Old BIOS updates, Windows 10, and "lid open action" question

Hi all, this is a bit of a complicated question–not to answer (hopefully), but difficult to ask clearly, so bear with me and don’t hesitate to ask clarifying questions! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

My story is that almost 2 years ago I bought a Dell with Windows 10 on it. For a year or so it didn’t turn on when I opened the lid (I believe it’s called “lid open action”), only when I pressed the power button. But then there was a BIOS update and the system started turning on when I would open the lid of the laptop. A month ago I wiped Windows 10 while installing Linux Mint (Cinnamon) and I thought it would go back to not turning on when I open the lid. But it still does :thinking:

How is that possible if Windows 10 and all it’s updates are gone? Are changes made to the BIOS different than normal Windows updates? If so, can I be sure those BIOS updates were safe? I was feeling all safe and comfy with Linux, but now I’m intrigued about the hardware/software connection.

Again, be sure to ask questions about what I wrote. I took my time to carefully explain, but I don’t know all the right tech words. :grin:
Thank you in advance! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Hi @hannahgirl

It must be a hardware process that the Linux installer automatically detected and then installed drivers for. There may be a setting somewhere that would allow you disable it, if you want. I do not have Mint on a laptop, so I cannot check where the setting might be.

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Hey @SBHX! Thank you so much for your reply! That makes so much sense. I’ve already dug into settings to try and turn it off, and couldn’t find anything, but I feel better now, so that’s okay :raised_hands::grinning:

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Hey, @hannahgirl!
This is not a reason for concern at all. It would appear that Windows was incapable (or couldn’t figure out - initially) that when you close the laptop lid, the system is supposed to go on “suspend” mode. It doesn’t actually turn off. It’s a state of low power that maintains your system’s RAM active and therefore it still remembers the way you left it.

Linux performs that state by default. I believe there is not actual setting for the lid, but there is for the power button. It can ask you what you want to do, go directly to sleep (suspend), hibernate (save your system state to your drive - though I don’t generally recommend that), or power down.

In short, you have nothing to worry about! It’s a general system state. :slight_smile:

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Hey @vasileios! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: Thanks for the reply, does everything that you said in your last post (“no reason for concern, it’s a general system state”) apply if I powered down the laptop at night and then when I open the lid in the morning it turns on?

I originally got concerned because I was used to powering down at night and then when I open the lid in the morning I’d still had to push the power button to turn the laptop back on. So, having it just turn itself on when I open it… Ehh, it’s a little unsettling unless I know it’s not Windows left over… :laughing:

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@hannahgirl first off, BIOS updates are different than windows updates. secondly, when Linux is running the show on your machine, windows and m!croshaft have no control of your machine, even in a dual boot. now, that being said, in windows there was part of the GUI that you could access and choose the behavior of the lid opening and closing. I will try to dive in and see what I can find as well. Welcome to your digital freedom. remember if it was easy, we would have all done it years ago. You are part of the first wave that will be helping others gain their freedom from big tech. Cheers!

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@BigDaveAZ ohh, that’s so interesting, and very helpful! Don’t feel you have to dig in to see how to turn it off, I don’t mind that it turns on when I open my laptop, I just got a little confused about how Operating Systems work with hardware. But I feel better about it now, thank you! :pray:

Loved the end of your post about being in the first wave for freedom from big tech! It’s SO very excited :raised_hands: :us: :tada:

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