3 The expectations of individual ACPI tables are discussed in the list that
6 If a section number is used, it refers to a section number in the ACPI
7 specification where the object is defined. If "Signature Reserved" is used,
8 the table signature (the first four bytes of the table) is the only portion
9 of the table recognized by the specification, and the actual table is defined
10 outside of the UEFI Forum (see Section 5.2.6 of the specification).
12 For ACPI on arm64, tables also fall into the following categories:
14 -- Required: DSDT, FADT, GTDT, MADT, MCFG, RSDP, SPCR, XSDT
16 -- Recommended: BERT, EINJ, ERST, HEST, SSDT
18 -- Optional: BGRT, CPEP, CSRT, DRTM, ECDT, FACS, FPDT, MCHI, MPST,
19 MSCT, RASF, SBST, SLIT, SPMI, SRAT, TCPA, TPM2, UEFI
21 -- Not supported: BOOT, DBG2, DBGP, DMAR, ETDT, HPET, IBFT, IVRS,
22 LPIT, MSDM, RSDT, SLIC, WAET, WDAT, WDRT, WPBT
25 Table Usage for ARMv8 Linux
26 ----- ----------------------------------------------------------------
27 BERT Section 18.3 (signature == "BERT")
28 == Boot Error Record Table ==
29 Must be supplied if RAS support is provided by the platform. It
30 is recommended this table be supplied.
32 BOOT Signature Reserved (signature == "BOOT")
33 == simple BOOT flag table ==
34 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
36 BGRT Section 5.2.22 (signature == "BGRT")
37 == Boot Graphics Resource Table ==
38 Optional, not currently supported, with no real use-case for an
41 CPEP Section 5.2.18 (signature == "CPEP")
42 == Corrected Platform Error Polling table ==
43 Optional, not currently supported, and not recommended until such
44 time as ARM-compatible hardware is available, and the specification
47 CSRT Signature Reserved (signature == "CSRT")
48 == Core System Resources Table ==
49 Optional, not currently supported.
51 DBG2 Signature Reserved (signature == "DBG2")
52 == DeBuG port table 2 ==
53 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
55 DBGP Signature Reserved (signature == "DBGP")
56 == DeBuG Port table ==
57 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
59 DSDT Section 5.2.11.1 (signature == "DSDT")
60 == Differentiated System Description Table ==
61 A DSDT is required; see also SSDT.
63 ACPI tables contain only one DSDT but can contain one or more SSDTs,
64 which are optional. Each SSDT can only add to the ACPI namespace,
65 but cannot modify or replace anything in the DSDT.
67 DMAR Signature Reserved (signature == "DMAR")
68 == DMA Remapping table ==
69 x86 only table, will not be supported.
71 DRTM Signature Reserved (signature == "DRTM")
72 == Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement table ==
73 Optional, not currently supported.
75 ECDT Section 5.2.16 (signature == "ECDT")
76 == Embedded Controller Description Table ==
77 Optional, not currently supported, but could be used on ARM if and
78 only if one uses the GPE_BIT field to represent an IRQ number, since
79 there are no GPE blocks defined in hardware reduced mode. This would
80 need to be modified in the ACPI specification.
82 EINJ Section 18.6 (signature == "EINJ")
83 == Error Injection table ==
84 This table is very useful for testing platform response to error
85 conditions; it allows one to inject an error into the system as
86 if it had actually occurred. However, this table should not be
87 shipped with a production system; it should be dynamically loaded
88 and executed with the ACPICA tools only during testing.
90 ERST Section 18.5 (signature == "ERST")
91 == Error Record Serialization Table ==
92 On a platform supports RAS, this table must be supplied if it is not
93 UEFI-based; if it is UEFI-based, this table may be supplied. When this
94 table is not present, UEFI run time service will be utilized to save
95 and retrieve hardware error information to and from a persistent store.
