TECRA A9-S9017 -- Idles too hot -- Hardware Support

freebsd_user at guice.ath.cx freebsd_user at guice.ath.cx
Mon Aug 25 19:18:51 UTC 2008


On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 01:30:22AM +1000, Ian Smith wrote:
> I'd cc Wes Morgan too, but his address doesn't appear here.

I tried to send Wes Morgan an email near the top of the thread, 
forgot what header field I used and I believe it bounced; perhaps 
because I wasn't subscribed at that time.  I will include Wes Morgan 
in from this point onward.  

MORE annotations further down.

> 
> On Sun, 24 Aug 2008, freebsd_user at guice.ath.cx wrote:
>  > Continuing this thread.  See below for annotations
>  > 
>  > On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 09:28:19PM -0500, Wes Morgan wrote:
>  > > On Sun, 10 Aug 2008, freebsd_user at guice.ath.cx wrote:
>  > > 
>  > > >	I've been through his before with an AMD setup (desktop) and now, 
>  > > >here we go again using a Toshiba TECRA A9-S9017 laptop. The issue here is, 
>  > > >is
>  > > >appears that FreeBSD is causing the motherboard and its chipset(s)
>  > > >and/or CPU's to work wide open (full throttle) --disregard for APM. I'm
> 
> APM?  I guess you mean ACPI on a modern laptop?  See below ..
At this point I was speaking of APM.  While the machine is booting 
there was a time it printed something to the effect that 'APM' 
could/would not be loaded/enabled because of a missing device/optin 
in the kernerl.

> 
>  > > >basing this on the amount of heat coming from this current laptop while
>  > > >the laptop is idling, The heat is to the point that you can't keep the
>  > > >laptop on your lap; in addition to the battery not lasting quite an hour 
>  > > >while idling.
>  > > 
>  > > Try using powerd(8).
>  > > 
>  > 
>  > I have done so with little improvement as far as the heat goes.  When we 
>  > first requested help (this thread), the role of this machine was to be a 
>  > freebsd desktop.  Since then we lost a mail server and have been forced to 
>  > use the 'subject' machine as a replacement --until whenever-- meaning it 
>  > is plugged in 24/7.
> 
> While I take Remko's point in terms of the hardware levels he'd be used 
> to, laptops can make quite good small servers, for small networks, like 
> ours .. this mailserver runs on a 300MHZ 1999 Compaq Armada 1500c :) but 
> yours sounds rather wasted on such a job.

In short, this was an emergency, and I tried to spare the mailing 
list any of my woes that had nothing to do with the current 
discussion.  In short, an upgrade on the mail-server went sideways, 
unable to boot multi-user.  The laptop was the most immediate way to 
get up and running by restoring our level '0' and '9' dumps rather 
than try to fix the tower on a live system.

Back to the here and now.  :=)

> 
>  > as stated above 'powerd' is being used and we do notice less heat after 
>  > the machine hasn't been used for a period of hours.  However, even though 
>  > we consider the machine as idling, because we haven't used it in hours, 
>  > other than the mail coming in; X.org is not running and the lid/LCD is 
>  > closed and off, the machine is quite warm --not as hot as it was.
> 
> This review http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4071 says 
> that it doesn't run too hot (with Vasta) but the temperatures shown 
> perhaps bely that.

I'll have a look

> 
> However we need some empirical data about what it's doing.  Showing your 
> /var/run/dmesg.boot and 'sysctl hw.acpi' output would be a good start.
> 
Initially we didn't provide that data until someone asked for it to be sure that is 
in fact what was needed or if the was some other incorrect setting.

/var/run/dmesg.boot ...

