rtas_ibm_suspend_me(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 rtas_ibm_suspend_me — like, the Kernel API Manual page, bestie ✨

Okay so we're deep in the Kernel API Manual today and the star of the show is rtas_ibm_suspend_me(9). Buckle up 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

rtas_ibm_suspend_me — the function that calls ibm,suspend-me to suspend the LPAR. That's it, that's the whole vibe. 💖

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int rtas_ibm_suspend_me (int *fw_status );

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

  • fw_status — bestie, the RTAS call status gets dropped right here 💫 — but only if it's not NULL, okay? Don't come for me if you pass NULL and get nothing back, iykyk.

👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

So here's the tea ☕ — rtas_ibm_suspend_me should only be called on a CPU that has received H_CONTINUE from the H_JOIN hcall. Literally only that one. Every other active CPU should be waiting to return from H_JOIN — like they're all queued outside the club and your CPU is the one on the list 🫶.

Also, and this is the important part: rtas_ibm_suspend_me may suspend execution of the OS indefinitely 😭😭 like, for real, no cap. So callers need to take appropriate measures upon return — resetting watchdog facilities, that kind of thing. Don't just roll over and go back to sleep, mmkay? 🔥

Callers may choose to retry this call if fw_status is RTAS_THREADS_ACTIVE. That's your lil green flag to try again 💚

💀 RETURN 💀

  • 0 — slay! 🎉 The partition has resumed from suspend, possibly after migration to a different host. Iconic behaviour tbh.
  • -ECANCELED — the operation was aborted. It's giving "we don't talk about it" 🙈
  • -EAGAIN — there were other CPUs not in H_JOIN at the time of the call. Rude of them honestly.
  • -EBUSY — some other condition prevented the suspend from succeeding. Vibe check: failed 💔
  • -EIO — hardware/platform error. Not the moment, not the vibe, we don't stan 😤

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Go read the kernel file ./arch/powerpc/kernel/rtas.c (yes, the whole thing, it's giving main character energy) plus these besties:

⭐ Real talk though: this call can hang your whole OS indefinitely and only works on the CPU that got H_CONTINUE. Treat it with the respect it deserves, bestie. 🔥

Okay that's the whole page, mwah 💋 — brought to you from ./arch/powerpc/kernel, dated October 2026, and it says rtas_ibm_suspend_me(9) right there at the bottom like a little signature. Periodt. 💅✨

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