97 ETDT Signature Reserved (signature == "ETDT")
98 == Event Timer Description Table ==
99 Obsolete table, will not be supported.
101 FACS Section 5.2.10 (signature == "FACS")
102 == Firmware ACPI Control Structure ==
103 It is unlikely that this table will be terribly useful. If it is
104 provided, the Global Lock will NOT be used since it is not part of
105 the hardware reduced profile, and only 64-bit address fields will
108 FADT Section 5.2.9 (signature == "FACP")
109 == Fixed ACPI Description Table ==
112 The HW_REDUCED_ACPI flag must be set. All of the fields that are
113 to be ignored when HW_REDUCED_ACPI is set are expected to be set to
116 If an FACS table is provided, the X_FIRMWARE_CTRL field is to be
117 used, not FIRMWARE_CTRL.
119 If PSCI is used (as is recommended), make sure that ARM_BOOT_ARCH is
120 filled in properly -- that the PSCI_COMPLIANT flag is set and that
121 PSCI_USE_HVC is set or unset as needed (see table 5-37).
123 For the DSDT that is also required, the X_DSDT field is to be used,
126 FPDT Section 5.2.23 (signature == "FPDT")
127 == Firmware Performance Data Table ==
128 Optional, not currently supported.
130 GTDT Section 5.2.24 (signature == "GTDT")
131 == Generic Timer Description Table ==
134 HEST Section 18.3.2 (signature == "HEST")
135 == Hardware Error Source Table ==
136 Until further error source types are defined, use only types 6 (AER
137 Root Port), 7 (AER Endpoint), 8 (AER Bridge), or 9 (Generic Hardware
138 Error Source). Firmware first error handling is possible if and only
139 if Trusted Firmware is being used on arm64.
141 Must be supplied if RAS support is provided by the platform. It
142 is recommended this table be supplied.
144 HPET Signature Reserved (signature == "HPET")
145 == High Precision Event timer Table ==
146 x86 only table, will not be supported.
148 IBFT Signature Reserved (signature == "IBFT")
149 == iSCSI Boot Firmware Table ==
150 Microsoft defined table, support TBD.
152 IVRS Signature Reserved (signature == "IVRS")
153 == I/O Virtualization Reporting Structure ==
154 x86_64 (AMD) only table, will not be supported.
156 LPIT Signature Reserved (signature == "LPIT")
157 == Low Power Idle Table ==
158 x86 only table as of ACPI 5.1; future versions have been adapted for
159 use with ARM and will be recommended in order to support ACPI power
162 MADT Section 5.2.12 (signature == "APIC")
163 == Multiple APIC Description Table ==
164 Required for arm64. Only the GIC interrupt controller structures
165 should be used (types 0xA - 0xE).
167 MCFG Signature Reserved (signature == "MCFG")
168 == Memory-mapped ConFiGuration space ==
169 If the platform supports PCI/PCIe, an MCFG table is required.
171 MCHI Signature Reserved (signature == "MCHI")
172 == Management Controller Host Interface table ==
173 Optional, not currently supported.
175 MPST Section 5.2.21 (signature == "MPST")
176 == Memory Power State Table ==
177 Optional, not currently supported.
179 MSDM Signature Reserved (signature == "MSDM")
180 == Microsoft Data Management table ==
181 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
183 MSCT Section 5.2.19 (signature == "MSCT")
184 == Maximum System Characteristic Table ==
185 Optional, not currently supported.
187 RASF Section 5.2.20 (signature == "RASF")
188 == RAS Feature table ==
189 Optional, not currently supported.
191 RSDP Section 5.2.5 (signature == "RSD PTR")
192 == Root System Description PoinTeR ==
195 RSDT Section 5.2.7 (signature == "RSDT")
196 == Root System Description Table ==
197 Since this table can only provide 32-bit addresses, it is deprecated
198 on arm64, and will not be used.
