Toshiba Satellite a300 doesn’t resume after suspend

[aleksanderpawel]

Hi All,

I installed Mint XFCE on my old Toshiba Satellite A300 laptop.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.11.0-36-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 tk: Gtk 3.24.20 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 
  dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: TOSHIBA product: Satellite A300 v: PSAGCE-07X00GPL 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: TOSHIBA model: Portable PC serial: <filter> BIOS: INSYDE v: 2.20 
  date: 12/07/2009 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Pentium Dual T3400 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Core Merom rev: D L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 bogomips: 8646 
  Speed: 998 MHz min/max: 1000/2166 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 998 2: 1227 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RV620/M82 [Mobility Radeon HD 3450/3470] vendor: Toshiba 
  driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:95c4 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RV620 (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.11.0-36-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 21.0.3 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: Toshiba driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:293e 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-36-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Toshiba 
  driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8136 
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Askey WLL6080 802.11bgn driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 3000 
  bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 168c:002a 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 298.09 GiB used: 156.52 GiB (52.5%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HTS543232L9SA00 size: 298.09 GiB 
  speed: 1.5 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm serial: <filter> rev: C43C scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 291.92 GiB used: 156.52 GiB (53.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com uma main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list 
  1: deb https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free #Opera Browser (final releases)
Info:
  Processes: 188 Uptime: 2h 46m Memory: 3.84 GiB used: 1.04 GiB (27.1%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

I works very good, the only major problem is suspension. It gets suspended, but after resuming doesn’t work properly. Its behaviour varies - the most common issue is black screen, or black and white stripes, and no reaction, so I need to restart it with REISUB. Sometimes it resumes and my desktop shows up, but everting is frozen, I can only enter tty terminal (I don’t know if I’m calling it properly) by ctrl+alt+F1. Sometimes everting seems to be good, but kworker/u8:18+r852 process taking 30% of CPU. Very rarely everting works good after resume.

I tried to suspend with lid closing, systemctl suspend command and from the menu. I don’t know why, but effects are different, lid and systemctl command seem to work better than choosing “suspend” from the menu.

I experimented a bit with different kernels. With default 5.4 kernels suspension works bad, after resuming there is always black screen or black and white stripes. With 5.8.63 kernel similar effect. 5.11 kernels work slightly better, my desktop shows up after suspension, but it's most often frozen.

I found similar problem with this type of laptop there: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1895142 If I understood it well, someone suppose there is some hardware issue. So, my question is: can I do anything to have fully working suspend on my hardware with Linux? I didn’t find my laptop on Linux Mint Hardware Compatibility List.

I suppose that some log files would be useful, but I’m a newbie, I don’t know how to choose and post them here.

Greetings

[AZgl1800]

My Experience after a lot of heartache is simple.

Do NOT use any of the alternate commands,
Sleep, Hibernate, suspend.

They just are not Rock Solid.

I have Close Lid set to Do Nothing BIOS will turn off the power to the Screen Display when it senses the lid is closed.
On my one Desktop, I just turn OFF the external Display and leave the PC alone.... it has worked just fine since 2006 without a problem.


all of the other power management stuff is set to Never with one exception.

IF,
on Battery Only, no A/C adapter plugged in, the laptop is shutdown after 15 minutes of Idle Time.

since I started that methodology, I have never had a problem with any laptop, from LM17 thru LM20

[aleksanderpawel]

Thank you for your response. I’ll do what you suggest, but I must admit I miss suspension mode. It’s not the thing that I can’t live without, but it’s convenient and saves energy. Maybe I need to change my habits and I’ll turn off my laptop more often. Fortunately with Linux Mint it shuts down very fast. Turning on takes much more time, but upgrade to SSD should help.

[AZgl1800]

Thank you for your response. I’ll do what you suggest, but I must admit I miss suspension mode. It’s not the thing that I can’t live without, but it’s convenient and saves energy. Maybe I need to change my habits and I’ll turn off my laptop more often. Fortunately with Linux Mint it shuts down very fast. Turning on takes much more time, but upgrade to SSD should help.

I have two laptops with SSDs in them,
the "slow one" takes 28 seconds to boot up Firefox "automatically"

the older one, a 2007 ThinkPad is actually faster at 25 seconds.


as for saving energy, I would hope that you keep the power adapter plugged in all the time??
once the BIOS turns off the Display, the current draw from the battery is very low, about the same as the power adapter idling by itself.

[aleksanderpawel]

I unplug the adapter every time I shut down the computer. I’ve followed your advices, and my laptop turns off screen when I close the lid, but I think I upgrade it with SSD nevertheless.

[AZgl1800]

I unplug the adapter every time I shut down the computer. I’ve followed your advices, and my laptop turns off screen when I close the lid, but I think I upgrade it with SSD nevertheless.

I do NOT unplug the adapter, even with the laptop shutdown, the adapter stays plugged into the laptop, to keep the battery charged, even if it is 5 years or 10 years to the next time it gets used.

way cheaper than buying replacement batteries.

The internal Charger Circuits will prevent the battery from being over charged.

[aleksanderpawel]

Thank you for this tip, I didn’t know that. However it’s not my case. Battery in my laptop got wasted years ago, fortunately it can be used without any battery.

[AZgl1800]

the Clock and Power On/Off circuits will drain a new battery within a matter of a few weeks....
then it is toast if you don't find it for 10 years....

if storing a laptop, Remove the Battery with it at 60 percent charge.
that is per nearly all of the Manufacturers instructions.