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Solaris 10 10/08 Release Notes

Hardware–Related Issues and Bugs

The following hardware–related issue and bugs apply to the Solaris 10 release.

x86: i86_mwait Work Does Not Function as Designed (6736444)

Systems with the Intel Xeon Processor MP 7400 series running the Solaris 10 10/08 OS might experience reduced performance and increased power consumption under light utilization. This problem might occur when CPUs do not quiesce, preventing power management while idle. No error message is displayed.

Workaround: Add the following line to the /etc/system file and reboot the system:


set idle_cpu_prefer_mwait=0

L2ARC is Disabled in the Solaris 10 10/08 Release (6730309)

The output of the zpool upgrade -v command identifies L2ARC cache devices as available. However, cache devices are not available in the Solaris 10 10/08 release. Various error messages are displayed:

Workaround: None.

Issues With HP NC326i Adapter and bge Driver (6691658)

bge fails to operate normally with the HP NC326i device. No error message is displayed.

Workaround: None.

SPARC: 19.55% Performance Regression for the NCP Device Driver (6660074)

Performance regression occurs for the Niagara Crypto Provider (NCP) device driver on Sun SPARC® Enterprise T5220 machines with the Solaris 10 10/08 release. No error message is displayed.

Workaround: Add the following line to the /platform/sun4v/kernel/drv/ncp.conf configuration file:


ncp-threads-per-core=6;

USB Floppy Drive Fails to Mount (6650724)

Floppy disks are not automatically mounted when inserted into USB floppy drives. No error message is displayed. The pcfs file system on the floppy disk is not accessible.

Workaround: The file system on the floppy disk can be mounted manually by running the mount command. For example:


mount -F pcfs /vol/dev/dsk/c3t0d0/noname /rmdisk

Error Message Is Displayed When Disconnecting USB Storage Devices (6624786)

The following error message is displayed when a USB storage device is disconnected:


Disconnected device was busy, please reconnect.

This message is displayed even when the device is unmounted successfully.

Workaround: None. The error message can be safely ignored.

The (ZFS) ARC Allocates Memory Inside The Kernel Cage Preventing DR (6522017)

ZFS can potentially allocate kernel memory across all system boards on systems with very large memory configurations. One free system board is required for dynamic memory reconfiguration so that the memory from the board to be dynamically reconfigured can be copied to the free board. The dynamic memory reconfiguration means that you cannot dynamically reconfigure memory on systems with very large memory configurations that have ZFS running. High-end SunFireTM servers can relocate kernel pages so that this issue is avoided. These servers must have kernel page relocation (KPR) enabled for domains with more than 32 cores. No error message is displayed

Workaround: Reduce the amount of kernel memory that ZFS can allocate by setting the zfs_arc_max parameter in the /etc/system file. The following example sets the maximum size to 512 Mbytes.


set zfs_arc_max = 0x20000000

mpathadm Does Not Display Load-Balance Setting Specific to Device

The mpathadm show logical-unit subcommand lists the load balancing global configuration value for the Current Load Balance property. However, entries in the csi_vhci.conf that change the load-balance type for a specific product are not reflected in the mpathadm output even when the setting is active.

Registration Tool Prevents Power Management on Some Framebuffers (6321362)

If the background processes for the registration tool are left running, the Elite3D and Creator3D framebuffers stop power management. This failure reduces the power savings when the system is in a power-managed state. Under certain conditions, sys-suspend might also hang. No error message is displayed. The system might hang during a system suspend or resume operation.

Workaround:

Run the following command approximately 60 seconds after each login:


# pkill -f basicreg.jar
# pkill -f swupna.jar

SPARC: Sun Crypto Accelerator 4000 Board Versions 1.0 and 1.1 Not Supported in Solaris 10 OS

A new cryptographic framework is provided in Solaris 10 OS. However, versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the Sun Crypto Accelerator 4000 board's software and firmware do not utilize this framework. Consequently, these versions are not supported in the Solaris 10 OS.

The 2.0 release uses the new framework. This release is available as a free upgrade to current Sun Crypto Accelerator 4000 users who plan to use Solaris 10 OS. Because the Sun Crypto Accelerator 4000 is an export-controlled product, you must contact Sun Enterprise Services or your local sales channel to obtain the free upgrade. Additional information is available on the Sun Crypto Accelerator 4000 web page at Sun's products site.

Certain USB 2.0 Controllers Are Disabled

Support for certain USB 2.0 controllers has been disabled because of incompatibilities between these devices and the EHCI driver. The following message is displayed:


Due to recently discovered incompatibilities with this 
USB controller, USB2.x transfer support has been disabled. 
This device will continue to function as a USB1.x controller. 
If you are interested in enabling USB2.x support please refer 
to the ehci(7D) man page. 
Please refer to www.sun.com/io for Solaris Ready products 
and to www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl for additional compatible 
USB products.

For the latest information about USB devices, see http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/USB-Faq.html.

Supported USB Devices and Corresponding Hub Configurations

This Solaris release supports both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices. The following table is a summary of USB devices that work in specific configurations. Connection types can either be direct to the computer or through a USB hub. Note that USB 1.1 devices and hubs are low speed or full speed. USB 2.0 devices and hubs are high speed. For details about ports and speeds of operation, see the System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems.

