3.4.113.1 Special Cautions for x86/x64 Platforms:

There are some important considerations when compiling for x86 Solaris platforms.

• Programs compiled with -xarch set to sse, sse2, sse2a, or sse3 must be run on platforms supporting these features and extensions..

• OS releases starting with Solaris 9 4/04 are SSE/SSE2-enabled on Pentium 4-compatible platforms. Earlier versions of Solaris OS are not SSE/SSE2- enabled.

• If you compile and link in separate steps, always link using the compiler and with same -xarch setting to ensure that the correct startup routine is linked.

• Arithmetic results on x86 may differ from results on SPARC due to the x86 80-byte floating-point registers. To minimize these differences, use the -fstore option or compile with -xarch=sse2 if the hardware supports SSE2.

• Starting with Sun Studio 11 and the Solaris 10 OS, program binaries compiled and built using these specialized -xarch hardware flags are verified that they are being run on the appropriate platform.

• On systems prior to Solaris 10, no verification is done and it is the user’s responsibility to ensure objects built using these flags are deployed on suitable hardware.

• Running programs compiled with these -xarch options on platforms that are not enabled with the appropriate features or instruction set extensions could result in segmentation faults or incorrect results occurring without any explicit warning messages.

• This warning extends also to programs that employ .il inline assembly language functions or __asm() assembler code that utilize SSE, SSE2, SSE2a, and SSE3 instructions and extensions.