Solaris

Updated 2006.06.19

Preparation

• CD isos

  Downloaded Solaris 9 x86 u2 from  Sun's x86 download page and burned the software CDs (1 and 2) using Nero in win2k.  Nero barfed trying to burn the companion CD, so rebooted my P4 deskside to Linux and burned using cdrecord.

  I didn't bother to burn the install CD; it is unnecessary, and seems to cause a lot of problems.  I also downloaded the DCA diskette image, which I could have transferred to diskette with dd for DOS as described here, but since the R40 boots from CD just fine, it wasn't necessary.

   

• BIOS

  Didn't fiddle the BIOS at all prior to install.  Left acpi, plug-and-play and everything else  in its default configuration.

   

Partitioning

I used System Commander 7 to create a 3GByte Solaris partition (ID 82). The partition must be created prior to the install.  If Solaris is allowed to create the partition, it may not start/end on cylinder boundaries.  One possible consequence is wasted space; another is overlap with other OS's partitions!

Even with a pre-built partition, the Solaris install will damage the partition tables.  So, prior to the install, save, write down, or memorize the partition information, and be prepared to restore it manually after the installation.

Update 2004.04.05: An upgrade (not a re-install) to Solaris x86 U5 diddled the partition tables again - so be prepared to do a repair after an upgrade as well an an initial install.

Update 2005.01.19:  The diddled damaged partition tables may cause win2k to fail to boot -- and not be recoverable if they aren't corrected prior to booting win2k.  See partitioning notes.  

Further, the U5 companion CD GUI installer goes through the motions, but fails with a reference to an error log file that doesn't exist.  Until this is sorted out, I will be installing packages by hand.

If Linux is to be installed, don't forget to change the Solaris ID to something other than 82 once Solaris is installed and running.  82 is the same as the Linux swap partition ID.  If not changed prior to a Linux install, the Linux install may clobber Solaris.  Once Linux is installed, change the Solaris ID back to 82.

 

Installation

Do not use the installation CD.  Boot directly from the Software 1 of 2 CD.  Select interactive install.  Out of habit, I did a graphical mode install - VGA compatible, 16 colors, panning.  Since I ended up installing the Xfree porting kit binaries, it would have been simpler to just do a text mode install.

Once CD 1 installation is complete, reboot, and Solaris will attempt to install CD 2.  In several tries, CD 2 installed once, but more often the install failed with an error message indicating that the CD could not be read.  I am not sure wether this is caused by insufficient display color depth (which will cause the CD 2 installer to fail if run manually) or another issue (from an alt.solaris.x86 post by Bill Goodridge):

Is smserverd  commented out in /etc/inetd.conf ?
Why Sun needs a rpc program to use the crdom is a mystery.
----------
# smserverd to support removable media devices
100155/1        tli     rpc/ticotsord   wait    root
/usr/lib/smedia/rpc.smserverd rpc.smserverd
----------

Once the CD 2 install failed, I installed the Xfree86 porting kit: Xfree86 porting kit binaries here, README here, ran kdmconfig and selected XF86-VESA driver, Notebook LCD XGA 48kHz (1024x768 @ 60Hz), 14 inch monitor, and 16 bit color.  Restarted X, and ran the installer on CD 2, which completed the installation.

The Solaris installation overwrites the System Commander boot info, so reboot to Win98 or Win98 command prompt and run scin to restore SC as the boot manager, or if you like, use the funky Solaris boot manager.

 

Configuration

Not much to do here so far.  Since I wanted to be able to mount the win98se, win2k, and "scratch" FAT32 paritions, I modified /etc/vfstab to make that easier.  It now looks like this: vfstab.  I automount the scratch logical partion, which gets shared by all the OSs, and leave the winxx partitions unmounted unless I need them.

For general information purposes, here is a snip of the boot log: dmesg report  

 

What works

• Graphics

  The Xsun VESA driver works, as do the XF86-VESA and XF86-ATI drivers in the 4.2.0 porting kit.  Xsun VESA and XF86-ATI have a small quirk though.  When shutting down, the screen blanks and stays that way.  You don't get the "press any key.." message, so you have to guess when it is safe to power down.  They may also have APM issues.

  Update: Juergen Keil's XFree86 4.3.0 porting kit solves the missing shutdown message problem, but the non-vesa drivers still don't quite play nice with APM (perhaps they never will without OS support for APM - ???).  On the first suspend to RAM or HD after boot, resume produces a garbled screen.  Is there any chance that leaving the screen in the garbled state could damage the LCD?  Fn-F7 twice sorts it out.  Later suspend/resume operations without a reboot work OK.

