SPARC: Supporting Peripheral Devices Not Found on the Master System

Choosing the drivers to install on the master system depends on the type of peripheral devices attached to both the master system and the clone system and depends on the type of software group installed. If the clone systems have different peripheral devices than the master system, you need to install the appropriate drivers on the master system before you create the archive.

When you install Solaris software, some hardware-specific drivers are installed only if their supported hardware is found on the system.

If you install the master system with the Core, End User, Developer, or Entire Software Group, the master system supports only the peripheral devices that are attached to the master system at the time of installation. You can install support for peripheral devices on the master system even though the master system does not have the devices by installing the master system with the Entire Plus OEM Software Group. All drivers are installed regardless of the hardware present on the system. Or, you can install selected packages that support the peripherals needed.

If you install any software group except the Entire Plus OEM Software Group on your master system, you might not have all the drivers that you need to correctly install your clone systems. For example, if you install the Entire Software Group on a master system that has a GX CG6 frame buffer, only the GX CG6 frame buffer driver is installed. This situation is not a problem if all the clone systems you want to install have the GX CG6 frame buffer or no frame buffer.

If you want to install the archive on clone systems that have other frame buffers installed, such as the Elite 3D, then the clone system does not have frame buffer support. Therefore, you must create an archive that includes all frame buffers by installing the Entire Plus OEM Software Group or installing the frame buffer drivers you want by adding the appropriate frame buffer driver packages to the master system.

You can install support for peripherals on clone systems that are different from the master system in one of the following ways.

• Install the Entire Plus OEM Software Group – The Entire Plus OEM Software Group is the largest Software Group available. This group contains every package that is found in the Solaris operating environment. If you install this group on the master system, the master system includes all of the drivers that are included with the Solaris release. A Solaris Flash archive that is created from a master system that you install with the Entire Plus OEM Software Group works on any clone system that has peripheral devices supported by the installed release of the Solaris operating environment.

  Installing master systems with the Entire Plus OEM Software Group guarantees compatibility with other peripheral configurations. However, the Entire Plus OEM Software Group requires over 1 Gbyte of disk space. The clone systems might not have the space that is required to install the Entire Plus OEM Software Group.

• Install selected packages – When you install the master system, you can install only the packages that you need for the master system and the clone systems. By selecting specific packages, you can install only support for the peripherals that you know exist on the master system or clone systems.