[8457] in bugtraq
[Fwd: NOTE: Solaris 7 gotcha for some ultras]
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dave Zwieback)
Mon Nov 9 13:57:59 1998
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 17:46:19 -0500
Reply-To: Dave Zwieback <Zwieback_Dave@TIMEPLEX.COM>
From: Dave Zwieback <Zwieback_Dave@TIMEPLEX.COM>
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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
To: sun-managers@sunmanagers.ececs.uc.edu
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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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