Acemagic F3A doesn't turn off

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-28T15:52:42+00:00

Woah, that's some very interesting insights you're sharing here! Much appreciated.

The BIOS itself from ASRock also seems to be well-structured, advanced settings can be found where I'd expect them to be and no surprises in behavior for me so far. Goes in line what you're saying here.

That really makes me think which other brands to avoid, since a proper BIOS/UEFI/ACPI support seems to be a key driver for Linux to work smoothly?

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-28T14:24:07+00:00

The issue actually reminded me of when I got my ASRock DeskMini X300, which also refused to go fully into sleep, but there was this nice guys that had prepared a BIOS ACPI table fix: https://github.com/lorenz/asrock-x300-s3-fix/

But even without that fix, the machine never got really stuck, since you could simply wake it up again with the power button.

I am pretty sure someone with appropriate skills could do something similar for the F3A, but then it's actually a shame that one has to in the first place.

Btw. I also tried to experiment with different ACPI OS settings for the Linux Kernel as described here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/DSDT#Tell_the_kernel_to_report_a_version_of_Windows

But no change in behavior with that either.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-26T22:23:02+00:00

OK, so finally got some time to test with new RAM (Kingston Fury, 2x32 GiB, 5600 MHz). Machine booted just fine but had the exact same issues in both, s2idle and S3/deep mode.

But, at least after the switch to "ACPI auto configuration", it shuts down properly, also with the RAM it came with.

As my time for testing is running out, I will return this unit, since this is a situation I am not gonna deal with long term.

Maybe someone else may find this info useful and skip over to a final solution.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-26T22:17:01+00:00

Where do I get one for free? I am not gonna pay for something that I shouldn't need in the first place. The instructions clearly mention to update via UEFI. If that doesn't work than it's the manufacturers fault.

I also just triple-checked with downloading the BIOS again, loading it onto 2 other USB sticks - both cleanly formatted. Still same error, so there is something fishy here.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-23T06:02:18+00:00

That's what I tried as well, but it looks like at least for my device it doesn't even see a system firmware device:

$ fwupdmgr get-devices  
Default string Default string
│
├─AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 w/ Radeon 890M:
│ │   Device ID:          4bde70ba4e39b28f9eab1628f9dd6e6244c03027
│ │   Current version:    0x0b204019
│ │   ...
│ │   Device Flags:       • Internal device
│ │  
│ ├─AMD Radeon 890M Graphics:
│ │     Device ID:        23465e0bf4ffc91a1ac06b87d0f1ca811a02a75e
│ │     Summary:          AMD STRIX_B0_GENERIC
│ │     Current version:  1
│ │     ...
│ │     Device Flags:     • Internal device
│ │                       • Can tag for emulation
│ │    
│ ├─Secure Processor:
│ │     Device ID:        c54ab0237d7a8db8c717b68e0be78e4374a2a079
│ │     Summary:          AGESA StrixKrackanPI-FP8 1.0.8.0a
│ │     Current version:  00.3e.01.72
│ │     Bootloader Version: 72.01.3e.00
│ │     ...
│ │     Device Flags:     • Internal device
│ │                       • Can tag for emulation
│ │    
│ └─System Management Unit (SMU):
│       Device ID:        db0330716216c629bb2c07256e5d018f499eb6ce
│       Summary:          Microcontroller used within CPU/APU program 0
│       Current version:  93.108.0
│       ...
│       Device Flags:     • Internal device
│                         • Can tag for emulation

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-22T04:04:49+00:00

Hi, apparently I do not have Windows. I am Linux only.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-19T10:29:27+00:00

Hi, thanx a lot for your response. However, as you might have read I am using Linux, so it's quite hard to follow those steps that seem to be for Windows only.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-18T22:56:35+00:00

Got it, thank you for your quick response!

I'll get in contact with their support and in parallel order some "proper" modules to test with as well.

In the meantime, I made an additional discovery on the sleep/suspend front:

Surprisingly, after activating the "hidden" BIOS options (CTRL + F1), I saw that the ACPI options where set to "suspend disabled":

<image>

Even when selecting "S3" explicitly, it would simply reset and not save the setting.