  The XF86-VESA seems to avoid these issues, so for now that is what I am using.

   

• Pointing Devices

  UltraNav TrackPoint and touch pad both work (at same time).  Usb mouse works.  I haven't figured out how to get UltraNav and usb mouse to work at the same time.  To select one or the other, run kdmconfig and make your selection.  Log out and log in (restart X).

   

• Network

  The built in Intel Pro 100 VE NIC works by adding

  iprb "pci8086,103d"

  to etc/driver_aliases.  It is also necessary to do the usual things to get networking running after an install that didn't see the NIC (for my particular lan w/linksys dsl router):

  #echo "192.168.1.33 littleblue" >> /etc/hosts
  #echo "192.168.1.33" > /etc/hostname.iprb0
  #ifconfig iprb0 plumb
  #ifconfig ipbr0 192.168.1.33 up
  #echo "192.168.1.1" > /etc/defaultrouter
  #echo "nameserver 192.168.1.1" > /etc/resolv.conf
  make sure /etc/nsswitch.conf has a line:
     hosts:  files dns

  (I hope I remembered all of it)

   

• WiFi

  Intel Pro: no driver*

   

• Modem

  Lucent AMR: also no driver*

   

• Sound

  Works with Juergen Keil's audio810 driver.  I can play CDs with XMCD.  Audio Control app must be set as follows:

  playback:  built-in speaker, gain > 0
  record: Internal CD,  gain > 0, monitor > 0

   

• IEEE 1394

  No driver*

   

• USB

  Usb works, at least as tested with a usb floppy drive with a pc-formatted floppy installed.  In order to get the drive recognized:

  #ps -ef | grep vold
  #kill -HUP <vold PID>

  The diskette should now be accessible in /rmdisk/rmdisk0.  For some reason, the floppy motor continues to run as long as a floppy is inserted.  Killing vold stops it.  I need to figure how to mount the usb floppy manully.

  So far, my Lexar jumpdrive doesn't work.

  Update 2004.12.17: the Lexar still doesn't work, but a SanDisk 256MB Cruzer Micro does - more or less.  It's a little flakey but by following steps explained here http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/817-3814/6mjcp0qr3?a=view  I can usually get the Cruzer mounted.

   

• CD burning

  cdrecord 2.0 works.  Turn off volume management first:

  #/etc/init.d/volmgt stop

   

• APM/ACPI (and X)

  Solaris 9 x86 doesn't directly support APM, but seems to co-exist with BIOS power control to some extent.  I had previously created a hibernate file in the C: FAT32 partition (C:\save2dsk.bin, /dev/dsk/c0d0p1/save2dsk.bin) with an IBM utility program (see Windows 98SE).

  These were all tested using the XF86-VESA driver.  See Graphics above.

  Standby (LCD off) (Fn-F3) works.
  LCD brightness up/down (Fn-HOME, Fn-END) works.
  Monitor out select (Fn-F7) (probably) works.
  Suspend to RAM (Fn-F4) works.
  Suspend to disk (hibernate) (Fn-F12) works.
  Timed disk spin down and LCD standby work.
  Low battery suspend to disk (hibernate) works.
  Timed suspend to RAM or disk does not work - just doesn't happen.

  Unfortunately, since Solaris x86 doesn't interact w/APM, the NIC, sound, and (presumably) PCMCIA functions do not come back to life on resume.  Youri Podchosov has some information about Solaris and APM here. His hiber script for a Toshiba Tecra allows shutting down these services prior to suspend, and restarting them after a resume.  I have not tried this script, and it may require some modification for the R40.

  I haven't found an applet that will indicate battery status.  The R40's LED status indicator gives a general indication.

   

• PCMCIA

  Untested.  Xig has a patch for Solaris 7 and 8 that may allow some pcmcia cards to work here.  I have no clue whether it is appropriate for Solaris 9.

   

Performance

Untested.  Just by feel, it is slow to boot, but seems reasonably crisp when just editing files while running the CDE.  I don't know why it is so slow to boot -- ATA DMA settings maybe?  The DCA indicates that DMA is enabled.  I also don't have any serious performance testing tools.  Suggestions?

 

Battery Life

Untested.  I've been too busy installing all this stuff to actually use any of it.

 

* I haven't been able to find drivers so far.