Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Release Notes

This document contains known issues and late-breaking information for the Sun Ultratrademark 20 Workstation.

For the latest version of these release notes and other Sun Ultra 20 Workstation documentation, visit the following URL:

http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/
hardware/docs/Workstation_Products/Workstations/ultra_20/

Please note the following issues and considerations for the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation:


General Information

Support for the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation

For support information for the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation visit the following URL:

http://www.sun.com/desktop/workstation/ultra20/support.xml

Documentation URL

The following is a list of Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Documentation:

http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/Workstation_Products/Workstations/ultra_20/index.htm

Supported Operating Systems

For more information, visit the following URL:

http://www.sun.com/desktop/workstation/ultra20/

Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions

The BIOS versions mentioned in this document are available on the following versions of the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Supplemental ISO Images:

The Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Supplemental ISO Images are available at the following URL:

http://www.sun.com/desktop/workstation/ultra20/downloads.jsp


Hardware/BIOS Issues

The following hardware and BIOS issues apply to the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation, regardless of the installed operating system. For more information on BIOS versions, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

CMOS Checksum Error When Plugging-in AC Power Cord

The system might report a CMOS checksum error after the AC power cord is plugged-in. BIOS v2.2.7 (or later), available on Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Supplemental ISO Image 1.6, is required to resolve this issue. For more information, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

1. Insert the Supplemental CD into the DVD drive.

2. Reboot the system.

The Supplemental CD menu appears.

1. Press 2 to flash the system BIOS.

Load Optimized Defaults After Installing New BIOS

If you update the BIOS, you must load the optimized defaults.

1. After you flash the BIOS, reboot the system.

2. Press the F2 key during boot.

You will enter the BIOS setup screen.

3. Select the Load Optimized Defaults option.

4. Press the Y key and Enter at the confirmation screen.

5. Press the F10 key to save changes and exit.

CMOS Checksum Error When Updating the BIOS

The system might report a CMOS checksum error after you update the BIOS version using the Supplemental ISO image CD. If this happens, load Optimized Defaults. For information on loading Optimized Defaults, see Load Optimized Defaults After Installing New BIOS.

BIOS Setting Might Change When Updating BIOS

After you update to the BIOS version on the Supplemental CD, the BIOS might reset to the default BIOS settings. Any changes you made might be lost, requiring that you enter your settings again. Access the BIOS setup screens to check, and if necessary, enter your settings.

1. After you flash the BIOS, reboot the system.

2. Press the F2 key when you have a choice of pressing F1 or F2 to continue.

You will enter the BIOS setup screen.

3. Make any setting changes you require.

4. Press the F10 key to save changes and exit.

Power Interruptions

If the power to the system is interrupted for some reason other than through the normal shutoff procedures, wait 10 seconds or more before powering on the system. This will ensure that the standby power has time to shut off.

Power LED

If you power on the system, and then power it off again before you see the large Sun logo, the power LED on the front of the system might remain on.

To correct this, turn off the AC power with the switch at the back of the system next to the AC power cord.

USB CD/DVD Drive and Supplemental CD

The Sun Ultra Workstation Supplemental CD will not boot from a USB-connected CD or DVD drive. Use the onboard DVD drive to boot the Supplemental CD. This issue is resolved in BIOS v2.1.7 and later. For more information, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

System Won't Boot with 2 GB x 4 and IOMMU set to 64MB

The system will not boot if memory is configured with four 2 GB DIMMs and if IOMMU is set (in the BIOS) to 64MB. To resolve this issue update to BIOS v1.1.6, which is available on Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. See, Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Excluding Devices from Boot Menu in BIOS v2.2.3

When running BIOS v2.2.3, devices removed from the BIOS/Advanced BIOS Features/Boot Device menu are not available in the boot menu. Additionally, the Boot Other Devices Enabled option does not select all devices. Choose one of the two options to resolve these issue:



Note - Access the Boot Menu, by pressing F8 during the boot.



1. Press the F2 key during system boot to enter the BIOS setup screen.

2. In the Advanced settings menu, remove the device from the Boot device list.

3. Disable the Boot Other Devices option.

4. Set a Supervisor password.

5. Set the Security option to System.

6. Press the F10 key to save your settings and exit.

Update to BIOS v2.2.3 if DMI Table Includes IPMI Card Entry

If the DMI table includes an IPMI card entry update to BIOS v2.2.3 (or later). To determine if an IPMI card entry exists, use the dmidecode command in Linux or the smbios command in Solaris. An entry similar to the following displays if an IPMI card entry exists:


Handle 0x0027
DMI type 38, 18 bytes.
IPMI Device Information
Interface Type: KCS (Keyboard Control Style)
Specification Version: 1.5
I2C Slave Address: 0x10
NV Storage Device: Not Present
Base Address: 0x0000000000000CA2 (I/O)
Register Spacing: Successive Byte Boundaries
Handle 0x0028
DMI type 127, 4 bytes. 