200 SBST Section 5.2.14 (signature == "SBST")
201 == Smart Battery Subsystem Table ==
202 Optional, not currently supported.
204 SLIC Signature Reserved (signature == "SLIC")
205 == Software LIcensing table ==
206 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
208 SLIT Section 5.2.17 (signature == "SLIT")
209 == System Locality distance Information Table ==
210 Optional in general, but required for NUMA systems.
212 SPCR Signature Reserved (signature == "SPCR")
213 == Serial Port Console Redirection table ==
216 SPMI Signature Reserved (signature == "SPMI")
217 == Server Platform Management Interface table ==
218 Optional, not currently supported.
220 SRAT Section 5.2.16 (signature == "SRAT")
221 == System Resource Affinity Table ==
222 Optional, but if used, only the GICC Affinity structures are read.
223 To support NUMA, this table is required.
225 SSDT Section 5.2.11.2 (signature == "SSDT")
226 == Secondary System Description Table ==
227 These tables are a continuation of the DSDT; these are recommended
228 for use with devices that can be added to a running system, but can
229 also serve the purpose of dividing up device descriptions into more
232 An SSDT can only ADD to the ACPI namespace. It cannot modify or
233 replace existing device descriptions already in the namespace.
235 These tables are optional, however. ACPI tables should contain only
236 one DSDT but can contain many SSDTs.
238 TCPA Signature Reserved (signature == "TCPA")
239 == Trusted Computing Platform Alliance table ==
240 Optional, not currently supported, and may need changes to fully
241 interoperate with arm64.
243 TPM2 Signature Reserved (signature == "TPM2")
244 == Trusted Platform Module 2 table ==
245 Optional, not currently supported, and may need changes to fully
246 interoperate with arm64.
248 UEFI Signature Reserved (signature == "UEFI")
249 == UEFI ACPI data table ==
250 Optional, not currently supported. No known use case for arm64,
253 WAET Signature Reserved (signature == "WAET")
254 == Windows ACPI Emulated devices Table ==
255 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
257 WDAT Signature Reserved (signature == "WDAT")
258 == Watch Dog Action Table ==
259 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
261 WDRT Signature Reserved (signature == "WDRT")
262 == Watch Dog Resource Table ==
263 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
265 WPBT Signature Reserved (signature == "WPBT")
266 == Windows Platform Binary Table ==
267 Microsoft only table, will not be supported.
269 XSDT Section 5.2.8 (signature == "XSDT")
270 == eXtended System Description Table ==
276 The expectations on individual ACPI objects are discussed in the list that
279 Name Section Usage for ARMv8 Linux
280 ---- ------------ -------------------------------------------------
281 _ADR 6.1.1 Use as needed.
283 _BBN 6.5.5 Use as needed; PCI-specific.
285 _BDN 6.5.3 Optional; not likely to be used on arm64.
287 _CCA 6.2.17 This method should be defined for all bus masters
288 on arm64. While cache coherency is assumed, making
289 it explicit ensures the kernel will set up DMA as
292 _CDM 6.2.1 Optional, to be used only for processor devices.
294 _CID 6.1.2 Use as needed.
296 _CLS 6.1.3 Use as needed.
298 _CRS 6.2.2 Required on arm64.
300 _DCK 6.5.2 Optional; not likely to be used on arm64.
302 _DDN 6.1.4 This field can be used for a device name. However,
303 it is meant for DOS device names (e.g., COM1), so be
304 careful of its use across OSes.
306 _DEP 6.5.8 Use as needed.
308 _DIS 6.2.3 Optional, for power management use.
314 _DSD 6.2.5 To be used with caution. If this object is used, try
315 to use it within the constraints already defined by the
316 Device Properties UUID. Only in rare circumstances
317 should it be necessary to create a new _DSD UUID.
319 In either case, submit the _DSD definition along with
320 any driver patches for discussion, especially when
321 device properties are used. A driver will not be
322 considered complete without a corresponding _DSD
323 description. Once approved by kernel maintainers,
324 the UUID or device properties must then be registered
325 with the UEFI Forum; this may cause some iteration as
326 more than one OS will be registering entries.
328 _DSM Do not use this method. It is not standardized, the
329 return values are not well documented, and it is
330 currently a frequent source of error.
332 _DSW 7.2.1 Use as needed; power management specific.
340 _FIX 6.2.7 x86 specific, not used on arm64.
342 \_GL 5.7.1 This object is not to be used in hardware reduced
343 mode, and therefore should not be used on arm64.
345 _GLK 6.5.7 This object requires a global lock be defined; there
346 is no global lock on arm64 since it runs in hardware
347 reduced mode. Hence, do not use this object on arm64.
