Laptop Modules Notes
In order to use the laptop modules, you must have the kernel APM package installed in your kernel. Useful information on how to do this can be found at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/apm.html and in the Battery Powered Linux mini-HOWTO at http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Battery-Powered.html.
If you want the suspend and standby menu commands to work then you should install the apmd package (version 2.4 or later). If you want to use them from non-root accounts you must mark the apm command set uid root.
To do this, log on as root and enter:

%chown root /usr/bin/apm;chmod +s /usr/bin/apm

By doing this you will allow any user of your system to put it into suspend or standby states - if you are the only user, this should not be a problem.
Also note that any program which has root access, can be a potential security problem. You should carefully determine if there are any security concerns before giving any program root permissions.