For more information on updating the BIOS, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Sun Crypto Accelerator 6000 Board

The Sun Crypto Accelerator 6000 Board (X6000A) requires BIOS v2.2.3 or later. See Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

NVIDIA Graphics Cards

If you have the NVIDIA FX1400, NVS280, NVS285, or FX3450 graphics cards installed in the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation, please note the following:

Refer to Appendix B in the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation User Guide for further information on using dual monitors with the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation.

ATEN DVI Video Switch Not Supported

Due to a hardware incompatibility, the ATEN DVI Video switch is not supported.


Linux Issues

The following issues apply to Sun Ultra 20 Workstations running a Linux operating system:

Supported Linux Operating Systems

Unless otherwise noted, the issues listed in this section apply to the above operating system updates. For more information on supported operating systems, refer to Supported Operating Systems

Nvidia Video Driver 9755 Available

The Nvidia video driver 9755 is available on the Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. For information on obtaining the latest Supplemental ISO image, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Security Advisory for NVIDIA 1.0-8774 Linux and Solaris Drivers

A Security Advisory for the 8774 Nvidia graphics driver for Solaris and Linux is posted at:

http://download2.rapid7.com/r7-0025/

To resolve this issue update to the minimum 1.0-8776 driver, which is available on the Supplemental ISO Image 1.5. Additionally, Nvidia has released new drivers which resolve this issue. You can get the drivers and the installation procedures at:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html

Red Hat 3 Versions Might Not Fully Support All USB Storage Devices

RHEL 3 systems might not recognize some storage devices after a hot removal and insertion or after a reboot.

If this occurs, try rebooting the workstation again.

White Screen When Using the NVIDIA FX1400 Card With RHEL 4 U1 and U2

If you are installing RHEL4 U1 or RHEL4 U2, with the NVIDIA FX1400 card, you might encounter a white screen during the installation process. If this happens, do the following:

1. Install the operating system in text mode or select the VESA graphics driver during the installation.

2. After installation is complete, run the install.sh file on the Sun Ultra 20 Supplemental CD to install the updated NVIDIA display drivers.

This bug has been fixed in the open source nv driver.

RHEL 4 Installation With FX1400

If you plan to install RHEL 4 Update 0 on a Sun Ultra 20 Workstation when a NVIDIA FX1400 video card is installed, choose one of the two options:



caution icon

Caution - Failure to use this workaround will result in video corruption, making it impossible to continue the installation.



1. Boot the workstation and press the F2 key at the Sun logo screen to display the BIOS Setup screen.

2. Under the PnP/PCI Configurations menu, set the Change Init Display First option to PCI Slot.

3. Press the F10 key to save the change and exit the BIOS.

4. Insert the Red Hat 4 Update 0 64-bit disc 1 to start the installation.

5. Reboot the workstation after the installation is complete.

6. Press the F2 key at the Sun logo screen to display the BIOS Setup screen.

7. Under the PnP/PCI Configurations menu, set the Change Init Display First option to PCIEx.

8. Press the F10 key to save the chance and exit the BIOS.

A dialog box displays with the message: I cannot start X server...

9. Select No in the dialog box.

A dialog box displays with the message: Would you like me to run the X configuration program?...

10. Select No in the dialog box.

A dialog box displays with the message: I will disable this X server for now...

11. Click OK in the dialog box.

12. Log into the workstation as superuser.

13. Type the following commands to run install.sh:

# mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrecorder

# cd /media/cdrecorder/drivers/linux/red_hat

# ./install.sh

14. When the script has run, type startx to start the X server.

Blank Screen With RHEL 4 U2 (32-bit) After Running the install.sh Script

When running the install.sh script from the Supplemental ISO image CD with RHEL 4 U2, you might get a blank screen after rebooting the workstation. This applies only to the RHEL 4 U2 (32-bit), kernel v2.6.9-22, which is the default kernel for RHEL 4 U2.

