabbione)]

Matthew any idea about this? a broken DSTS?

[Matthew Garrett (mjg59)]

Absolutely no idea. Would it be possible to build a test kernel with acpi
debugging enabled?

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

When I first got the computer I had to patch the DSDT to make it work but newer
kernels fixed that. But even when I needed to patch them, stock kernel.org
kernels were always able to boot.

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

Is there anything I can do to help test this? It's an annoying bug to have to
use a non-Ubuntu kernel.

[Fabio Massimo Di Nitto (fabbione)]

No idea of what the problem is. You can still use ubuntu kernels, just disable acpi
using grub (edit /boot/grub/menu.lst) so that the change is permanent.

We will have to see with new kernel upstream release.

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

Using acpi=off is not an option. I need to know how my battery is doing, and I
need acpi's power management. But this doesn't seam to be an upstream bug since
I've never had a kernel.org kernel not boot on this hardware. Including 2.6.10
(the ubuntu kernel I have).

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

breezy's 2.6.12 kernel still has the same problem. kernel.org kernels work fine.
This is an ubuntu specific patch that's at fault.

[Frédéric RIss (frederic-riss)]

I see exactly the same thing on a Sony VAIO VGN-A215M.
The system boot freezes after printing "Loading ACPI modules".
I'm ready to experiment more, but I'm leaving for 10 days vacation. What would
be the first thing to do when I come back ? Building a kernel with ACPI debug ?

[Frédéric RIss (frederic-riss)]

I don't have this problem anymore with latest kernels. I think this bug can be
closed.

[Chuck Short (zulcss)]

Closing by request

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

I've just tried the brezzy preview CD and the bug is exactly the same. The
kernel hangs right after saying the ACPI subsystem version. Booting with
"acpi=off" works. This has never happened with any kernel.org kernels. Right now
I'm using 2.6.13 and it works fine. This must be some patch Ubuntu adds to the
kernel.

Having to compile my own kernels is annoying, could you please give me
instructions on what to do to try to debug this? I've never used an Ubuntu
kernel because of it.

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

I believe what we need from you is the output from "sudo dmidecode"

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

Created an attachment (id=3831)
output of the "dmidecode" program

Here's the output of dmidecode when running kernel.org's 2.6.13. If you want
one with the latest hoary kernel I can produce it by booting with "acpi=off".

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

Can you try the Colony 5 live cd please?

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

The colony 5 CD has the exact same problem. I am now running breezy so you can
ask me to test with the kernels there. So far they're all the same.

If you want, tell me how I can compile the same kernel Ubuntu does but leaving
out any patches that might be creating this so that the problem can be isolated.

[Jérôme Schell (jerome)]

I have the same behavior using last Breezy Release Candidate.
The laptop is a Sony VAIO PCG-FX201.
The freeze occurs when printing "Loading ACPI modules".
Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Suppr reboots the machine.
Booting with "acpi=off" solved the problem...

[Jérôme Schell (jerome)]

Created an attachment (id=4496)
dmidecode for Sony VAIO PCG-FX201

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

After some trouble I was able to compile a kernel with CONFIG_ACPI_DEBUG. The
kernel hangs with the last message being:

Executing all Device _STA and_INI methods:......

There's some more text before that. I can write it down an put it here if it
would help.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

This bug has been flagged because it is old and possibly inactive. It may or may
not be fixed in the latest release (Breezy Badger 5.10). It is being marked as
"NEEDSINFO". In two weeks time, if the bug is not updated back to "NEW" and
validated against Breezy, it will be closed.

This is needed in order to help manage the current bug list for the kernel. We
would like to fix all bugs, but need users to test and help with debugging.

If this change was in error for this bug, please respond and make the
appropriate change (or email <email address hidden> if you cannot make the
change).

Thanks for your help.

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

This bug is indeed old. Every ubuntu kernel I've tried ever since warty has had
this bug. It is still present in breezy. I don't know what extra info is
required. I've responded to every request and have even tried to compile my own
ubuntu kernel with ACPI debug on and posted the output. If there is anything
else I can do please tell me.

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

I believe the dmidecode output already provided should be sufficient to
automatically disable ACPI on this BIOS.

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

Disable ACPI? Why? This computer's ACPI works fine with any kernel from
kernel.org. It's Ubuntu that adds some patch that breaks it.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

If possible, please upgrade to Dapper's 2.6.15-7 kernel. If you do not want to
upgrade to Dapper, then you can also wait for the Dapper Flight 2 CD's, which
are due out within the next few days.

Let me know if this bug still exists with this kernel.

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

I just tested the Flight 2 CD's and the result is exactly the same. It hangs
after saying what the ACPI Subsystem revision is.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

(In reply to comment #24)
> I just tested the Flight 2 CD's and the result is exactly the same. It hangs
> after saying what the ACPI Subsystem revision is.

Well, there aren't any real acpi patches to this kernel. It's all upstream code.
Can you try booting with pci=noacpi?

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

(In reply to comment #25)
> Well, there aren't any real acpi patches to this kernel. It's all upstream code.
> Can you try booting with pci=noacpi?

Same result. I'm going to try to build a 2.6.15 kernel from kernel.org to see if
the bug is now upstream. If it is I'll put a bug in the kernel bugzilla. The
ACPI guys are usually pretty responsive.

[Pedro Côrte-Real (pedrocr)]

I've fixed this problem by upgrading my BIOS.