Documentation/acpi/osi.txt - third_party/linux - Git at Google

 ACPI _OSI and _REV methods
 --------------------------

 An ACPI BIOS can use the "Operating System Interfaces" method (_OSI)
 to find out what the operating system supports. Eg. If BIOS
 AML code includes _OSI("XYZ"), the kernel's AML interpreter
 can evaluate that method, look to see if it supports 'XYZ'
 and answer YES or NO to the BIOS.

 The ACPI _REV method returns the "Revision of the ACPI specification
 that OSPM supports"

 This document explains how and why the BIOS and Linux should use these methods.
 It also explains how and why they are widely misused.

 How to use _OSI
 ---------------

 Linux runs on two groups of machines -- those that are tested by the OEM
 to be compatible with Linux, and those that were never tested with Linux,
 but where Linux was installed to replace the original OS (Windows or OSX).

 The larger group is the systems tested to run only Windows.  Not only that,
 but many were tested to run with just one specific version of Windows.
 So even though the BIOS may use _OSI to query what version of Windows is running,
 only a single path through the BIOS has actually been tested.
 Experience shows that taking untested paths through the BIOS
 exposes Linux to an entire category of BIOS bugs.
 For this reason, Linux _OSI defaults must continue to claim compatibility
 with all versions of Windows.

 But Linux isn't actually compatible with Windows, and the Linux community
 has also been hurt with regressions when Linux adds the latest version of
 Windows to its list of _OSI strings.  So it is possible that additional strings
 will be more thoroughly vetted before shipping upstream in the future.
 But it is likely that they will all eventually be added.

 What should an OEM do if they want to support Linux and Windows
 using the same BIOS image?  Often they need to do something different
 for Linux to deal with how Linux is different from Windows.
 Here the BIOS should ask exactly what it wants to know:

 _OSI("Linux-OEM-my_interface_name")
 where 'OEM' is needed if this is an OEM-specific hook,
 and 'my_interface_name' describes the hook, which could be a
 quirk, a bug, or a bug-fix.

 In addition, the OEM should send a patch to upstream Linux
 via the linux-acpi@vger.kernel.org mailing list.  When that patch
 is checked into Linux, the OS will answer "YES" when the BIOS
 on the OEM's system uses _OSI to ask if the interface is supported
 by the OS.  Linux distributors can back-port that patch for Linux
 pre-installs, and it will be included by all distributions that
 re-base to upstream.  If the distribution can not update the kernel binary,
 they can also add an acpi_osi=Linux-OEM-my_interface_name
 cmdline parameter to the boot loader, as needed.

 If the string refers to a feature where the upstream kernel
 eventually grows support, a patch should be sent to remove
 the string when that support is added to the kernel.

 That was easy.  Read on, to find out how to do it wrong.

 Before _OSI, there was _OS
 --------------------------

 ACPI 1.0 specified "_OS" as an
 "object that evaluates to a string that identifies the operating system."

 The ACPI BIOS flow would include an evaluation of _OS, and the AML
 interpreter in the kernel would return to it a string identifying the OS:

 Windows 98, SE: "Microsoft Windows"
 Windows ME: "Microsoft WindowsME:Millenium Edition"
 Windows NT: "Microsoft Windows NT"

 The idea was on a platform tasked with running multiple OS's,
 the BIOS could use _OS to enable devices that an OS
 might support, or enable quirks or bug workarounds
 necessary to make the platform compatible with that pre-existing OS.

 But _OS had fundamental problems.  First, the BIOS needed to know the name
 of every possible version of the OS that would run on it, and needed to know
 all the quirks of those OS's.  Certainly it would make more sense
 for the BIOS to ask *specific* things of the OS, such
 "do you support a specific interface", and thus in ACPI 3.0,
 _OSI was born to replace _OS.

 _OS was abandoned, though even today, many BIOS look for
 _OS "Microsoft Windows NT", though it seems somewhat far-fetched
 that anybody would install those old operating systems
 over what came with the machine.

 Linux answers "Microsoft Windows NT" to please that BIOS idiom.
 That is the *only* viable strategy, as that is what modern Windows does,
 and so doing otherwise could steer the BIOS down an untested path.

