Linux APM (Suspend to disc) on a Dell Inspiron / Latitude

This is a quick introduction to the Linux suspend to disc on Dell Inspiron / Latitude. This tips should work on Inspiron 3800 to 8200, and Latitude C serie. (all phoenix bios shipped w/ a Dell computer in fact)

There is two kind of suspend in APM:

  • suspend to disc
  • suspend to RAM

Suspend to RAM:

This is the easier thing to do: simply build your kernel w/ APM enable (as module or not). There is no other required option. To test: press Fn + Ecape

Suspend to disc:

  • This part is little more tricky.
  • First download http://support.dell.com/filelib/format.aspx?releaseid=r22768 > (Suspend to Disk Util for Dell)
  • This is a .exe ok .. but just unzip it (yes it’s a self-extractable zip file)
  • Take a empty floppy, run ./setup.sh
  • This will make a dos boot disk w/ all required tools on
  • So it’s time to reboot on this floppy
  • Here you will get a dos prompt
  • Run mk2sd.exe (this will make a special hibernation partition)
  • Important Note : This partition must be in the first cylinders of the hard drive. DOS has old restrictions about the partition size .. (I used partimage and parted to find the right place for this)
  • So that’s all
  • reboot Linux and press FN+A (Q on azerty keyboard) to test :)

– Enjoy hibernation …



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