ACPITOOL(1)

✨ ACPITOOL(1) — User Commands ✨

Hiii bestie 🦋 okay so today we're talking about acpitool, the manual page for it, and this one is a whole vibe. Let's get into it 💅

✨ NAME ✨

okay so the name is acpitool 🎀 and it's a Linux ACPI client that lets you query or set ACPI values. literally the main character of laptop power stuff 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

acpitool [ -aAbBcefFhjlmnosStTvVwWz ]

bestie this is the whole list of single-letter flags you can slap on. we'll go through each one below 🫶

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so acpitool is a Linux ACPI client 💖 it just reads from /proc/acpi or /sys/class entries and then shows you the info in a format humans can actually read. no cap, it's giving clarity 🌸

it gives you info on stuff like battery status, AC adapter presence, thermal readings, and more 🔋 this is most useful on laptops with an ACPI compliant BIOS and a Linux kernel, preferably from the 2.6 series, with ACPI enabled ✨

it can also put the machine into standby, if your laptop supports it 💤

if you've got a Toshiba laptop, you can set the LCD brightness level and toggle the fan on or off 🌈

if you've got an Asus laptop, it can set the LCD brightness level, switch the LCD panel on or off, and control the mail led and wireless led 💜

if you've got an IBM Thinkpad laptop, it can set the LCD brightness level again, and also eject the ultrabay device 🧚

✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -a, --ac_adapter — shows whether the AC adapter is plugged in 🔌
• -A — shows the supported Asus ACPI extensions (LCD brightness level, video out routing DSDT/acpi4asus info) 🌸
• -b — shows battery status info, but only for batteries that are actually available 🔋
• -B, --battery — shows detailed battery status info for every battery entry it finds 💅
• -c, --cpu — shows CPU info (type, speed, PM capabilities, throttling states, c-state usage, frequency scaling) ⭐
• -e — shows just about everything: more battery info, ACPI version, kernel version, CPU, . . . 😭
• -f, --fan — shows fan status (fan info specific to Toshiba or IBM Thinkpad, if applicable) 🌀
• -F x — forces the fan on (x=1) or switches it back to auto mode (x=0). Only works on Toshiba laptops 🔥. The fan gets switched off ONLY if it was forced on first, not if it was switched on automatically. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/toshiba/fan 🙈
• -h, --help — shows the help text 🫶
• -j — ejects the Thinkpad ultrabay device. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/ibm/bay 🧚
• -l x — sets the LCD brightness level to x, where x is in the range 0..7. Only works on Toshiba and IBM Thinkpad laptops. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd or /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness. Illegal values for x will result in the value being set to either 0 or 7 💀
• -m x — switches the mail led on (x=1) or off (x=0). Only works on Asus laptops. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/asus/mled 💌
• -n x — switches the wireless led on (x=1) or off (x=0). Only works on Asus laptops. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/asus/wled 📡
• -o x — switches the LCD panel on (x=1) or off (x=0). Only works on Asus laptops. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/asus/lcd 🖥️
• -s, --suspend to memory — puts the machine into sleep state S3, if possible. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/sleep (kernel 2.4.x) or /sys/power/state (kernel 2.6.x) 💤
• -S, --suspend to disk ? — puts the machine into sleep state S4, if possible. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/sleep (kernel 2.4.x) or /sys/power/state (kernel 2.6.x) 🌙
• -t, --thermal — shows thermal zone(s) info, including trip_points 🌡️
• -T, --Toshiba — shows supported Toshiba ACPI extensions: LCD brightness level, video out routing (which display the video chip is sending to), and fan status (on/off, forced or not) 🍓
• -v — shows more verbose output when something isn't found. Only makes sense when used together with other options 👀
• -V, --version — shows the acpitool version number and release date, then exits 🏷️
• -w — shows the wakeup capable devices. (Available since ACPI 20040715, so check your version!) ⏰
• -W x — enables or disables wakeup capable device x. Run acpitool -w to see valid numbers for x. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/wakeup 🦋
• -z x — sets the Asus LCD brightness level to x, where x is 0..15. Only works on Asus laptops. Needs write access to /proc/acpi/asus/brn ✨

✨ REMARKS ✨

bestie, this one's serious 🚨 this program absolutely requires a Linux kernel with ACPI support enabled. it will not work without it. no exceptions, no cap 💀

IBM Thinkpad support has been part of the Linux kernel since kernel 2.6.10 🧚

don't blame me if acpitool can't suspend your laptop 🙅 there are quite some problematic laptops out there. check the acpi-bugzilla list if you don't believe me ;) 🙄

some options, like -F, -l, -j, -s, -W and -z, need write access to some of the /proc/acpi entries. this means acpitool either has to be run as root, or administrative measures have to be taken (most likely by root) to let ordinary users write to these files. creating a group for ACPI users and setting permissions accordingly comes to mind 🫂

also, older laptops (< 2000) often simply don't have ACPI support. they usually only support APM 🕰️

✨ BUGS ✨

let me know if you think you found one 🐞

✨ FILES ✨

• /proc/acpi/...
• /proc/acpi/toshiba
• /proc/acpi/asus
• /proc/acpi/ibm
• /sys/power/state

✨ HOMEPAGE ✨

http://freeunix.dyndns.org:8000/site2/acpitool.shtml 🌐

✨ AUTHOR ✨

this program is written and maintained by David Leemans (davidleemans |at| scarlet |dot| be) and can be freely distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. there is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY for this program 🎀

---

bestie that's the whole page 🫶 AcpiTool 0.5, 24 Jul 2008, sealed with a 💖 and a 💅. stay iconic, and don't let your laptop suspend you without permission 🦋✨