 _OSI is born, and immediately misused
 --------------------------------------

 With _OSI, the *BIOS* provides the string describing an interface,
 and asks the OS: "YES/NO, are you compatible with this interface?"

 eg. _OSI("3.0 Thermal Model") would return TRUE if the OS knows how
 to deal with the thermal extensions made to the ACPI 3.0 specification.
 An old OS that doesn't know about those extensions would answer FALSE,
 and a new OS may be able to return TRUE.

 For an OS-specific interface, the ACPI spec said that the BIOS and the OS
 were to agree on a string of the form such as "Windows-interface_name".

 But two bad things happened.  First, the Windows ecosystem used _OSI
 not as designed, but as a direct replacement for _OS -- identifying
 the OS version, rather than an OS supported interface.  Indeed, right
 from the start, the ACPI 3.0 spec itself codified this misuse
 in example code using _OSI("Windows 2001").

 This misuse was adopted and continues today.

 Linux had no choice but to also return TRUE to _OSI("Windows 2001")
 and its successors.  To do otherwise would virtually guarantee breaking
 a BIOS that has been tested only with that _OSI returning TRUE.

 This strategy is problematic, as Linux is never completely compatible with
 the latest version of Windows, and sometimes it takes more than a year
 to iron out incompatibilities.

 Not to be out-done, the Linux community made things worse by returning TRUE
 to _OSI("Linux").  Doing so is even worse than the Windows misuse
 of _OSI, as "Linux" does not even contain any version information.
 _OSI("Linux") led to some BIOS' malfunctioning due to BIOS writer's
 using it in untested BIOS flows.  But some OEM's used _OSI("Linux")
 in tested flows to support real Linux features.  In 2009, Linux
 removed _OSI("Linux"), and added a cmdline parameter to restore it
 for legacy systems still needed it.  Further a BIOS_BUG warning prints
 for all BIOS's that invoke it.

 No BIOS should use _OSI("Linux").

 The result is a strategy for Linux to maximize compatibility with
 ACPI BIOS that are tested on Windows machines.  There is a real risk
 of over-stating that compatibility; but the alternative has often been
 catastrophic failure resulting from the BIOS taking paths that
 were never validated under *any* OS.

 Do not use _REV
 ---------------

 Since _OSI("Linux") went away, some BIOS writers used _REV
 to support Linux and Windows differences in the same BIOS.

 _REV was defined in ACPI 1.0 to return the version of ACPI
 supported by the OS and the OS AML interpreter.

 Modern Windows returns _REV = 2.  Linux used ACPI_CA_SUPPORT_LEVEL,
 which would increment, based on the version of the spec supported.

 Unfortunately, _REV was also misused.  eg. some BIOS would check
 for _REV = 3, and do something for Linux, but when Linux returned
 _REV = 4, that support broke.

 In response to this problem, Linux returns _REV = 2 always,
 from mid-2015 onward.  The ACPI specification will also be updated
 to reflect that _REV is deprecated, and always returns 2.

 Apple Mac and _OSI("Darwin")
 ----------------------------

 On Apple's Mac platforms, the ACPI BIOS invokes _OSI("Darwin")
 to determine if the machine is running Apple OSX.

 Like Linux's _OSI("*Windows*") strategy, Linux defaults to
 answering YES to _OSI("Darwin") to enable full access
 to the hardware and validated BIOS paths seen by OSX.
 Just like on Windows-tested platforms, this strategy has risks.

 Starting in Linux-3.18, the kernel answered YES to _OSI("Darwin")
 for the purpose of enabling Mac Thunderbolt support.  Further,
 if the kernel noticed _OSI("Darwin") being invoked, it additionally
 disabled all _OSI("*Windows*") to keep poorly written Mac BIOS
 from going down untested combinations of paths.