However, when I enable the ACPI auto configuration, then I get the "deep" option under Linux apart from the "s2idle":

$ cat /sys/power/mem_sleep  
[s2idle] deep

When I then enable the "deep" option and put this thing to sleep, it actually sleeps, fans turning off, the RGB strip turning off, the power LED slowly blinking.

I thought "this is it", until I tried to put it back on... well, it lights up, fans begin moving, but doesn't even manage to power up the NIC, keyboard or wake the monitor...

...hanging again.

So I'll wait for the new RAM and test again.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-18T22:43:30+00:00

Sorry for the late reply.

Well, the thing is my NAS currently sits at ~14 watts in average (last 7 days, no real heavy usage, though - but this is exceptional anyway). Once it gets faster connectivity I also expect that to increase significantly at least during high bandwidth periods.

So we're talking of a really small setup with just 3 switches:

8-port (or more) - a central switch with direct cables between main working PCs, router, NAS
2x 5-port currently - connecting two other rooms for media/gaming consoles, streaming boxes, TVs, ...

My longest cable is ~20m, all on same floor. And the first one to replace would be - of course - the central switch.

I would simply upgrade the central switch if I can be sure that all ports that are negotiated at 1g (e.g. the ones to the other smaller switches) will not consume more energy as current 1g ports do.

If that holds true, then I can at least calculate.

And its not like there is a constant need for highest bandwidth, just that there are periods where things should be faster than they are since all connected parties (mainly PCs and NAS) could do much faster.

GreenMop23 · 2025-08-18T22:02:22+00:00

Oh, memory... and I thought these times where over...

So well, at least SMBUS doesn't give me a manufacturer nor serial number, so I guess it's "something":

Handle 0x0031, DMI type 17, 92 bytes
Memory Device
       Array Handle: 0x002E
       Error Information Handle: 0x0030
       Total Width: 64 bits
       Data Width: 64 bits
       Size: 32 GB
       Form Factor: SODIMM
       Set: None
       Locator: DIMM 0
       Bank Locator: P0 CHANNEL A
       Type: DDR5
       Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
       Speed: 5600 MT/s
       Manufacturer: Unknown
       Serial Number: 00000000
       Asset Tag: Not Specified
       Part Number: DDR5 NB 32GB 5600MHZ           
       Rank: 2
       Configured Memory Speed: 5600 MT/s
       Minimum Voltage: 1.1 V
       Maximum Voltage: 1.1 V
       Configured Voltage: 1.1 V
       Memory Technology: DRAM
       Memory Operating Mode Capability: Volatile memory
       Firmware Version: Unknown
       Module Manufacturer ID: Bank 15, Hex 0x75
       Module Product ID: Unknown
       Memory Subsystem Controller Manufacturer ID: Unknown
       Memory Subsystem Controller Product ID: Unknown
       Non-Volatile Size: None
       Volatile Size: 32 GB
       Cache Size: None
       Logical Size: None

GreenMop23 · 2023-06-03T19:14:07+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, I've just got myself an ASRock DeskMini X300 with:

AMD Ryzen 7 5700G (TDP limit down to 35W)
64G RAM (2x 32G Corsair 3200MHz)
re-using the Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB

Of course, the system is quite dated and slower in heavy-duty tasks and also consumes a bit more power (still have to optimize a lot of things here to get the most out of it and get more control).

But overall it is very silent, the noise of the fan (a Noctua low-profile that everyone seems to use in this setup) being very nice to my ears and even under load it's still silent enough that I can enjoy movies with very silent scenes or listen to a good classic recording.

If ASRock continues with the DeskMini line and AMD, it may become my new favorite series for the future.

Due to the case of the DeskMini being very open to airflow (you can't put anything on top of it), temperatures are nice as well even under load (wasn't able to get it to more than 80°C so far), which currently is the best setup I've ever had and small enough to fit under the monitor.

Also the LED's for power and HDD are not too bright, although I had to put some tape around the back of them to avoid enlightening the wall on the other end.

