Chapter 2 Late-Breaking Solaris Runtime Issues

This chapter describes known runtime problems. You may also want to refer to the online runtime_bugs file in the SUNWrdm package on the Solaris 7 11/99 CD for additional runtime problems.

The information in this chapter supplements any information listed in the runtime_bugs file that is part of the SUNWrdm package on the Solaris 7 11/99 CD. If you boot from the Solaris 7 11/99 CD, the runtime_bugs file is located in the directory:

/cdrom/sol_7_1199_x86/s2/Solaris_2.7/Docs/release_info/C

The default installed location for the runtime_bugs file is the directory:

/usr/share/release_info/Solaris_2.7/C

The name of this product is Solaris 7 11/99, but code and path or package path names may use Solaris 2.7 or SunOS 5.7. Always follow the code or path as it is written.

Common Desktop Environment (CDE) Bugs

Cannot Print in dtmail for Non-ISO_1 Locales (4072209)

If you are running a non-ISO_1 locale, such as ru, hr, and pl, you cannot print emails in dtmail.

Workaround: To print an email, save the e-mail as a file and use dtpad or the lp command to print the file.

Compiling Motif Programs on Solaris 7 (4172061)

This problem occurs when compiling a Motif program in the Solaris 7 operating environment if you link to an older shared library that has been compiled in the Solaris 2.4, 2.5, 2.5.1 or 2.6 operating environments and if the older library also uses the Motif API. In this case the Motif program uses Motif version 2.1 and the old shared library uses Motif version 1.2. A core dump occurs. This is not a binary compatibility problem for applications compiled in the Solaris 2.4, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.6 operating environments. Those applications should run correctly in the Solaris 7 operating environment.

Workaround: If you have an older shared library which links directly to the Motif library, to compile a program in the Solaris 7 operating environment which links to both Motif and that older shared library, use a compile line such as the following:

cc foo.c -o foo -DMOTIF12_HEADERS -I/usr/openwin/include -I/usr/dt/include
-lXm12 -lXt -lX11

where foo is the name of the program you are compiling.

Solaris Information Files Display in English (4202477)

If you display the 7 Solaris information files (listed in Step 2) that are included in the SUNWrdm packages and installed in the /usr/share/release_info/Solaris_2.7/locale directory, you can only view them in English even though you logged in using the European locale.

1. Select Information from the front panel's Help menu.

2. Double-click the Solaris_2.7 folder in the Application Manager.

   The following 7 Solaris Information files are displayed:

   • documentation_issues

   • driverupdate

   • eof

   • installation_bugs

   • new_features

   • patches

   • runtime_bugs

3. Double-click on each file.

   It displays each file in dtpad.

Workaround: Go to /usr/share/release_info/Solaris_2.7/locale and use vi or dtpad.

PDASync Log Does Not Display Messages Alerting the User of Certain Changes Occuring During Synchronization (4248135)

The following events are not reported in the PDASync log file:

• When you delete a record from the desktop, but modify that same record on the handheld device, the modified record appears on both the desktop and handheld device after synchronizing.

• When you modify the same record on both the handheld device and the desktop, two records reflecting both modifications appear on both the handheld device and desktop after synchronizing.

In both cases, the PDASync application behaves correctly and exhibits the same behavior found in Palm's HotSync on a PC. Unlike HotSync, however, the PDASync application does not note this behavior in its log file.

Cannot Delete Last Entry From the Desktop (4260435)

After deleting the last item from the desktop, for example the last appointment in Calendar or the last address in Address Manager, when you use the PDASync application to synchronize the handheld device, the last entry is restored from the handheld device to the desktop.

The PDASync application errs on the side of caution and forces the restoration of the last entry to the desktop.

Workaround: Delete the last entry from the handheld device.

PDASync Does Not Support Data Exchange With a Multibyte Internationalized PDA Device (4263814)

If you use the PDASync application to exchange multibyte data between a handheld device and Solaris CDE, the data may be corrupted in both environments.

Workaround: Back up your data on your PC with the your handheld device's backup utitily before you run the PDASync application. If you accidentally exchange multibyte data and corrupt that data, restore your data from the backup.

