Preparing for the Solaris OS Installation

The following procedures describe how to prepare your workstation for Solaris installation.

• Erasing the Currently Installed OS

• Setting the BIOS for the Solaris OS

• Setting the LSI RAID Configuration

Erasing the Currently Installed OS

To erase the currently installed OS, you can use the Tools and Drivers DVD to erase partitions on the boot hard drive. If you use the Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk option, it erases all partitions except the diagnostic partition.

The Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk option erases all partitions and all user data on the hard drive, except the diagnostic partition. Be sure to back up all data on the hard drive before performing this action.

The system diagnostic software requires the diagnostic partition to write its test scripts. Otherwise, the only output is the display on the diagnostic screen.

If you accidentally remove the diagnostic partition, you can re-create and mount it using the Create Diagnostic Partition option on the Tools and Drivers DVD. See the Sun Ultra 27 Workstation Service Manual for instructions.

To Erase the Currently Installed OS

To erase all partitions on primary boot hard drive except the diagnostic partition:

1. Back up any data on the workstation's boot hard disk that you want to save.

2. Insert the Tools and Drivers DVD into the workstation DVD drive and power cycle the workstation.

   The workstation will boot from the Tools and Drivers DVD.

3. When the Tools and Drivers main menu appears, select the following option:

   Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk

   This option erases all partitions currently located on the primary hard drive, except for the diagnostic partition. The diagnostic partition, if it is present, remains untouched.

Setting the BIOS for the Solaris OS

SATA is configured as AHCI in the BIOS by default.

• If the BIOS was not changed, you do not need to perform this setup.

• To verify that the Configured SATA As option in the BIOS is set correctly, do the following.

To Set the BIOS for the Solaris OS

1. Power on the workstation.

2. Press the F2 key at the Sun logo screen to enter the BIOS Setup menu.

3. Go to Advanced > Integrated Devices.

4. If necessary, change the Configured SATA As option to AHCI.

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

Setting the LSI RAID Configuration

If your workstation has multiple disks, you can use this procedure to set up a mirrored RAID volume. The process of RAID creation for the LSI controller included in your workstation is fully described in the Sun LSI 106x RAID User's Guide (820–4933).

To Set the LSI RAID Configuration

1. Power on the workstation.

2. During the BIOS portion of the boot, press Ctrl-C when prompted to open the LSI configuration tool.

3. Select the SAS controller you want and press Enter.

   The adapter properties screen appears.

4. Select RAID properties and press Enter.

   The RAID properties screen appears.

5. Select the type of RAID volume you wish to create.

   The Create New Array screen appears.

6. Select the disks you would like to include in the RAID volume.

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   Caution –

   Do not mix SAS and SATA disks within a RAID volume.

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7. Add global hot spares, as needed.

8. When the volume has been fully configured, press C.

9. After the array is configured, save changes and exit.

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   Note –

   After you create IM and IME RAID arrays, the system may perform an automatic reboot to enable the write cache feature.

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