349 \_GPE 5.3.1 This namespace is for x86 use only. Do not use it
354 _HID 6.1.5 Use as needed. This is the primary object to use in
355 device probing, though _CID and _CLS may also be used.
357 _HPP 6.2.8 Optional, PCI specific.
359 _HPX 6.2.9 Optional, PCI specific.
361 _HRV 6.1.6 Optional, use as needed to clarify device behavior; in
362 some cases, this may be easier to use than _DSD.
364 _INI 6.5.1 Not required, but can be useful in setting up devices
365 when UEFI leaves them in a state that may not be what
366 the driver expects before it starts probing.
368 _IRC 7.2.15 Use as needed; power management specific.
372 _MAT 6.2.10 Optional; see also the MADT.
374 _MLS 6.1.7 Optional, but highly recommended for use in
375 internationalization.
377 _OFF 7.1.2 It is recommended to define this method for any device
378 that can be turned on or off.
380 _ON 7.1.3 It is recommended to define this method for any device
381 that can be turned on or off.
383 \_OS 5.7.3 This method will return "Linux" by default (this is
384 the value of the macro ACPI_OS_NAME on Linux). The
385 command line parameter acpi_os=<string> can be used
386 to set it to some other value.
388 _OSC 6.2.11 This method can be a global method in ACPI (i.e.,
389 \_SB._OSC), or it may be associated with a specific
390 device (e.g., \_SB.DEV0._OSC), or both. When used
391 as a global method, only capabilities published in
392 the ACPI specification are allowed. When used as
393 a device-specific method, the process described for
394 using _DSD MUST be used to create an _OSC definition;
395 out-of-process use of _OSC is not allowed. That is,
396 submit the device-specific _OSC usage description as
397 part of the kernel driver submission, get it approved
398 by the kernel community, then register it with the
401 \_OSI 5.7.2 Deprecated on ARM64. Any invocation of this method
402 will print a warning on the console and return false.
403 That is, as far as ACPI firmware is concerned, _OSI
404 cannot be used to determine what sort of system is
405 being used or what functionality is provided. The
406 _OSC method is to be used instead.
410 _PDC 8.4.1 Deprecated, do not use on arm64.
412 \_PIC 5.8.1 The method should not be used. On arm64, the only
413 interrupt model available is GIC.
417 \_PR 5.3.1 This namespace is for x86 use only on legacy systems.
418 Do not use it on arm64.
420 _PRS 6.2.12 Optional.
422 _PRT 6.2.13 Required as part of the definition of all PCI root
425 _PRW 7.2.13 Use as needed; power management specific.
427 _PRx 7.2.8-11 Use as needed; power management specific. If _PR0 is
428 defined, _PR3 must also be defined.
430 _PSC 7.2.6 Use as needed; power management specific.
432 _PSE 7.2.7 Use as needed; power management specific.
434 _PSW 7.2.14 Use as needed; power management specific.
436 _PSx 7.2.2-5 Use as needed; power management specific. If _PS0 is
437 defined, _PS3 must also be defined. If clocks or
438 regulators need adjusting to be consistent with power
439 usage, change them in these methods.
441 \_PTS 7.3.1 Use as needed; power management specific.
443 _PXM 6.2.14 Optional.
445 _REG 6.5.4 Use as needed.
447 \_REV 5.7.4 Always returns the latest version of ACPI supported.
451 \_SB 5.3.1 Required on arm64; all devices must be defined in this
454 _SEG 6.5.6 Use as needed; PCI-specific.
456 \_SI 5.3.1, Optional.
459 _SLI 6.2.15 Optional; recommended when SLIT table is in use.
461 _STA 6.3.7, It is recommended to define this method for any device
462 7.1.4 that can be turned on or off.
464 _SRS 6.2.16 Optional; see also _PRS.
466 _STR 6.1.10 Recommended for conveying device names to end users;
467 this is preferred over using _DDN.
469 _SUB 6.1.9 Use as needed; _HID or _CID are preferred.
471 _SUN 6.1.11 Optional.
473 \_Sx 7.3.2 Use as needed; power management specific.