 The Linux-3.18 change in default caused power regressions on Mac
 laptops, and the 3.18 implementation did not allow changing
 the default via cmdline "acpi_osi=!Darwin".  Linux-4.7 fixed
 the ability to use acpi_osi=!Darwin as a workaround, and
 we hope to see Mac Thunderbolt power management support in Linux-4.11.
	ACPI _OSI and _REV methods
	--------------------------

	An ACPI BIOS can use the "Operating System Interfaces" method (_OSI)
	to find out what the operating system supports. Eg. If BIOS
	AML code includes _OSI("XYZ"), the kernel's AML interpreter
	can evaluate that method, look to see if it supports 'XYZ'
	and answer YES or NO to the BIOS.

	The ACPI _REV method returns the "Revision of the ACPI specification
	that OSPM supports"

	This document explains how and why the BIOS and Linux should use these methods.
	It also explains how and why they are widely misused.

	How to use _OSI
	---------------

	Linux runs on two groups of machines -- those that are tested by the OEM
	to be compatible with Linux, and those that were never tested with Linux,
	but where Linux was installed to replace the original OS (Windows or OSX).

	The larger group is the systems tested to run only Windows. Not only that,
	but many were tested to run with just one specific version of Windows.
	So even though the BIOS may use _OSI to query what version of Windows is running,
	only a single path through the BIOS has actually been tested.
	Experience shows that taking untested paths through the BIOS
	exposes Linux to an entire category of BIOS bugs.
	For this reason, Linux _OSI defaults must continue to claim compatibility
	with all versions of Windows.

	But Linux isn't actually compatible with Windows, and the Linux community
	has also been hurt with regressions when Linux adds the latest version of
	Windows to its list of _OSI strings. So it is possible that additional strings
	will be more thoroughly vetted before shipping upstream in the future.
	But it is likely that they will all eventually be added.

	What should an OEM do if they want to support Linux and Windows
	using the same BIOS image? Often they need to do something different
	for Linux to deal with how Linux is different from Windows.
	Here the BIOS should ask exactly what it wants to know:

	_OSI("Linux-OEM-my_interface_name")
	where 'OEM' is needed if this is an OEM-specific hook,
	and 'my_interface_name' describes the hook, which could be a
	quirk, a bug, or a bug-fix.

	In addition, the OEM should send a patch to upstream Linux
	via the linux-acpi@vger.kernel.org mailing list. When that patch
	is checked into Linux, the OS will answer "YES" when the BIOS
	on the OEM's system uses _OSI to ask if the interface is supported
	by the OS. Linux distributors can back-port that patch for Linux
	pre-installs, and it will be included by all distributions that
	re-base to upstream. If the distribution can not update the kernel binary,
	they can also add an acpi_osi=Linux-OEM-my_interface_name
	cmdline parameter to the boot loader, as needed.

	If the string refers to a feature where the upstream kernel
	eventually grows support, a patch should be sent to remove
	the string when that support is added to the kernel.

	That was easy. Read on, to find out how to do it wrong.

	Before _OSI, there was _OS
	--------------------------

	ACPI 1.0 specified "_OS" as an
	"object that evaluates to a string that identifies the operating system."

	The ACPI BIOS flow would include an evaluation of _OS, and the AML
	interpreter in the kernel would return to it a string identifying the OS:

	Windows 98, SE: "Microsoft Windows"
	Windows ME: "Microsoft WindowsME:Millenium Edition"
	Windows NT: "Microsoft Windows NT"

	The idea was on a platform tasked with running multiple OS's,
	the BIOS could use _OS to enable devices that an OS
	might support, or enable quirks or bug workarounds
	necessary to make the platform compatible with that pre-existing OS.

	But _OS had fundamental problems. First, the BIOS needed to know the name
	of every possible version of the OS that would run on it, and needed to know
	all the quirks of those OS's. Certainly it would make more sense
	for the BIOS to ask specific things of the OS, such
	"do you support a specific interface", and thus in ACPI 3.0,
	_OSI was born to replace _OS.

	_OS was abandoned, though even today, many BIOS look for
	_OS "Microsoft Windows NT", though it seems somewhat far-fetched
	that anybody would install those old operating systems
	over what came with the machine.

	Linux answers "Microsoft Windows NT" to please that BIOS idiom.
	That is the only viable strategy, as that is what modern Windows does,
	and so doing otherwise could steer the BIOS down an untested path.

