ACPICA version 20090320 released

[Moore, Robert]

20 March 2009. Summary of changes for version 20090320:

This release is available at www.acpica.org/downloads.

1) ACPI CA Core Subsystem:

Fixed a possible race condition between AcpiWalkNamespace and dynamic table unloads. Added a reader/writer locking mechanism to allow multiple concurrent namespace walks (readers), but block a dynamic table unload until it can gain exclusive write access to the namespace. This fixes a problem where a table unload could (possibly catastrophically) delete the portion of the namespace that is currently being examined by a walk. Adds a new file, utlock.c, that implements the reader/writer lock mechanism. ACPICA BZ 749.

Fixed a regression introduced in version 20090220 where a change to the FADT handling could cause the ACPICA subsystem to access non-existent I/O ports.

Modified the handling of FADT register and table (FACS/DSDT) addresses. The FADT can contain both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of these addresses. Previously, the 64-bit versions were favored, meaning that if both 32 and 64 versions were valid, but not equal, the 64-bit version was used. This was found to cause some machines to fail. Now, in this case, the 32-bit version is used instead. This now matches the Windows behavior.

Implemented a new mechanism to protect certain I/O ports. Provides Microsoft compatibility and protects the standard PC I/O ports from access via AML code. Adds a new file, hwvalid.c

Fixed a possible extraneous warning message from the FADT support. The message warns of a 32/64 length mismatch between the legacy and GAS definitions for a register.

Removed the obsolete AcpiOsValidateAddress OSL interface. This interface is made obsolete by the port protection mechanism above. It was previously used to validate the entire address range of an operation region, which could be incorrect if the range included illegal ports, but fields within the operation region did not actually access those ports. Validation is now performed on a per-field basis instead of the entire region.

Modified the handling of the PM1 Status Register ignored bit (bit 11.) Ignored bits must be "preserved" according to the ACPI spec. Usually, this means a read/modify/write when writing to the register. However, for status registers, writing a one means clear the event. Writing a zero means preserve the event (do not clear.) This behavior is clarified in the ACPI 4.0 spec, and the ACPICA code now simply always writes a zero to the ignored bit.

Modified the handling of ignored bits for the PM1 A/B Control Registers. As per the ACPI specification, for the control registers, preserve (read/modify/write) all bits that are defined as either reserved or ignored.

Updated the handling of write-only bits in the PM1 A/B Control Registers. When reading the register, zero the write-only bits as per the ACPI spec. ACPICA BZ 443. Lin Ming.

Removed "Linux" from the list of supported _OSI strings. Linux no longer wants to reply true to this request. The Windows strings are the only paths through the AML that are tested and known to work properly.

  Previous Release:
    Non-Debug Version:  82.0K Code, 17.5K Data,  99.5K Total
    Debug Version:     156.9K Code, 49.8K Data, 206.7K Total
  Current Release:
    Non-Debug Version:  82.6K Code, 17.6K Data, 100.2K Total
    Debug Version:     157.7K Code, 49.9K Data, 207.6K Total

2) iASL Compiler/Disassembler and Tools:

Acpiexec: Split the large aeexec.c file into two new files, aehandlers.c and aetables.c