Table 2–1 USB Devices and Configurations

USB Devices 

Connection Types 

USB 2.0 storage devices 

Direct, USB 1.1 hub, USB 2.0 hub 

USB 1.1 devices except audio 

Direct, USB 1.1 hub, USB 2.0 hub 

USB 1.1 audio devices 

Direct, USB 1.1 hub 

USB 2.0 audio devices 

Not supported 

x86: Limitations Exist With Certain Device Drivers in Solaris 10 OS

The following list describes limitations with certain drivers and interfaces in this release of Solaris 10 for x86 platforms:

Checkpoint Resume

This functionality is turned off for all device types. In the DDI_SUSPEND code in your detach() function, you should return DDI_FAILURE.

Power Management

This functionality is unavailable to USB devices. Do not create power management components. Write your driver so that pm_raise_power() and pm_lower_power() are called only when power management components are created.

DVD-ROM/CD-ROM Drives on Headless Systems

Power management of interactive devices such as removable media is linked with power management of your monitor and the graphics card that drives your monitor. If your screen is active, devices such as the CD-ROM drive and diskette remain at full-power mode. These devices might switch to low-power mode on a system without a monitor. To restore power to the CD or diskette, type volcheck to obtain the latest status from each removable device.

Alternatively, you can disable power management on your system by using the Dtpower GUI. By disabling power management, these devices are constantly at full power.

x86: Manual Configuration Required to Specify Non-US English Keyboards

By default, the kdmconfig program specifies Generic US-English(104-Key) as the keyboard type that is connected to the system. If the system's keyboard is not a US-English keyboard, you must manually specify the keyboard type during installation. Otherwise, installation continues by using the default keyboard specification that is inconsistent with the system's actual keyboard type.

Workaround 1: If the system's keyboard is not a US-English keyboard, perform the following steps during installation:

  1. When the Proposed Window System Configuration For Installation is displayed, press Esc.

    Note –

    The information on the Proposed Window System Configuration For Installation, which includes the keyboard type, is displayed only for 30 seconds. If you want to change configuration settings, you must press Esc before the 30 seconds lapse. Otherwise, the installation continues by using the displayed settings.

  2. Change the keyboard type to the type that corresponds to your system's keyboard.

  3. Press Enter to accept the changes and continue with the installation.

Workaround 2: If you want to change the keyboard type in a system that is already running Solaris 10 OS, use the kdmconfig program. Choose the option that applies to the type of X server your system is running.

SPARC: jfca Driver for Certain Host Bus Adapters That Are Connected to Tape Devices Might Cause Errors (6210240)

The jfca driver for the following host bus adapters (HBAs) might cause system panics or I/O failures when these HBAs are connected to tape devices:

The jfca driver for these HBAs is prone to race conditions when certain operations are being run, and thus causes the errors. The operations are the following:

Error messages similar to the following examples might be displayed:

Workaround: Do not connect tape devices to either the SG-PCI1FC-JF2 or SG-PCI2FC-JF2 HBA.

Contention Exists Between Certain Devices That Share the Same Bus (6196994)

A bus contention occurs if Quad Fast-Ethernet (QFE) cards share the same bus with any of the following adapters:

The infinite-burst parameter of the ce driver that is used by these adapters is enabled by default. Consequently, little or no bus time is available for the QFE ports that share the same bus.

Workaround: Do not place QFE cards on the same bus as the network adapters in the list.

hat_getkpfnum() DDI Function Is Obsolete (5046984)

The hat_getkpfnum() DDI function is obsolete. Developers should update their device drivers to not use the hat_getkpfnum() DDI interface. If drivers are using hat_getkpfnum,() warnings similar to the following example are displayed:


WARNING: Module mydrv is using the obsolete hat_getkpfnum(9F)
interface in a way that will not be supported in
a future release of Solaris. Please contact the
vendor that supplied the module for assistance,
or consult the Writing Device Drivers guide,
available from http://www.sun.com for migration
advice.
---
Callstack of bad caller:
       hat_getkpfnum_badcall+93
       hat_getkpfnum+6e
       mydrv_setup_tx_ring+2d
       mydrv_do_attach+84
       mydrv_attach+242
       devi_attach+6f
       attach_node+62
       i_ndi_config_node+82
       i_ddi_attachchild+4a
       devi_attach_node+4b
       devi_attach_children+57
       config_immediate_children+6e
       devi_config_common+77
       mt_config_thread+8b

To determine if a driver is using hat_getkpfnum(), consult the driver source code, or examine the driver's symbols by using nm(). Using the driver mydrv as an example, type the following syntax:


% nm /usr/kernel/drv/mydrv | grep hat_getkpfnum

For guidance about migrating drivers away from hat_getkpfnum(), refer to Appendix B, Summary of Solaris DDI/DKI Services, in Writing Device Drivers.

Some DVD and CD-ROM Drives Fail to Boot Solaris (4397457)

The default timeout value for the SCSI portion of the SunSwiftTM PCI Ethernet/SCSI host adapter (X1032A) card does not meet the timeout requirements of Sun's SCSI DVD-ROM drive (X6168A). With marginal media, the DVD-ROM occasionally experiences timeout errors. The only exceptions are Sun Fire 6800, 4810, 4800, and 3800 systems. These systems overwrite the SCSI timeout value by means of OpenBoot PROM.

Workaround: For other platforms, use the on-board SCSI interfaces or DVD-ROM compatible SCSI adapters, such as the following examples: