strange poweroff/reboot behaviour

[Jaap Boender <jaapb%kerguelen.org@localhost>]

Hi all,

Just upgraded an Acer Aspire 5250 laptop to
NetBSD marion-dufresne.kerguelen.org 6.99.28 NetBSD 6.99.28 
(MARION-DUFRESNE) #12: Tue Dec 24 13:51:40 GMT 2013  
root@marion-
dufresne.kerguelen.org:/usr/obj/sys/arch/amd64/compile/MARION-
DUFRESNE amd64

and it's been running more or less OK, but for one strange thing: 
whenever I try to shut it down, power it off or reboot it, it shuts off 
completely and starts beeping (three long, two short). Same 
behaviour, at lower beep volume, when I turn it on again - but 
removing the AC adapter then restores normality.

This is new behaviour, NetBSD 6 did not have the problem.

I've asked Acer what these BIOS beeps actually mean, the Internet 
doesn't seem to know. But while I wait for their response, I thought I'd 
ask here: does anyone know what change between 6 and -CURRENT 
might have caused this problem, and how it might be solved? Of 
course, I'd be happy to provide more data and/or do things to help 
debug the problem, just ask.

best,

  Jaap
-- 
"Then I'll tell the truth. We're allowed to do that in emergencies."