Solaris 8 2/02 What's New Supplement

Device Management

Feature Description	Release Date
USB Support and USB Audio Support The USB technology and the USB audio support in Solaris provide a low-cost way to add keyboards, mouse devices, printers, and audio devices to a system. Support for USB Audio devices that are USB Audio 1.0 compliant has been integrated for both SPARC and Intel platforms. Recommended devices are listed on `http://www.sun.com/io`. The USB Audio driver is based on the new `audio mixer(7I)` architecture. For further information, see the USB Administration Guide. Solaris system administrators who intend to administer new Sun hardware with USB support should review this book to become familiar with the USB technology and features.	10/01
USB Devices The Solaris 8 1/01, Solaris 8 4/01, Solaris 8 7/01, Solaris 8 10/01 and Solaris 8 2/02 releases include support for USB devices such as keyboards, mouse devices, audio devices, and printers on some SPARC systems and IA systems. Sun Microsystems support for USB devices includes the following: Sun Blade^TM 100 and Sun Blade 1000 systems that run the Solaris 8 10/00, Solaris 8 1/01, Solaris 8 4/01, Solaris 8 7/01, Solaris 8 10/01 and Solaris 8 2/02 releases provide USB device support. Sun Ray^TM systems also support USB devices. See the man page `scsa2usb(7D)` for further information. See also the USB Administration Guide.	1/01
USB Printer Support You can use Solaris Print Manager to set up a Universal Serial Bus (USB) printer that is attached to a SPARC system with USB ports. For more information, see "USB Printer Support" in the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement. For an overview of USB, see "Overview of USB Devices" in the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement.	10/00 Updated 1/01 and 4/01
Reconfiguration Coordination Manager (RCM) The Reconfiguration Coordination Manager (RCM) is the framework that manages the dynamic removal of system components. Dynamic reconfiguration of system resources enables you to reconfigure system components while the system is still running. This feature has been available with the `cfgadm` command since the Solaris 8 1/01 release. By using the Reconfiguration Coordination Manager, you can register and release system resources in an orderly manner. You can use the new RCM script feature to write your own scripts to shut down your applications, or to cleanly release the devices from your applications during dynamic reconfiguration. The RCM framework launches a script automatically in response to a reconfiguration request, if the request impacts the resources that are registered by the script. Previously, you had to release resources from applications manually before you could dynamically remove the resource. Or, you could use the `cfgadm` command with the `-f` option to force a reconfiguration operation, but this option might leave your applications in an unknown state. Also, the manual release of resources from applications commonly causes errors. See the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement and the `rcmscript(4)` man page for further information.	1/01 (SPARC) Updated 4/01 (IA)
Sun Gigaswift Ethernet Driver The Solaris 7/01 release adds support for the Sun Gigaswift 1000Base-T Ethernet driver. This product provides enhanced performance of a 1-Gbit, twisted-pair copper Ethernet link. For further information, see the `ce(7D)` man page.	7/01
`mp` Program Enhancement In the `mp` program enhancement, the `mp(1)` command is modified to work as an X Print Server client. With a properly configured X Print Server running in the host machine, `Rmp(1)` can print output in any Print Description Language that the X Print Server supports. The newly introduced options, `-D` and `-P`, can be used for making `mp(1)` work as an X Print Server client. For more information, see "Print Filter Enhancement mp(1)" in the Solaris 8 Software Developer Supplement.	4/01
Improved Dynamic Reconfiguration Error Messages Improved dynamic reconfiguration error messages are intended to help system administrators troubleshoot problems when they remove a system resource, such as a configured swap area or a dedicated dump device. For more information on dynamic reconfiguration, see "New Dynamic Reconfiguration Error Messages" in the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement.	1/01

Feature Description

Release Date

USB Support and USB Audio Support

The USB technology and the USB audio support in Solaris provide a low-cost way to add keyboards, mouse devices, printers, and audio devices to a system. Support for USB Audio devices that are USB Audio 1.0 compliant has been integrated for both SPARC and Intel platforms. Recommended devices are listed on http://www.sun.com/io. The USB Audio driver is based on the new audio mixer(7I) architecture.

For further information, see the USB Administration Guide. Solaris system administrators who intend to administer new Sun hardware with USB support should review this book to become familiar with the USB technology and features.

10/01

USB Devices

The Solaris 8 1/01, Solaris 8 4/01, Solaris 8 7/01, Solaris 8 10/01 and Solaris 8 2/02 releases include support for USB devices such as keyboards, mouse devices, audio devices, and printers on some SPARC systems and IA systems.

Sun Microsystems support for USB devices includes the following:

Sun Blade^TM 100 and Sun Blade 1000 systems that run the Solaris 8 10/00, Solaris 8 1/01, Solaris 8 4/01, Solaris 8 7/01, Solaris 8 10/01 and Solaris 8 2/02 releases provide USB device support.
Sun Ray^TM systems also support USB devices.

See the man page scsa2usb(7D) for further information. See also the USB Administration Guide.

1/01

USB Printer Support

You can use Solaris Print Manager to set up a Universal Serial Bus (USB) printer that is attached to a SPARC system with USB ports. For more information, see "USB Printer Support" in the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement.

For an overview of USB, see "Overview of USB Devices" in the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement.

10/00

Updated 1/01 and 4/01

Reconfiguration Coordination Manager (RCM)

The Reconfiguration Coordination Manager (RCM) is the framework that manages the dynamic removal of system components.

Dynamic reconfiguration of system resources enables you to reconfigure system components while the system is still running. This feature has been available with the cfgadm command since the Solaris 8 1/01 release.

By using the Reconfiguration Coordination Manager, you can register and release system resources in an orderly manner. You can use the new RCM script feature to write your own scripts to shut down your applications, or to cleanly release the devices from your applications during dynamic reconfiguration.

The RCM framework launches a script automatically in response to a reconfiguration request, if the request impacts the resources that are registered by the script. Previously, you had to release resources from applications manually before you could dynamically remove the resource. Or, you could use the cfgadm command with the -f option to force a reconfiguration operation, but this option might leave your applications in an unknown state. Also, the manual release of resources from applications commonly causes errors.

See the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement and the rcmscript(4) man page for further information.

1/01 (SPARC)

Updated 4/01 (IA)

Sun Gigaswift Ethernet Driver

The Solaris 7/01 release adds support for the Sun Gigaswift 1000Base-T Ethernet driver. This product provides enhanced performance of a 1-Gbit, twisted-pair copper Ethernet link.

For further information, see the ce(7D) man page.

7/01

mp Program Enhancement

In the mp program enhancement, the mp(1) command is modified to work as an X Print Server client. With a properly configured X Print Server running in the host machine, Rmp(1) can print output in any Print Description Language that the X Print Server supports. The newly introduced options, -D and -P, can be used for making mp(1) work as an X Print Server client.

For more information, see "Print Filter Enhancement mp(1)" in the Solaris 8 Software Developer Supplement.

4/01

Improved Dynamic Reconfiguration Error Messages

Improved dynamic reconfiguration error messages are intended to help system administrators troubleshoot problems when they remove a system resource, such as a configured swap area or a dedicated dump device.

For more information on dynamic reconfiguration, see "New Dynamic Reconfiguration Error Messages" in the Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement.

1/01