[Fwd: NOTE: Solaris 7 gotcha for some ultras]

[Zwieback_Dave () TIMEPLEX COM (Dave Zwieback)]

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Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 12:38:44 -0700 (MST)
From: "Peter L. Wargo" <plw () ncgr org>
Reply-To: "Peter L. Wargo" <plw () ncgr org>
Subject: NOTE: Solaris 7 gotcha for some ultras
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Got a surprise when I finally installed the non-beta version of Solaris 7 on my
Ultra-2 today.  It booted to 32-bit mode instead of 64-bit, claiming my hardware
defaulted to 32-bit mode.

The message at boot time said to see the boot(1m) man page, so I looked, and
there it was at the bottom:

     On systems containing 200MHz or lower  UltraSPARC-1  proces-
     sors,  it  is  possible  for  a user to run a 64-bit program
     designed to exploit a problem that could cause  a  processor
     to  stall.  Since  64-bit  progams  cannot run on the 32-bit
     kernel, the 32-bit kernel is chosen as the default  file  on
     these  systems.

     The code sequence that exploits the problem is very  unusual
     and  is  not likely to be generated by a compiler. Assembler
     code had to be specifically written to demonstrate the prob-
     lem.  It  is  highly  unlikely that a legitimate handwritten
     assembler routine would use this code sequence.

      Users willing to assume the risk that a user might acciden-
     tally  or  deliberately  run  a program that was designed to
     cause a processor to stall may choose to run the 64-bit ker-
     nel    by    modifying   the   boot    policy   file.   Edit
     /platform/platform-name/boot.conf so  that  it  contains  an
     uncommented     line     with     the     variable     named
     ALLOW_64BIT_KERNEL_ON_UltraSPARC_1_CPU set to the value true
     as shown in the example that follows:

     ALLOW_64BIT_KERNEL_ON_UltraSPARC_1_CPU=true

     For more information, see the Sun Hardware Platform Guide.

I changed it, and it works.  Hmmm...

-----------------------------------------------------------
Peter L. Wargo / plw () ncgr org / +1 505 995 4476 (FAX: 4475)
Group Leader, Systems Administration
The National Center for Genome Resources
1800-A Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505 (USA)
http://www.ncgr.org



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