ACPI Debug Toolbox
A practical toolbox note for acpidump, iasl, acpiexec, OS logs, namespace inspection, and firmware-oriented ACPI triage.
ACPI debug becomes easier when you stop treating the table as a black box.
The basic workflow is simple:
Dump tables
↓
Decompile AML
↓
Inspect namespace and methods
↓
Compare with OS logs and hardware schematic
↓
Trace firmware generation path| Item | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| acpidump | Dump ACPI tables | Useful for collecting DSDT, SSDTs, FADT, MADT, MCFG, DBG2, SPCR, TPM2, etc. |
| iasl -d | Decompile AML to ASL-like DSL | Main tool for reading DSDT/SSDT content. |
| iasl -tc | Compile ASL | Useful for syntax checking and warning discovery. |
| acpiexec | ACPICA method execution environment | Useful for experimenting with method evaluation in controlled conditions. |
| /sys/firmware/acpi | Linux ACPI table view | Useful for checking what the running OS received. |
| OS logs | dmesg / Event Viewer / driver logs | Connect AML behavior with real OS symptoms. |
Linux-style table dump workflow
sudo acpidump -b
ls *.dat
iasl -d dsdt.dat ssdt*.datSearch common objects:
grep -R "Device (" *.dsl
grep -R "Method (_STA" *.dsl
grep -R "Method (_CRS" *.dsl
grep -R "OperationRegion" *.dsl
grep -R "PowerResource" *.dslWhat to collect for a firmware bug report
ACPI bug report package
Debug Diary: one table dump is not enough
If you only collect dsdt.dat, you may miss an SSDT that creates the broken device. If you only collect source ASL from the firmware tree, you may miss build-time generation or board-specific table selection.
The most reliable artifact is what the OS actually received.
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AML Deep Dive
How ASL becomes AML, how the OS evaluates ACPI methods, and why firmware bugs often appear as runtime AML behavior.
acpidump Workflow
How to collect ACPI tables from a running system and use them as firmware handoff evidence.
acpiexec Method Testing
How acpiexec helps test ACPI methods, namespace behavior, and AML logic outside the full OS driver stack.
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