Power switch not working

[Polytropon]

On Tue, 09 Apr 2013 02:49:49 -0700, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
> 
> In message <20130407060507.76fd8bd1.freebsd at edvax.de>, 
> Polytropon <freebsd at edvax.de> wrote:
> 
> >This is what "shutdown -p now" does.
> 
> It's times like these than make me want to go off to some dark place and
> hang my head in shame.

No need to do so. In AT times, before ATX was common, there
was no way to power off the machine as it had a mechanical
power switch (a _real_ switch), so using -h was the way to
go.



> >For example, I've programmed Ctrl+Alt+Moon on my Sun USB keyboard...
> 
> Sun keyboards have moon keys??

The moon key is on the top right, and only present on the type
6 and 7 keyboards. Pervious models had a (I) key (power key)
in that location.

http://stuartconnections.com/products/Computers/Peripherals/Keyboard_and_Mouse_Combos/Sun_320-1366-03/DSC09864w.jpg

http://i.stack.imgur.com/D8RsW.jpg

http://www.lemis.com/grog/Photos/20120509/big/Keyboard-1.jpeg

For comparison:

http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/387/suntype5cks2.jpg

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19683-01/806-4743/images/keyboard_a.tif.gif

The original function of the (I) power key has been to switch
the computer on and off. Today I'm using it for session logout,
and for power off (with Ctrl and Alt, just to reduce the change
of accidental system shutdown).



> (I hope and trust that I'm not the only one who finds this fact rather
> comical.  Perhaps that's why Sun put the key there (?))

Now that Sun doesn't exist anymore, there's the word "Oracle"
on top of the keyboard. The moon is more associated with the
uncertainity of a mysterious oracle than the sun. :-)



> >In the past, this kind of operation has been performed via APM.
> >When APM has been fully supported, it was abolished and replaced
> >by ACPI. At the time ACPI is fully working, standard-compliant
> >and supported among all the many vendors, it will be obsoleted
> >by something different, probably UEFI, and the fun restarts. :-)
> 
> Yea.
> 
> ISA -> PCI -> PCIe -> PCIe2.x -> PCIe3.x  ...
> 
> DRAM -> SDRAM -> DDR -> DDR2 -> DDR3 ...
> 
> ATX 20 pin -> ATX 24 pin ...
> 
> Somebody is always coming up with something new that will inevitably force
> me to spend money, buing new hardware, despite all my resistance.

I cannot wait to participate in this wonderful experience
that keeps the "throw away society" alive (and enable us
to buy cheaper and more powerful stuff, on the other hand).
How will I be going to have a video feed from a VCR when
I cannot plug in my fully working and excellently supported
PCI TV card (with video input) anywhere? It's hard to keep
doing "the same" over the period of time the equipment will
work. Okay, no problem if you need to to "something new"
(which requires more power, more storage or faster speed),
but if that's not the case, the wheel keeps being reinvented.
What has been old will be new, except it comes in shiny new
marketing mumbo-jumbo to convince us. :-)





-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...