On Wed, Apr 03, 2019 at 11:04:35AM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:

I have a no-name netbook-style laptop running up-to-date Fedora 29. https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_367&item_id=117289

When I close the lid, fedora almost always puts the notebook in sleep mode. Unfortunately, once in a while, it does not. And then my battery runs down.

The notebook has a light that indicates sleep by blinking slowly. Unfortunately, it is not visible while the lid is closed. Bad design.

I could put the notebook to sleep and then close the lid, but this is quite a bit more fiddly.

Why would Fedora fail to sleep once in a while?

Does anyone else experience this?

How would you go about diagnosing this problem?

(My fear is that this is a firmware bug. I'm pretty sure that there will never be firmware updates.)

If it is anything like my netbook, there is a magnet in the bezel surrounding the display and a sensor in the edge of the laptop, that senses the proximity of the magnet and sends a signal that the BIOS and/or the OS sees and does the necessary stuff.

Mine has quit going to sleep, too, when the screen is closed, so I've just had to bite the bullet and learn to do Fn-F4 before closing the lid.

Odd thing is, that waving a strong magnet around where the sensor is WILL cause it to go to sleep. Go figure.

Fred