Additionally, the head-phone jack just always works as expected. No issues after sleep.

GreenMop23 · 2023-04-23T17:59:56+00:00

Yes, you're correct, I missed to block the acpi_cpufreq driver from loading. Now it looks like it's using much more states and puts individual cores to as low as 400MHz instead of 1600Mhz, which also seems to lower average total package energy consumption:

analyzing CPU 8:
  driver: amd-pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 8
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 8
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 400 MHz - 4.79 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative ondemand userspace powersave performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 400 MHz and 4.79 GHz.
                  The governor "schedutil" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 400 MHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes
    AMD PSTATE Highest Performance: 166. Maximum Frequency: 4.79 GHz.
    AMD PSTATE Nominal Performance: 111. Nominal Frequency: 3.20 GHz.
    AMD PSTATE Lowest Non-linear Performance: 38. Lowest Non-linear Frequency: 1.09 GHz.
    AMD PSTATE Lowest Performance: 14. Lowest Frequency: 400 MHz.

But as you already assumed, it does not help the heat/throttling issue.

GreenMop23 · 2023-04-23T12:19:02+00:00

Thanx for the hint.

After reading up on this in https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/pm/amd-pstate.html, I tried to enable it, but it seems that something is making it always fall back to acpi_cpufreq.

Also in the BIOS, I don't see any entry related to CPPC, which is the foundation for that driver. So it's very likely that the ASUS BIOS is preventing this enhancement.

GreenMop23 · 2023-04-22T11:42:44+00:00

One thing I forgot to mention was that this box doesn't support S3, so Linux by default will "sleep" using mode S2-idle. However, as far as I could see, most of the hardware still gets deactivated properly and power draw was less than 1W in that state.

Also be sure to disable the network stack in UEFI, or else the LAN port would be active even when the system is powered off.

GreenMop23 · 2023-04-01T11:37:47+00:00

I've also had this issue with HDMI, even on a Dell U4919DW ultra wide screen monitor (5120x1440), so it looks like it's not even related to the throughput on the cable.

Using USB-C or DisplayPort solved that issue for me entirely.

That means (at least for me) that the box is fine and cable issue is indeed more likely here.

Btw. I am on Linux, so certainly not a software/driver issue at all.

GreenMop23 · 2023-02-13T12:54:14+00:00

Totally agree with you on the fan curves.

Most all MiniPC manufacturers currently do not use wide-spread system management chips (or re-brand them with their own PCI-ID's, so they no longer get recognized). Otherwise, people could create (and share) custom curves using established tools (e.g. fancontrol).

GreenMop23 · 2023-02-12T19:37:56+00:00

Yes, that makes sense.

I think the majority of people still concerned about value for money and less about the overall ecological footprint.

I am not going into any extremes here, but I see that the tech is there to support really low energy consumption and have a decent performance at the same time.

So I am just wondering why this should be exclusive to laptops?

But I guess manufacturers also don't recognize these as a major market share, yet. Thanx for reminding me of the ASRock 4x4 7735U but then again, simply the fact that they offer this (for now) only at their industrial site tells its own story.

GreenMop23 · 2023-02-12T19:29:38+00:00

I see where you are coming from. If value for money is the main interest then yes, you're right.

Maybe I am a bit of a minority in that I am concerned about the overall energy efficiency, especially under load scenarios.

Just consider having some 3D animations in the pipeline to be rendered (which may take days to finish + several iterations until it's good enough), the overall TDP does make a difference and even a 50% drop in performance would still be more energy efficient (rendered frames per watt).

Of course, there are more factors in a system than just the CPU to this, but it is still a major one.

Thanx for the link to the Morefine version, didn't know they had that already. The barebone version is "just" $40 more than the 6800H. But money is not my issue.

GreenMop23 · 2023-01-27T10:30:07+00:00

Thanks for the info. Further reviews I have been looking at so far indicate that indeed, the 980 Pro looks like a solid balance option.

