[ltp] HPET timer on thinkpads?

[Shem Multinymous]

Hi Leon,

On 10/23/07, Leon Brokken <leon.brokken@med.lu.se> wrote:
> Could that explain the hangs every now and then, when my T41 doesn't
> accept any input any longer? Processes keep running but there is no info
> from fan, batt or temp available (judged from conky system monitor).
> Even the power button doesn't work anymore, I need to power off by
> unplugging AC and removing the battery.

Judging by the symptoms, what you're seeing is a hang of the embedded
controller (which is running its own firmware independently of the CPU
and handles all the things you mentioned). This is very dangerous,
since the EC is also in charge of fan control, battery charging
control and emergency thermal shutdown.

It's important to find out what causes the EC hangs. How often do you
see them? Are they correlated with some activity or configuration?
Does unloading some modules (in particular acpi, hdaps, tp_smapi)
prevent them? Are you using an old version of tp_smapi?

  Shem