	_OSI is born, and immediately misused
	--------------------------------------

	With _OSI, the BIOS provides the string describing an interface,
	and asks the OS: "YES/NO, are you compatible with this interface?"

	eg. _OSI("3.0 Thermal Model") would return TRUE if the OS knows how
	to deal with the thermal extensions made to the ACPI 3.0 specification.
	An old OS that doesn't know about those extensions would answer FALSE,
	and a new OS may be able to return TRUE.

	For an OS-specific interface, the ACPI spec said that the BIOS and the OS
	were to agree on a string of the form such as "Windows-interface_name".

	But two bad things happened. First, the Windows ecosystem used _OSI
	not as designed, but as a direct replacement for _OS -- identifying
	the OS version, rather than an OS supported interface. Indeed, right
	from the start, the ACPI 3.0 spec itself codified this misuse
	in example code using _OSI("Windows 2001").

	This misuse was adopted and continues today.

	Linux had no choice but to also return TRUE to _OSI("Windows 2001")
	and its successors. To do otherwise would virtually guarantee breaking
	a BIOS that has been tested only with that _OSI returning TRUE.

	This strategy is problematic, as Linux is never completely compatible with
	the latest version of Windows, and sometimes it takes more than a year
	to iron out incompatibilities.

	Not to be out-done, the Linux community made things worse by returning TRUE
	to _OSI("Linux"). Doing so is even worse than the Windows misuse
	of _OSI, as "Linux" does not even contain any version information.
	_OSI("Linux") led to some BIOS' malfunctioning due to BIOS writer's
	using it in untested BIOS flows. But some OEM's used _OSI("Linux")
	in tested flows to support real Linux features. In 2009, Linux
	removed _OSI("Linux"), and added a cmdline parameter to restore it
	for legacy systems still needed it. Further a BIOS_BUG warning prints
	for all BIOS's that invoke it.

	No BIOS should use _OSI("Linux").

	The result is a strategy for Linux to maximize compatibility with
	ACPI BIOS that are tested on Windows machines. There is a real risk
	of over-stating that compatibility; but the alternative has often been
	catastrophic failure resulting from the BIOS taking paths that
	were never validated under any OS.

	Do not use _REV
	---------------

	Since _OSI("Linux") went away, some BIOS writers used _REV
	to support Linux and Windows differences in the same BIOS.

	_REV was defined in ACPI 1.0 to return the version of ACPI
	supported by the OS and the OS AML interpreter.

	Modern Windows returns _REV = 2. Linux used ACPI_CA_SUPPORT_LEVEL,
	which would increment, based on the version of the spec supported.

	Unfortunately, _REV was also misused. eg. some BIOS would check
	for _REV = 3, and do something for Linux, but when Linux returned
	_REV = 4, that support broke.

	In response to this problem, Linux returns _REV = 2 always,
	from mid-2015 onward. The ACPI specification will also be updated
	to reflect that _REV is deprecated, and always returns 2.

	Apple Mac and _OSI("Darwin")
	----------------------------

	On Apple's Mac platforms, the ACPI BIOS invokes _OSI("Darwin")
	to determine if the machine is running Apple OSX.

	Like Linux's _OSI("Windows") strategy, Linux defaults to
	answering YES to _OSI("Darwin") to enable full access
	to the hardware and validated BIOS paths seen by OSX.
	Just like on Windows-tested platforms, this strategy has risks.

	Starting in Linux-3.18, the kernel answered YES to _OSI("Darwin")
	for the purpose of enabling Mac Thunderbolt support. Further,
	if the kernel noticed _OSI("Darwin") being invoked, it additionally
	disabled all _OSI("Windows") to keep poorly written Mac BIOS
	from going down untested combinations of paths.

	The Linux-3.18 change in default caused power regressions on Mac
	laptops, and the 3.18 implementation did not allow changing
	the default via cmdline "acpi_osi=!Darwin". Linux-4.7 fixed
	the ability to use acpi_osi=!Darwin as a workaround, and
	we hope to see Mac Thunderbolt power management support in Linux-4.11.