Supporting Peripheral Devices Not Found on the Master Machine

You might be installing a master machine that has different peripherals than the clone machines. 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 machine at the time of installation.

For example, if you install the Entire Software Group on a master machine that has a cg6 frame buffer, the installation contains support for only the cg6 frame buffer. Consequently, you can only install the archive that you create from this system on clone systems that have either the cg6 frame buffer or no frame buffers. If you use the archive to install a clone system with an Elite 3D frame buffer, the Elite 3D will be unusable because the required drivers will not be installed.

You might have clone machines that have peripheral devices that the master machine does not have. You can install support for these peripheral devices on the master machine even though the master machine does not have the devices. The Web Start Flash archive you create from this master machine contains support for the peripheral devices on the clone machines.

If you plan to install clone machines that have different peripherals from the master machine, you can install support for those peripherals on the master machine 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 and contains every package found in the Solaris operating environment. If you install the Entire Plus OEM Software group on the master machine, the master machine includes all of the drivers included with the Solaris release. A Web Start Flash archive created from a master machine 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 machines with the Entire Plus OEM Software Group guarantees compatibility with other peripheral configurations. However, the Entire Plus OEM Software Group requires over 1 gigabyte of disk space. The clone machines might not have the space required to install the Entire Plus OEM Software Group.

• Install Selected Packages: When you install the master machine, you can install only the packages that you need for the master machine and the clone machines. By selecting specific packages, you can install only support for the peripherals that you know exist on the master or clone machines.