Conduit List Appears Blank After Adding or Deleting a Conduit (4264377)

After adding or deleting a conduit from the PDASync conduit list, the conduit list disappears from the Conduit tab window. The list is updated internally, but the GUI does not repaint the list.

Workaround: To force a repaint of the conduit list, click on either the Synchronization tab or Log tab, then click on the Conduit tab. The conduit list appears correctly in the Conduit tab window.

PDASync Performance Is Slow Compared to HotSync on Windows PC (4279521)

The overall performance of the PDASync application on the Solaris 7 11/99 operating environment is slower in comparison with the overall performance of HotSync on a Microsoft Windows PC. The following architectural differences are responsible for the performance differences between the PDASync application and HotSync:

• The PDASync calendar conduit contacts the calendar server through the network to access appointments, while Palm's HotSync reads a flat file database to get calendar appointments.

• The PDASync application treats each record on the PalmPilot as a separate file on the desktop (for example, a separate file for each memo and address vcard), enabling users to access these files from the CDE desktop. Palm's HotSync keeps records for each database in one large file. When accessing 1000 records, the PDASync application sorts through 1000 files on the desktop, while Palm's HotSync sorts through the one large file.

PDASync May Not Delete One Instance of a Repeating Appointment From a PalmPilot PDA When Synchronizing With the Desktop (4279553)

When you delete a single instance of a repeating appointment from the desktop, and then invoke the PDASync application to synchronize the desktop with the PalmPilot handheld device, the appointment on the handheld may not be deleted. The appointment may remain on the PalmPilot.

Workaround: Delete the single instance appointment using the PalmPilot handheld device.

System Administration Bugs

/var/adm/messages File Contains Incorrect Time Stamp (4216235)

The system time in the /var/adm/messages file is inaccurate when displaying boot-related information for the first boot after a netinstall. In the following excerpt from the /var/adm/messages file, you will see that the system time gets set to a later time.

Jun  1 22:05:07 sunergy2 unix: mem = 49152K (0x3000000)
Jun  1 22:05:07 sunergy2 unix: avail mem = 44359680
Jun  1 22:05:07 sunergy2 unix: root nexus = SUNW,SPARCclassic
Jun  1 17:39:59 sunergy2 unix: iommu0 at root
Jun  1 17:39:59 sunergy2 unix: : 
Jun  1 17:39:59 sunergy2 unix: obio 0x10000000
Jun  1 17:39:59 sunergy2 unix: 
Jun  1 17:39:59 sunergy2 unix: sbus0 at iommu0

Workaround: You may delete the innaccurate messages or reboot the system.

Remote Console Bugs

The following bugs occur when the Remote Console feature is enabled.

init Does Not Recognize Carrier Drop Off From a Serial Display and Therefore Does Not Revert to the Default Console (4191023)

If you lose the carrier, for example, become disconnected from the serial port that is not located on the default console or on an auxiliary console through which you are logged in, and then bring the system to single-user or administrative mode by executing the init command from that port, you must ensure that the carrier is reestablished on that serial port before bringing the system back up. The system then prompts you for a run level to which you want to boot the system (only on the port where the init command was initiated).

Workaround: Reconnect to the serial ports when you lose the carrier before rebooting the system.

init Prompts for Run Level When the reboot Command Is Executed From a Standalone Session (4191148)

A misleading message is sometimes displayed on the device on which you initiated the init state transition when administering a system using the init command even though you executed the reboot command. When executing init s, a single-user shell is established on a remote console and the subsequent rebooting of the system can cause the following message to be displayed:

Enter run level

Workaround: Ignore the misleading message.

Change the init Command's Run Level Prompt to Display on a tty On Which Control--D or the exit Command Are Executed (4196862)

If you press Control--D as a superuser or after logging in as root from the superuser login prompt and then issue an exit command to be at the default run level, you are prompted for the default run level. The prompt is displayed on a console on which the init command was initially executed instead of the console on which Control--D or the exit command were originally issued.

If you execute the init command from a pty, /dev/console becomes the default device on which you are prompted for a run level. If you are running a remote console and log in as a superuser and then type Control--D to boot the system, the run level prompt is then displayed on the console instead of the auxiliary console.

