[ltp] Questions/Pointers for ThinkPad 600 Model 2645-21u

[Bret Comstock Waldow]

On Tue, 2003-06-10 at 15:31, MegaBight wrote:

> > Also, you need a FAT16 partition if you want firmware
> > hibernation to work.  Also, it is handy to keep Windows stuff
> > around if you want to play with VMware or Wine later on.
> >
> 
> What is firmware hibernation and why would I want it under Linux??

I've got a T21.  Best I can tell, he means hibernation via the BIOS
system (as opposed to the M$ Windows controlled version).  This mean
freezing processing and copying all the current RAM to the hard disk,
where it will wait patiently, and without even any battery power, until
you restart, at which time it will restore the RAM contents from the
disk back into RAM, then restart the system where it left off.

I've even done this in the middle of compiling a kernel, and it resumed
without hiccup later.

Suspend commonly refers to a battery powered memory hold.  When the
batteries run out (I haven't timed this, but I don't think most laptops
can maintain more than a day this way), you lose, the equivalent of a
power-off reboot right in the middle of processing.  Suspend is
relatively quick, though.

Hibernate allows you to go without a battery, while swapping batteries
for instance, or if you've exhausted the battery without a chance to
recharge, without loosing your current processing sessions.  It takes
about 30 seconds while the RAM contents are copied to the hard disk.

My T21 has BIOS settings that suspend with no activity after a while,
then automatically hibernate if the battery gets low.  Works like a
charm.

Cheers,
Bret

-- 
bwaldow at alum.mit.edu