I just recently installed Debian Etch 4.0r3 on a Panasonic CF-45 Toughbook, and whenever I switch from AC to battery power, the system locks up (if I am currently within a session), or if powered up on battery power, the kernel does not boot. On that note, when I initially start up the computer on battery power, the grub boot loader does appear, and I can select the kernel to boot from, but after that the screen goes black and it never boots thereafter. This is a default installation of Debian Etch, so I would imagine that a particular setting is not selected, but I am not certain of which one. Any suggestions on this are appreciated.

Maybe I just got the wrong model when I tried to look up its specs. But this didn't appear to have anywhere near the 256mb ram or 1ghz processor that etch wants to run properly?

I didn't realize the specs were so high for Etch. I have the same version running on a PIII @ 450MHz w/ 128 MB RAM and it does fairly well using GNOME. After doing some more testing, now it does not appear to boot on AC power either, where the kernel is complaining about some sort of bug in the PC chipset for the CF-45 (I don't recall the exact message). Anyway, I'll test further and see what happens. I would really like to have Debian Etch on this laptop, so I'll keep at it.

It's probably a bug/feature in the newer kernel that's no longer compatible with something so old. I've had old devices stop working after they'd been fine just cause the kernel changed and they saw no reason to worry about something no one would be likely to be using after all these years...