475 _SxD 7.2.16-19 Use as needed; power management specific.
477 _SxW 7.2.20-24 Use as needed; power management specific.
479 _SWS 7.3.3 Use as needed; power management specific; this may
480 require specification changes for use on arm64.
482 \_TTS 7.3.4 Use as needed; power management specific.
486 _UID 6.1.12 Recommended for distinguishing devices of the same
487 class; define it if at all possible.
489 \_WAK 7.3.5 Use as needed; power management specific.
494 Do not use GPE block devices; these are not supported in the hardware reduced
495 profile used by arm64. Since there are no GPE blocks defined for use on ARM
496 platforms, GPIO-signaled interrupts should be used for creating system events.
499 ACPI Processor Control
500 ----------------------
501 Section 8 of the ACPI specification is currently undergoing change that
502 should be completed in the 6.0 version of the specification. Processor
503 performance control will be handled differently for arm64 at that point
504 in time. Processor aggregator devices (section 8.5) will not be used,
505 for example, but another similar mechanism instead.
507 While UEFI constrains what we can say until the release of 6.0, it is
508 recommended that CPPC (8.4.5) be used as the primary model. This will
509 still be useful into the future. C-states and P-states will still be
510 provided, but most of the current design work appears to favor CPPC.
512 Further, it is essential that the ARMv8 SoC provide a fully functional
513 implementation of PSCI; this will be the only mechanism supported by ACPI
514 to control CPU power state (including secondary CPU booting).
516 More details will be provided on the release of the ACPI 6.0 specification.
519 ACPI System Address Map Interfaces
520 ----------------------------------
521 In Section 15 of the ACPI specification, several methods are mentioned as
522 possible mechanisms for conveying memory resource information to the kernel.
523 For arm64, we will only support UEFI for booting with ACPI, hence the UEFI
524 GetMemoryMap() boot service is the only mechanism that will be used.
527 ACPI Platform Error Interfaces (APEI)
528 -------------------------------------
529 The APEI tables supported are described above.
531 APEI requires the equivalent of an SCI and an NMI on ARMv8. The SCI is used
532 to notify the OSPM of errors that have occurred but can be corrected and the
533 system can continue correct operation, even if possibly degraded. The NMI is
534 used to indicate fatal errors that cannot be corrected, and require immediate
537 Since there is no direct equivalent of the x86 SCI or NMI, arm64 handles
538 these slightly differently. The SCI is handled as a normal GPIO-signaled
539 interrupt; given that these are corrected (or correctable) errors being
540 reported, this is sufficient. The NMI is emulated as the highest priority
541 GPIO-signaled interrupt possible. This implies some caution must be used
542 since there could be interrupts at higher privilege levels or even interrupts
543 at the same priority as the emulated NMI. In Linux, this should not be the
544 case but one should be aware it could happen.
547 ACPI Objects Not Supported on ARM64
548 -----------------------------------
549 While this may change in the future, there are several classes of objects
550 that can be defined, but are not currently of general interest to ARM servers.
552 These are not supported:
554 -- Section 9.2: ambient light sensor devices
556 -- Section 9.3: battery devices
558 -- Section 9.4: lids (e.g., laptop lids)
560 -- Section 9.8.2: IDE controllers
562 -- Section 9.9: floppy controllers
564 -- Section 9.10: GPE block devices
566 -- Section 9.15: PC/AT RTC/CMOS devices
568 -- Section 9.16: user presence detection devices
570 -- Section 9.17: I/O APIC devices; all GICs must be enumerable via MADT
572 -- Section 9.18: time and alarm devices (see 9.15)
575 ACPI Objects Not Yet Implemented
576 --------------------------------
577 While these objects have x86 equivalents, and they do make some sense in ARM
578 servers, there is either no hardware available at present, or in some cases
579 there may not yet be a non-ARM implementation. Hence, they are currently not
580 implemented though that may change in the future.
582 Not yet implemented are:
584 -- Section 10: power source and power meter devices
586 -- Section 11: thermal management
588 -- Section 12: embedded controllers interface
590 -- Section 13: SMBus interfaces
592 -- Section 17: NUMA support (prototypes have been submitted for