# Shutdown doesn't work.....



## gizmo (May 31, 2009)

Hi,

i had a problem with freebsd, when i try to shutdown my system i use the following syntax: shutdown -p now.

The system goes down BUT it dont turns off. The system is still online with the message:

The system has halted
Press any key to reboot.

But i dont want this, i want to turn off my computer. Hope somebody can help me.


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## Nokobon (May 31, 2009)

The -h-option only turns off the power if your hardware supports it.
See if ACPI is enabled in your BIOS.

When you can't find any ACPI options there, it may be that your system doesn't support it.
In this case you have to turm the power off manually with the power button of your mashine after halting you system by running

```
shutdown -h now
```


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## fender0107401 (May 31, 2009)

halt -p


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## donald1000 (Jun 1, 2009)

Hi!
On some new boards ACPI does not work with FreeBSD 7*. You may activate APM in you kernel, so you can use the old power management system. Add to following to your kernel config an recompile: 


```
device apm
```

Shutdown with halt -p (as fender0107401 said)


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## BuSerD (Jun 2, 2009)

I always use

```
shutdown -p now
```
and it never fails me.


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## tangram (Jun 3, 2009)

Nokobon said:
			
		

> The -h-option only turns off the power if your hardware supports it.
> See if ACPI is enabled in your BIOS.
> 
> When you can't find any ACPI options there, it may be that your system doesn't support it.
> ...



Exactly.

I have an old Celeron 266Mhz and its BIOS doesn't support ACPI so if I want to turn it off I have to manually hit the power boot after the system halts after a `# shutdown -h now`.

If it's a new system and `# shutdown -p now` doesn't shut down the system, then either ACPI option isn't enabled in the BIOS (check the motherboard's manual) or your motherboard has a crappy BIOS (in which case point to the manufacturer's website and look for an update.

Another alternative would be using the old power management system, APM.

The FreeBSD Handbook has two very nice sections that might interest you:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/book.html#ACPI-OVERVIEW
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/book.html#ACPI-DEBUG


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