Before running the install.sh script, do the following:

1. Download the 2.6.9-22-3 (or later) kernel update from the following site:

http://people.redhat.com/~jbaron/rhel4/RPMS.kernel/

2. Install both the kernel and kernel-devel rpms.

3. Reboot the workstation.

4. Run install.sh from the Supplemental CD.

This kernel update fixes the following issues:

RHEL 3 and RHEL 4 Do Not Support IEEE 1394

The IEEE 1394 interface is not supported in the RHEL 3 or RHEL 4 operating system. If you have installed the RHEL 3 WS or RHEL 4 WS operating system on the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation, you must complete the following procedure if you want to enable the 1394 port.

1. Insert the RHEL 3 WS CD 3 into the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation.

2. Install the following rpm:

rpm -ivh kernel-unsupported-2.4.21-4.EL.kernel.rpm

Where kernel is the Red Hat kernel that you are running.

3. Add the following alias to the /etc/modules.conf directory:

alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394



Note - If you do not type the alias correctly, RHEL 3 might hang.



4. Download the rescan-scsi-bus.sh script from the following URL:

http://www.linux1394.org/scripts/rescan-scsi-bus.sh

5. Reboot the workstation.

The 1394 device is not enumerated until you run the script in Step 6.

6. Type the following to run rescan-scsi-bus.sh

# sh /rescan-scsi-bus.sh

The device(s) appear in a hardware browser or the /proc/scsi/scsi directory.

RHEL 3 and Microphone Operation

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 does not support the microphone function.

RHEL 4 (32-Bit) Message

After running the install.sh script on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (32-bit), you might encounter the following message:

disk /dev/dm-0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

You can safely ignore this message.

Audio Driver Used in SUSE Certification

The audio driver used for SUSE operating system certification is located in the following directory on the latest version of the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Supplemental ISO image:

drivers/linux/chipset

For more information on the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Supplemental ISO image, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

You can also download the driver at www.nvidia.com.

SLES 9 Dual Core Processor Issues

The following issues apply to specific versions of the SLES 9 operating system. These are known issues:

A patch on the Supplemental CD fixes this issue. See Workaround for SLES 9 SP2 Dual Core Issue for instructions on installing the patch.

Workaround for SLES 9 SP2 Dual Core Issue

1. Do one of the following, depending on whether you have already installed
SLES 9 SP2:

The kernel source package should be listed in the search results; check it so that the source RPMs are installed.

The source RPM is in suse/i586/kernel-source-.version.i586.rpm.

Where version is the version of the kernel.

2. Login to the system as root (superuser).

3. With the kernel source RPMs installed, change directory to /usr/src/linux-version and copy the included patch (sun.patch) from the Supplemental CD to the /usr/src/linux-version/ directory.

# cp /suppl_x.x/sun.patch /usr/src/linux-version/

Where suppl_x.x is the directory on the x.x version Supplemental CD and version is the version of the kernel.

4. Apply the patch to the kernel source by executing the following command.

# patch -p1 -g0 --verbose --dry-run < sun.patch

This will test the patch without making any changes to the installed kernel source.

5. Verify that the patch program does not report any failures (it may warn about carriage returns but that is not critical).

If any failures are reported, try to reinstall SLES 9, then repeat this procedure.

6. Assuming that there aren't any failures, apply the patch for real by executing the same command without the --dry-run option.

# patch -p1 -g0 --verbose < sun.patch

7. Copy the file /proc/config.gz to /usr/src/linux-version, unzip config.gz, and rename the resulting config file to.config.

# cp /proc/config.gz /usr/src/linux-version
# cd /usr/src/linux-version/
# gunzip config.gz
# mv config .config

8. Execute the following make commands:

# make oldconfig
# make all
# make modules_install
# make install

A new kernel replaces the old kernel as a boot option on the grub boot loader menu.

9. Reboot the system and select the new kernel when grub starts.

SLES 9 SP1 Mouse Recognition

SLES 9 SP1 requires the user to recognize the mouse each time the system is booted. To recognize the mouse when booting the workstation:

1. Do one of the following:

# yast2

2. In the YaST Control Center, click Select Mouse Model under the Hardware section.

3. In the Mouse Configuration Wizard, select the mouse type that best describes your mouse.

Intellimouse Explorer (USB) is recommended.