Copyright (c) 1992-2008 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
	The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
FreeBSD 6.3-RELEASE-p3 #1: Mon Aug  4 23:37:02 EDT 2008
    root at WORKSTATION.ath.cx:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/WORKSTATION
ACPI APIC Table: <TOSHIB A0056   >
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T7500  @ 2.20GHz (2194.52-MHz 686-class CPU)
  Origin = "GenuineIntel"  Id = 0x6fb  Stepping = 11
  Features=0xbfebfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CLFLUSH,DTS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE>
  Features2=0xe3bd<SSE3,RSVD2,MON,DS_CPL,VMX,EST,TM2,SSSE3,CX16,xTPR,PDCM>
  AMD Features=0x20100000<NX,LM>
  AMD Features2=0x1<LAHF>
  Cores per package: 2
real memory  = 2113142784 (2015 MB)
avail memory = 2058563584 (1963 MB)
ioapic0: Changing APIC ID to 1
ioapic0 <Version 2.0> irqs 0-23 on motherboard
kbd1 at kbdmux0
ath_hal: 0.9.20.3 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413)
hptrr: HPT RocketRAID controller driver v1.1 (Aug  4 2008 23:36:52)
acpi0: <TOSHIB A0056> on motherboard
acpi0: Power Button (fixed)
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
acpi_timer0: <24-bit timer at 3.579545MHz> port 0xd808-0xd80b on acpi0
acpi_hpet0: <High Precision Event Timer> iomem 0xfed00000-0xfed003ff on acpi0
Timecounter "HPET" frequency 14318180 Hz quality 900
cpu0: <ACPI CPU> on acpi0
pcib0: <ACPI Host-PCI bridge> port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0
pci0: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib0
pcib1: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 16 at device 1.0 on pci0
pci1: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib1
pci1: <display, VGA> at device 0.0 (no driver attached)
pci0: <simple comms> at device 3.0 (no driver attached)
em0: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection Version - 6.7.2> port 0xbfe0-0xbfff mem 0xffcc0000-0xffcdffff,0xffcfe000-0xffcfefff irq 20 at device 25.0 on pci0
em0: Ethernet address: 00:1c:7e:e3:2f:1f
uhci0: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0xbf80-0xbf9f irq 16 at device 26.0 on pci0
uhci0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb0: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci0
usb0: USB revision 1.0
uhub0: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhci1: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> at device 26.1 on pci0
uhci1: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb1: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci1
usb1: USB revision 1.0
uhub1: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
ehci0: <EHCI (generic) USB 2.0 controller> mem 0xffcff800-0xffcffbff irq 18 at device 26.7 on pci0
ehci0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb2: EHCI version 1.0
usb2: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb0 usb1
usb2: <EHCI (generic) USB 2.0 controller> on ehci0
usb2: USB revision 2.0
uhub2: Intel EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub2: 4 ports with 4 removable, self powered
pcm0: <Intel 82801H High Definition Audio Controller> at device 27.0 on pci0
pcib2: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 17 at device 28.0 on pci0
pci2: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib2
pci2: <network> at device 0.0 (no driver attached)
pcib3: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 16 at device 28.1 on pci0
pci3: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib3
pcib4: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 18 at device 28.2 on pci0
pci5: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib4
pci5: <memory> at device 0.0 (no driver attached)
uhci2: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x8fe0-0x8fff irq 23 at device 29.0 on pci0
uhci2: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb3: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci2
usb3: USB revision 1.0
uhub3: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhci3: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x8f80-0x8f9f irq 19 at device 29.1 on pci0
uhci3: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb4: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci3
usb4: USB revision 1.0
uhub4: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub4: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhci4: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x8f60-0x8f7f irq 18 at device 29.2 on pci0
