Very Computer

by **Michal Szymans** » Fri, 16 Feb 2001 03:41:57

Hi,

I'm installing Solaris 8 on a Ultra-2 machine. Right after booting
from CDROM I got a message that 'firmware does not support
64-bit OS' and that I need to upgrade to at least 'OBP 3.11.2
1997/12/05'.

I've searched Sun WWW for 'firmware & upgrade' but it responded with
2415 matches, mostly PDFs, with no practical chance to find
anything appropriate.

Three simple questions:

- does Ultra-2 hardware (CPU etc) really support 64-bit so it is
worth trying to install 64-bit version of OS?
- if 'yes', how can one upgrade the firmware?
- can one install OS first and upgrade firmware afterwards and
still be able to boot 64-bit?

any help will be appreciated,

regards, Michal.

--

Warsaw University Observatory, Warszawa, POLAND

by **Ryn** » Fri, 16 Feb 2001 06:25:25

There is a patch available to upgrade the firmware. YOu should
have been prompted when you rebooted. If you edit boot.conf
and set your system to boot in 64-bit mode you can take full
advantage of the UltraSPARC proc.

Ryan

> Hi,

> I'm installing Solaris 8 on a Ultra-2 machine. Right after booting
> from CDROM I got a message that 'firmware does not support
> 64-bit OS' and that I need to upgrade to at least 'OBP 3.11.2
> 1997/12/05'.

> I've searched Sun WWW for 'firmware & upgrade' but it responded with
> 2415 matches, mostly PDFs, with no practical chance to find
> anything appropriate.

> Three simple questions:

> - does Ultra-2 hardware (CPU etc) really support 64-bit so it is
> worth trying to install 64-bit version of OS?
> - if 'yes', how can one upgrade the firmware?
> - can one install OS first and upgrade firmware afterwards and
> still be able to boot 64-bit?

> any help will be appreciated,

> regards, Michal.

> --

> Warsaw University Observatory, Warszawa, POLAND

by **Casper H.S. Dik - Network Security Engine** » Fri, 16 Feb 2001 06:44:18

[[ PLEASE DON'T SEND ME EMAIL COPIES OF POSTINGS ]]

Search the patch database, it has the firmware patches.

The firmware patch is also included with Solaris 7 & 8.

Quote:>- does Ultra-2 hardware (CPU etc) really support 64-bit so it is
> worth trying to install 64-bit version of OS?

Yes.

Quote:>- if 'yes', how can one upgrade the firmware?

Pull the proper jumper and reboot on a 64 bit OS.

Quote:>- can one install OS first and upgrade firmware afterwards and
> still be able to boot 64-bit?

Yes, provided you select the "64 bit" option. 64 bit is somethning
you isntall on top of 32 bit; it's a separate 64 bit kernel and 64 bit
libraries and binaries , the latter two runtime selected depending on
the kernel you run.

Casper
--
Expressed in this posting are my opinions. They are in no way related
to opinions held by my employer, Sun Microsystems.
Statements on Sun products included here are not gospel and may
be fiction rather than truth.

by **unitren** » Fri, 16 Feb 2001 23:55:13

The procedure can be found in docs.sun.com , I just done on three or my U
2, there are three steps :
First you have to set a jumper , then execute a command ( already in
Solaris 2.8 ) , finally , edit boot.conf and re-boot .
It took less then an hour to finish the job .

Rich

> [[ PLEASE DON'T SEND ME EMAIL COPIES OF POSTINGS ]]

> Search the patch database, it has the firmware patches.

> The firmware patch is also included with Solaris 7 & 8.

> >- does Ultra-2 hardware (CPU etc) really support 64-bit so it is
> > worth trying to install 64-bit version of OS?

> Yes.

> >- if 'yes', how can one upgrade the firmware?

> Pull the proper jumper and reboot on a 64 bit OS.

> >- can one install OS first and upgrade firmware afterwards and
> > still be able to boot 64-bit?

> Yes, provided you select the "64 bit" option. 64 bit is somethning
> you isntall on top of 32 bit; it's a separate 64 bit kernel and 64 bit
> libraries and binaries , the latter two runtime selected depending on
> the kernel you run.

> Casper
> --
> Expressed in this posting are my opinions. They are in no way related
> to opinions held by my employer, Sun Microsystems.
> Statements on Sun products included here are not gospel and may
> be fiction rather than truth.

Very Computer

firmware upgrade on Ultra-2 - how?

firmware upgrade on Ultra-2 - how?

firmware upgrade on Ultra-2 - how?

firmware upgrade on Ultra-2 - how?

firmware upgrade on Ultra-2 - how?