4. Use the Test button to apply and test the selected settings.

5. Use the Accept button to apply the selected settings and exit the program.


Windows Issues

The following issues apply to Sun Ultra 20 Workstations running supported version of Windows XP software:

Supported Windows Operating Systems

Unless otherwise noted, the issues listed in this section apply to the above operating system updates. For more information on supported operating systems, refer to Supported Operating Systems.

Windows XP Reburn Version 1.4 Available

Windows XP reburn v1.4 is available on the Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. For information on obtaining the latest Supplemental ISO image, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

S4 Sleep State and 4 GB of Memory

When using the Windows XP 64-bit Operating System, the sleep state S4 does not work properly with 4 GB of memory. See the following Microsoft web site for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;888575

Mirrored RAID in Windows XP

Note the following when using a mirrored RAID configuration with Windows XP:

See Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Getting Started Guide, 819-2148, Chapter 2, for more information on installing RAID drivers for Windows XP.


Solaris Issues

The following issues apply to the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation running the Solaris 10 6/06 or 11/06 Operating Systems:

Nvidia Video Driver 9755 Available

The Nvidia video driver 9755 is available on the Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. For information on obtaining the latest Supplemental ISO image, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Solaris 10 Telnet Vulnerability Issue

Solaris 10 6/06 and 11/06 has security vulnerability in the in.telnetd(1M) daemon that might allow unauthorized remote users to gain access to a Solaris Host. Patch-ID# 120069-02 addresses this issue. The patch is available on the Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. For information obtaining the latest Supplemental ISO image, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Apply the patch manually or run the install.sh script on all Solaris 10 6/06 and 11/06 systems. For more information, refer to Sun Security Alert 102802. You can also access this patch (and related patches) at:

http://www.sun.com/sunsolve

Security Advisory for NVIDIA 1.0-8774 Linux and Solaris Drivers

For information on this issue, see Security Advisory for NVIDIA 1.0-8774 Linux and Solaris Drivers.

Solaris 10 6/06 NVIDIA Drivers 8756 or Later Required

Solaris 10 6/06 may panic if the NVIDIA drivers version 8172 are installed. Ensure that version 8756 or later is installed.

Solaris 10 6/06 ZFS Support

For Solaris 10 6/06, ZFS support requires BIOS v2.2.3 or later. See Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

White Screen After Running install.sh With NVIDIA FX1400 Graphics Card

After running install.sh on Solaris 10 HW 1/06, the screen may turn white after reboot. If this happens, reboot the workstation again.

Solaris 10 Screen Resolution

If your screen resolution is not correct, right-click on the desktop and select the Change Desktop Resolution option to change the resolution.


Diagnostics Issues

The following issues apply to the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Pc-Check diagnostics software:

Pc-Check Version 6.05d Available

Pc-Check v6.05d is available on the Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. For information on obtaining the latest Supplemental ISO image, see Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Pc-Check Memory Benchmark Test Hangs Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard and mouse will not respond when running the Pc-Check memory benchmark test. To resolve this issue update to BIOS v1.1.7, which is available on Sun Fire X2100 Supplemental ISO image 1.7. See, Accessing and Updating BIOS Versions.

Corrupted Floppy Diskette Drive Model Number

The Pc-Check display output for the Floppy Drive's Model Name will show up corrupted when no USB floppy diskette drive is connected to the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation.

The display output for the Floppy Drive's Model Name will show correctly when a USB floppy diskette drive is connected to the workstation.

Pc-Check Stress Test

If your workstation contains 4 GB of memory, the Pc-Check System Stress test will fail. Do not run this test if you have 4 GB of memory on your workstation. This issue is resolved in versions Pc-Check versions 6.0c, 6.0d, and later.

Mirrored NVRaid Causes System Stress Test Failure

The Pc-Check Diagnostic software system stress test fails if drives are configured as an NVRaid in a mirror.

Pc-Check Full Test Might Hang the System

If the Ultra 20 workstation hangs while you are running the full.tst, then deselect either the video memory test or the microtopology test and rerun the full.tst.


Copyright

LA DOCUMENTATION EST FOURNIE "EN L'ETAT" ET TOUTES AUTRES CONDITIONS, DECLARATIONS ET GARANTIES EXPRESSES OU TACITES SONT FORMELLEMENT EXCLUES, DANS LA MESURE AUTORISEE PAR LA LOI APPLICABLE, Y COMPRIS NOTAMMENT TOUTE GARANTIE IMPLICITE RELATIVE A LA QUALITE MARCHANDE, A L'APTITUDE A UNE UTILISATION PARTICULIERE OU A L'ABSENCE DE CONTREFACON.