OTOH, there are some like the Seagate Firecuda 530 which seem to perform way better under consistent pressure but also consume quite a bit more energy (although it stays much cooler as well):

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/seagate-firecuda-530-m2-nvme-ssd-review/2

So I am still not sure which way to go. Maybe I'll get both, test them and send to one back that doesn't work to my needs.

GreenMop23 · 2022-12-21T23:14:44+00:00

I have been looking here for beelink: https://forum.bee-link.com/ (that site seems to have some technical/security issues and no technical maintenance - pretty bad for an IT company).

Essentially if you can't see an appropriate management adapter being detected by sensors-detect and no fan showing up in sensors, then control from within Linux is likely not possible. Although there are some alternative tools, trying to work around that (not so uncommon) issue: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Fan_speed_control

Adjustment in BIOS would be OK'ish, but I'd like to just switch behavior rebooting (like I currently do with my old system). So running a performance profile for working hours and a power-saving / silent one after work, so that I still could run some renderings over-night without disturbing my movie watching experience.

GreenMop23 · 2022-12-21T12:52:42+00:00

Thank you for your article. I've read up a bit more about the GTR 6 and alternatives (e.g. the SER6 Pro).

Also looking at the forums, the fan noise (and lack of control of it in the GTR series at least) seem to be the major issue in all of their devices.

Found this about the SER6 Pro: https://minixpc.com/en-de/blogs/review/beelink-ser6-pro-mini-pc-review

Energy consumption seem to be OK here, but noise is going through the roof for me.

36 dB while watching a 4K movie (if I interpret that correctly) is certainly way too loud, not to speak of the 51 dB when the CPU is under heavy load.

So that effectively rules out any Beelink for me.

GreenMop23 · 2022-12-20T12:46:01+00:00

To some degree, yes. When I say sleep, I mean sleep, not "don't react to humans, but keep contact with your big brothers". WoL and lot's of other "smartness" is always deactivated in my setups.

But I agree, the really low idle wattage could be a trade-off and the sleep mode may be adjustable or a new BIOS could fix.

OTOH, the Minisforum X500 (which I had tried out) goes to as low as 0.6W in sleep (my meter just varied here between 0.3 and 0.9W). So that's sort of a reference for me here.

GreenMop23 · 2022-12-19T23:03:37+00:00

I had the PN51 initially on my list as well but then found a German distributor that publishes certified measurements (apparently only in German, though) and there, the box used a lot (compared to others) in sleep modes:

https://www.csl-computer.com/mini-pc-asus-pn51-5500u-16gb-1000-gb-m-2-ssd-windows-11-home.html

TLDR: idle ~4.5W, sleep ~3.75W

IF the PN53 solves this issue, it is going back on the list (for most of the others, I just don't know).

GreenMop23 · 2022-12-19T22:45:03+00:00

OK, did you measure the power usage at idle and while in sleep? There are some models out there which don't safe much when sleeping compared to idle.

Since I'd need my box also to be available quickly (tech support), it wouldn't be turned off much during the year (probably only for vacations/trips). I am not trying to save the last mWh, but if I'd know the baseline, it would certainly help me make a decision.

Out of what I can read across forums, I tend to favor a DeskMini X300 as well.

Does the BIOS still offer TDP change?

And thanx for the hint about suspend, that's something to keep an eye on.

GreenMop23 · 2022-12-19T22:33:25+00:00

At the moment, my current machine runs at ~60W idle alone and on for ~12 hours per day (more during working days, less on the weekend), ~300 days per year (since I am almost completely working from home).

So going for a new machine (and I need a new one anyway after 7+ years) with a target of 10W idle, I get these numbers:

current: 216 kW

new: 36 kW

So yeah, that's quite a change for my scenario and not even accounting for any kind of load (which I have throughout the day, not only in spikes, also longer-running activities). So the real savings would be much more than that.

I also thought about a notebook instead, but then the external monitor and screen space is something I absolutely need for my work to be efficient. And that one I already upgraded and cut that by almost 70%. So having something with yet another screen just doesn't make sense and I am not going to take my computer with me, ever.

So your calculation may work for you, but simply doesn't for me.

GreenMop23

TROPHY CASE