Re: [PATCH v2 1/2] MIPS: SGI-IP30: power off through the DS1687 RTC

[Maciej W. Rozycki]

On Mon, 2 Nov 2026, Imre Kaloz wrote:

> +	/*
> +	 * The DS1687 RTC switches the power supply off.  Halt powers off
> +	 * too, as the power button needs a running kernel.
> +	 */

 Hmm, up to you to decide really, however the usual custom for halt has 
been to do nothing for systems that have no console monitor to return to. 
Shutdown scripts may arrange for no processes to remain running beyond 
init(8), making the system halted for any practical purpose though still 
technically running, but with:

# halt -f

command issued control just reaches back to the shell prompt.  That's what 
my observation has been about Linux since 1990s.

 Please consider this a point in discussion though rather than any kind of 
objection.  Perhaps your choice better matches the system in question.

 Conversely, if you do have a console monitor to return to, then it's what 
the halt action is supposed to do.  The firmware may then decide what to 
do next based on its own settings ("halt action") where available, e.g. 
present a command prompt or try to boot the system again.

  Maciej