uhci4: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb5: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci4
usb5: USB revision 1.0
uhub5: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub5: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
ehci1: <EHCI (generic) USB 2.0 controller> mem 0xffcff400-0xffcff7ff irq 23 at device 29.7 on pci0
ehci1: [GIANT-LOCKED]
usb6: EHCI version 1.0
usb6: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb3 usb4 usb5
usb6: <EHCI (generic) USB 2.0 controller> on ehci1
usb6: USB revision 2.0
uhub6: Intel EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1
uhub6: 6 ports with 6 removable, self powered
pcib5: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 30.0 on pci0
pci6: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib5
cbb0: <PCI-CardBus Bridge> at device 11.0 on pci6
cardbus0: <CardBus bus> on cbb0
pccard0: <16-bit PCCard bus> on cbb0
fwohci0: <1394 Open Host Controller Interface> at device 11.1 on pci6
fwohci0: OHCI version 1.10 (ROM=1)
fwohci0: No. of Isochronous channels is 4.
[4~[4~dfwohci0: EUI64 00:00:39:00:00:7e:a7:c4
fwohci0: Phy 1394a available S400, 2 ports.
fwohci0: Link S400, max_rec 2048 bytes.
firewire0: <IEEE1394(FireWire) bus> on fwohci0
fwe0: <Ethernet over FireWire> on firewire0
if_fwe0: Fake Ethernet address: 02:00:39:7e:a7:c4
fwe0: Ethernet address: 02:00:39:7e:a7:c4
fwe0: if_start running deferred for Giant
sbp0: <SBP-2/SCSI over FireWire> on firewire0
fwohci0: Initiate bus reset
fwohci0: BUS reset
fwohci0: node_id=0xc000ffc0, gen=1, CYCLEMASTER mode
firewire0: 1 nodes, maxhop <= 0, cable IRM = 0 (me)
firewire0: bus manager 0 (me)
pci6: <mass storage> at device 11.2 (no driver attached)
pci6: <base peripheral> at device 11.3 (no driver attached)
isab0: <PCI-ISA bridge> at device 31.0 on pci0
isa0: <ISA bus> on isab0
atapci0: <Intel ATA controller> port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6,0x170-0x177,0x376,0x8f30-0x8f3f irq 19 at device 31.1 on pci0
ata0: <ATA channel 0> on atapci0
ata1: <ATA channel 1> on atapci0
atapci1: <Intel AHCI controller> port 0x8f28-0x8f2f,0x8f24-0x8f27,0x8f18-0x8f1f,0x8f14-0x8f17,0x8ee0-0x8eff mem 0xffcfd800-0xffcfdfff irq 19 at device 31.2 on pci0
atapci1: AHCI Version 01.10 controller with 3 ports detected
ata2: <ATA channel 0> on atapci1
ata3: <ATA channel 1> on atapci1
ata3: port not implemented
ata4: <ATA channel 2> on atapci1
ata4: port not implemented
acpi_lid0: <Control Method Lid Switch> on acpi0
battery0: <ACPI Control Method Battery> on acpi0
acpi_button0: <Power Button> on acpi0
acpi_acad0: <AC Adapter> on acpi0
acpi_tz0: <Thermal Zone> on acpi0
atkbdc0: <Keyboard controller (i8042)> port 0x60,0x64 irq 1 on acpi0
atkbd0: <AT Keyboard> irq 1 on atkbdc0
kbd0 at atkbd0
atkbd0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
psm0: <PS/2 Mouse> irq 12 on atkbdc0
psm0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
psm0: model GlidePoint, device ID 0
sio0: <16550A-compatible COM port> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on acpi0
sio0: type 16550A
pmtimer0 on isa0
orm0: <ISA Option ROMs> at iomem 0xc0000-0xcffff,0xd4000-0xd7fff,0xe8000-0xeffff on isa0
sc0: <System console> at flags 0x100 on isa0
sc0: VGA <16 virtual consoles, flags=0x300>
vga0: <Generic ISA VGA> at port 0x3c0-0x3df iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff on isa0
ppc0: parallel port not found.
sio1: configured irq 3 not in bitmap of probed irqs 0
sio1: port may not be enabled
ugen0: STMicroelectronics Biometric Coprocessor, rev 1.00/0.01, addr 2
Timecounter "TSC" frequency 2194521241 Hz quality 800
Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
hptrr: no controller detected.
acd0: DVDR <TEAC DV-W28ECT/7.5A> at ata0-master UDMA33
ad4: 152627MB <FUJITSU MHW2160BH PL 0040001D> at ata2-master SATA150
pcm0: <HDA Codec: Realtek ALC262>
pcm0: <HDA Driver Revision: 20071129_0050>
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad4s1a
em0: link state changed to UP
Waiting (max 60 seconds) for system process `vnlru' to stop...done
Waiting (max 60 seconds) for system process `bufdaemon' to stop...done
Waiting (max 60 seconds) for system process `syncer' to stop...
Syncing disks, vnodes remaining...2 1 0 0 done
All buffers synced.

