Dumb questions to apic

[Hans <hans.ullrich@loop.de>]

Dear list,

this is a little bit offtopic. I got a broken notebook as a gift (did not 
start, no bios screen, nothing!). Now I managed to get it running again. 
Everything is working, execpt the bios.
The bios is broken, and the backup battery is empty in seconds.

But that is not the problem, just background info.

I can start the notebook, and debian/testing is running fine. But when I want 
to reboot or shutdown the notebook, it does not switch off. I believe, it is a 
bios problem.

So I tried with several kernel parameters. I tried

acpi=force
apm=off
noacpi

But none of them worked. When I tried "nolapic", then I can reboot and 
shutoff, but then only one cpu is available.

As I do not know, where to search, I googled to get information, the meaning 
of acpi, nolapic and so on. "lapic" is local apic, but what is this? And can I 
switch completely to a software acpi, so that I am independent from the 
hardware? Which kernel command is the choice?

Hope, someone can make this little point clearer.

Best regards

Hans