SMAPI support for Linux

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ThinkPad laptops include a proprietary interface called SMAPI BIOS (System Management Application Program Interface) which provides some hardware control functionality that is not exposed by standard interfaces such as ACPI and APM.

The SMAPI interfaces has mutated between models and is poorly documented, so Linux support is not exhaustive for most models. There are currently two SMAPI access mechanisms available:

  • tp_smapi for newer ThinkPad models. This module provides battery information for models produced since 2001 and possibly earlier, and additional features for models produced since 2003.
  • tpctl with the thinkpad kernel modules worked on older ThinkPad models but are now obsolete: the drivers no longer build (with the latest Linux versions). On modern ThinkPads tpctl has been superseded by the standardized ACPI subsystem and the tp_smapi driver.