New public release of ACPI for eComStation

Mensys BV is pleased to announce the first public beta of an ACPI
support distribution since long. About 6 months ago David Azarewicz has
began work to update and improve the ACPI code. We are happy to be able
to release this new distribution which has been greatly improved over
all previous releases.

It is available to anyone with a current eComStation Software
subscription service,
 via their download-area at the Mensys Online Shop.

To access these distributions, login at http://www.mensys.net/login
Once you are logged in, the ACPI package is available under 'Downloads'
-> 'Software Subscription Services' -> 'ACPI testbuilds
(experimental)'.
Please note that your ecomstation.com userid will not work at the
Mensys
website.

** About this version: **

This build of the ACPI PSD supports considerably fewer command line
switches and in our testing works on more equipment, is significantly
more stable and requires fewer CPU resources. Unless overridden, the
PSD
now enables SMP (multi CPU mode) and APIC mode automatically.  No
switches are needed. For the people who have used ACPI switches like
/SMP /APIC /!NOD /CD and /FS, these are no longer needed and will be
removed from the PSD command line. See the documentation for
the available switches.

In addition, a number of long standing SMP bugs in OS/2 code have been
fixed.  The ACPI distribution ships with an updated IBM keyboard driver
and an updated TCPIP32.DLL to correct SMP related defects.  The TCPIP32
DLL has proven to make Firefox and Thunderbird much more stable on
systems running in SMP mode.

We recommend that users running older versions of the ACPI PSD update
to
this distribution.

** About ACPI: **

ACPI stands for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface It manages
your computer your hardware resources like IRQ's. It provides support
for suspend/resume and controlling CPU speed on systems that support
this. For more information visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Configuration_and_Power_Interface

** Major todo items: **

- Implement the so called HLT (halt support) in the ACPI code. Research
is in progress on how best to implement this. HLT support is one of the
methods used to reduce CPU power consumption.

- Suspend/resume. A lot of code has been updated to improve
suspend/resume support. However is it currently recommended that you do
not use this feature on production systems.  If you wish to try
suspend/suspend S3 mode, it may work on your system.  However, this not
yet considered a supported feature. Please do not submit suspend/resume
defect reports until support is announced.

- Implement Fn function key support for laptops.

** Reporting bugs: **

Bugs should be reported via http://www.ecomstation.com/
Login and select 'Access bugtracker' from your profile page. Once in
the
bugtracker, select project: eComStation 2.1 GA -> report issue ->
Category ACPI.

I you do encounter problems, follow the docs on how to debug your
system. With the new ACPI, debugging ACPI has become easier.

If your system does not boot properly, try the /VW switch on the
PSD=ACPI.PSD command line.  Then try /PCI. Next, try /MAXCPU=1, to
switch the system to single CPU mode.  The distribution includes a
script to automates the debug output capture.  Make sure to include
this
data when you submit tickets.

On behalf of the eComStation team, Mensys B.V. and Serenity Systems 
a happy and health 2012!