sysctl hw.acpi ...

hw.acpi.supported_sleep_state: S3 S4 S5
hw.acpi.power_button_state: S5
hw.acpi.sleep_button_state: S3
hw.acpi.lid_switch_state: NONE
hw.acpi.standby_state: S1
hw.acpi.suspend_state: S3
hw.acpi.sleep_delay: 1
hw.acpi.s4bios: 0
hw.acpi.verbose: 0
hw.acpi.disable_on_reboot: 0
hw.acpi.handle_reboot: 0
hw.acpi.reset_video: 0
hw.acpi.cpu.cx_lowest: C1
hw.acpi.battery.life: 100
hw.acpi.battery.time: -1
hw.acpi.battery.state: 0
hw.acpi.battery.units: 1
hw.acpi.battery.info_expire: 5
hw.acpi.acline: 1
hw.acpi.thermal.min_runtime: 0
hw.acpi.thermal.polling_rate: 10
hw.acpi.thermal.user_override: 0
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0.temperature: 63.0C
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0.active: -1
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0.passive_cooling: 0
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0.thermal_flags: 0
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0._PSV: -1
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0._HOT: -1
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0._CRT: 102.0C
hw.acpi.thermal.tz0._ACx: -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1

>  > Soon after we login remotely, the heat ramps up again to the point were 
>  > you can't keep the 'subject:' machine on your lap; there are time we do 
>  > need to use the machine directly which includes placing the machine on 
>  > ones' lap.
>  > 
>  > With that being said, 'man powerd' states the default is to run in 
>  > "adaptive" mode but, the bug section of the same man page states: 
>  > 
>  > "If powerd is used with power_profile, they may override each other."
>  > 
>  > -- How do I know, or find out, if the above (override) is taking place?
>  > -- How to tell what state/mode 'powerd' is in at any particular timestamp?
> 
> Secondly, in its own window or vty, as root, run /etc/rc.d/powerd stop 
> (if it's running) then run 'powerd -v' which runs in foreground and says 
> exactly what it's doing re shifting CPU frequency under various loads.
> 
> It's also useful to watch the temperature(s) directly over the time, see 
> acpi_thermal(4) and try logging those sysctls periodically in a script.
> 
> Firstly, yes that comment isn't too helpful .. power_profile only acts 
> (so far) when you apply or remove AC power, using the following values 
> from /etc/defaults/rc.conf unless you've set them otherwise:
> 
> performance_cx_lowest="HIGH"            # Online CPU idle state
> performance_cpu_freq="HIGH"             # Online CPU frequency
> economy_cx_lowest="HIGH"                # Offline CPU idle state
> economy_cpu_freq="HIGH"                 # Offline CPU frequency
> 
> If you have a look at /etc/rc.d/power_profile you'll see that these are 
> applied to sysctl hw.acpi.cpu.cx_lowest (from hw.acpi.cpu.cx_supported)
> and dev.cpu.0.freq (from dev.cpu.0.freq_levels).  You can set the above 
> variables to HIGH, LOW, a specific value, or NONE.
> 
> Specify "NONE" to have power_profile make no changes.  "C3" or at least 
> "C2" can be useful CX values, in some machines helping with temperature.  
> powerd will soon override the dev.cpu.0.freq setting anyway, so it's not 
> a problem - again, watch powerd -v output - and I guess you'll rarely 
> run on battery (you've got a nice 2-3 hour UPS, though :)

This is another issue in addition to the heat.  As you say, this battery
should last any where from 2-3 hours, however as it is now;
out-of-the-box so to speak, this machine will only stay powered up
approximately 1-hour on using the oem battery.

> 
>  > This machine has never run this hot, prior to running 'powerd'-- or run 
>  > this warm, while idling with 'powerd' in comparison to running under windows 
>  > --not trying to start and OS confilict here, trying to learn, understand 
>  > and control this beast of a machine if possible.
> 
> Of course, and it's likely doable, though you might need to run 7-STABLE 
> for the latest dual-core ACPI handling.  Let's see how we go with some 
> real information, before suggesting taking this to freebsd-acpi at .  I 
> don't see where you've mentioned what version of FreeBSD it's running?

I believe I did so at the outset of this thread.  In any case dmesg has
now provided that information.

> 
>  > FreeBSD is allowing me to handle my data in a more flexable, feature rich, 
>  > secure and Free manner than windows.  We would prefer to stay with 
>  > FreeBSD, but not if its going to burn-up our hardware.  We had to take our 
>  > previous AMD/smp machine down because we couldn't keep the heat down 
>  > without leaving the case open.  We loved that machine but it kept freezing 
>  > due to heat.
>  > 
>  > There is another issue whereby 'APM' is enabled in /etc/rc.conf but while 
>  > booting the machine the scrolling text is saying the 'APM' module, or 
>  > something like that will not be loaded because of a missing kernel 
>  > option/device.  But the kernel notes say its no longer neccessary to build 
>  > the 'APM' into the kernel.  Can someone enlighten me as to what I should 
>  > be doing with regards to bringing this heat down in addition to the 'APM' 
>  > not actually being loaded when its enabled in the kernel.
> 
> You really don't want to run APM on modern hardware unless the ACPI on 
> your machine is really, really broken, not even fixable by recompiling 
> the AML code.  And I'm fairly sure that ACPI is required to run SMP (ie 
> to use both cores).  Make sure that ACPI, not APM, is enabled in BIOS.

I'll remove APM from /erc/rc.conf

> 
> Let's start from a dmesg, sysctl hw.acpi and some powerd -v output ?
> 
> cheers, Ian
> 
>  > 
>  > Thank you. 
>  > 
>  > TECRA_A9-S9017
>  > 
>  > 
>  > > >My goals are: 1) to control the cpu and associated hardware (heat) 2) get 
>  > > >all the native/installed hardware supported.  3) support for a "sierra 
>  > > >wireless compass 597" <--> usb wireless WAN.  Should FreeBSD not support 
>  > > >all of this machines hardware then we need not continue --unless people 
>  > > >are actively working of support/drivers for the above.
>  > > 
>  > > Judging by the factory specs, you will probably find that 90% of the 
>  > > hardware is supported or has a driver under development. Don't hold your 
>  > > breath for the fingerprint reader, though. The wireless modem is a crap 
>  > > shoot.
>  > > 
>  > > >I've been trying to work with FreeBSD on this TECRA A9 for the better part 
>  > > >of two weeks and there are too many outstanding issues to continue.


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