Additional Boot, Platform, and Hardware Changes

Language:

Note the following boot, platform, and hardware feature changes:

x86 platform support is 64–bit only – Support for booting a 32–bit kernel on x86 platforms has been removed. Systems that have 32-bit hardware must either be upgraded to 64–bit hardware or continue to run Oracle Solaris 10.

Note - 32–bit applications are not impacted by this change.
Bitmapped console support – Support for high resolution and color depth consoles has been added to Oracle Solaris. By default, your machine will boot with a 1024x768x16-bit console, unless your video card does not support this setting. In which case, the setting will fall back to 800x600, then finally to 640x480. You can control the console type (and also the older VGA TEXT 640x480 console) through both kernel parameters and through options that you specify by editing the GRUB menu at boot time as follows:
```
-B console={text|graphics|force-text}
```
See Redirecting the Oracle Solaris Console at Boot Time in Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.2 Systems .
Fast Reboot support on x86 and SPARC platforms – On x86 platforms, a fast reboot implements an in-kernel boot loader that loads the kernel into memory and then switches to that kernel. For SPARC based systems that support the Fast Reboot feature, the boot process is accelerated by skipping certain POST tests.

The Fast Reboot feature works differently on SPARC platforms than it does on x86 platforms. To initiate a fast reboot of a SPARC based system, use the –f option with the reboot command. Because Fast Reboot is the default behavior on x86 platforms, the –f option is not required. Use either the reboot command or the init 6 command to initiate a fast reboot of an x86 based system. The Fast Reboot feature is managed through SMF properties that you can enable or disable as needed. See Accelerating the Reboot Process in Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.2 Systems .
Removal of support for the SPARC sun4u architecture – With the exception of the M-series (OPL) hardware, you cannot boot Oracle Solaris 11 on the sun4u architecture. If you attempt to boot Oracle Solaris 11 on one of these systems, the following error message is displayed:
```
Rebooting with command: boot
Error: 'cpu:SUNW,UltraSPARC-IV+' is not supported by this release of Solaris.
NOTICE: f_client_exit: Program terminated!
```