The init Command Does Not Display Its Run Level Prompt When Reconnecting to the Port of an Auxiliary Console (4196993)

If a configuration includes one or more auxiliary consoles and the carrier drops the connection for the auxiliary console on which the init command was run, and the sulogin shell has exited from another auxiliary or default console, then the following prompt will not be displayed after reestablishing the connection on the port from which the carrier dropped the connection:

Enter Run Level

Although you are never prompted for the run level, the system is still waiting for the run level to be entered.

Workaround: Reestablish the connection on the port from the carrier has dropped the connection and enter the desired run level even though you are not prompted for the run level.

Some Console Messages Cannot Be Redirected to Auxiliary Consoles (4197589)

Daemons or commands may use /dev/console explicitly to display messages. The frequency of such messages is low among the set of messages that the console may display.

Workaround: All messages are still printed to /dev/console and can therefore be monitored. You can also monitor syslog log files.

syslog Writes Messages to /dev/syscon When Unable to Send to syslogd (4219265)

If syslogd needs to display error messages on a console, these messages will be directed to the default location /dev/syscon. The error messages are not displayed on any configured auxiliary consoles in this feature patch.

File System Bugs

UFS File System Panic (4241656)

Very infrequently, while doing disk I/O, the UFS file system will panic with the error message:

panic, ufs_fault_v+0x4c:, call, real_panic_v, alloccgblk: 
can't find blk    in cyl .....

Workaround: Reboot the system and run the fsck command on the affected file system to recover from the problem.

Java Development Kit (JDK^TM) Bugs

JDK 1.1.7_08: Java Applications Dump Core When There Is Insufficient Swap Space (4037312, 4042667)

Java applications dump core when there is not enough swap space. Applications sometimes produce the following bus error:

not enough space  

Workaround: Exit other applications running on the system or add more swap space. See the Solaris System Administration Guide for details on adding swap space.

JDK 1.2.1_03: Underlined Text Displays Slowly on a Non-local Host (4170221)

When you set the DISPLAY environment variable to a host other than the one running the virtual machine, underlined text in a network browser displays at a much slower rate than text that is not underlined.

Workaround: Do not use remote display.

JDK 1.2.1_03: Text Rendering Performance Regression From JDK 1.1.7 and Earlier Releases (4210230)

Text rendering with JDK 1.2 is much slower than with JDK 1.1.7 and earlier releases, including rendering on platforms with Direct Graphics Access support (for example: cg6, ffb frame buffers).

Workaround: Keep socket writes to less than 64 kbytes.

AnswerBook2 Documentation Bugs

AnswerBook2 Print Function Disabled for Asian Locales (4163661)

The AnswerBook2 Print function does not work for Asian (Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese) documents.

Workaround: To print AnswerBook2 pages in these locales, use your browser's print function.

ab2cd Causes TCL Errors When Started With LC_ALL Set to a Value Other Than C or Blank (4249211)

When running the AnswerBook2 server with the command ab2cd, if LC_ALL is set to a value other than C or blank, you will see the following error message:

Internal Server Plugin Error
../dwinterp/dwinterp.cc reported 


TCL script exception:

File not found: "/tmp/.ab2/data/config/dynaweb.dwc"
------------------------------


Please notify your System Administrator.../dwsp/dwspns.cc reported "Null 
Pointer" exception caught in ../dwsp/dwspns.cc, line 244
Please notify your System Administrator.

Workaround: Before starting ab2cd, type the following command:

# unsetenv LC_ALL

Solaris Runtime Bugs

Man Page for netstat Truncated (4246745)

When a user tries to access the netstat(1M) reference manual page using the man command, the page does not print completely. The problem arises because of an nroff bug that occurs only in the C locale. The nroff file generated by the man command contains invalid characters that may cause a core dump.

The same behavior occurs with the netmask(1M) and m64config(1M) reference manual pages.

Workaround: Use AnswerBook2 to view the complete netstat(1M), netmask(1M), and m64config(1M) reference manual pages.

Localization Issues

OpenWindows Is Not Supported As a Desktop Option In Some Locales

OpenWindows^TM is not supported as a desktop option in the following locales and partial locales: