Very Computer

This is a silly question I am sure :(  However, I can't find the answer
anywhere (including the FAQ).  We just got our Solaris workgroup server
media and docs shipped to us and I saw this Solaris 2.5 Hardware 1/96
stamped on the CDs.  What does it mean?  What is "Hardware 1/96"?

We also have several Desktop media/docs sets, they don't have such
a thing stamped on them?  Should I care?  As far as I can tell, these
Desktops run fine on our SSes.  

Any hints?

Chin Fang

This is just a newer release of 2.5.  Normally
it will include some patches to the OS and add/fix support
for new/existing hardware.

--

Engineering Network Services
Auburn University
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~rayh/rayh.html

   If you are not in the lead your view never changes.

"Solaris 2.5" is the operating system version.  Between "Solaris 2.5"
releases with a different "Hardware X/XX", there is only one difference;
device driver support.

The HW 1/96 release differes from HW 11/95 in that it offers support for
the FFB (Ultra 170E).

Quote:>We also have several Desktop media/docs sets, they don't have such
>a thing stamped on them?  Should I care?  As far as I can tell, these
>Desktops run fine on our SSes.  

The docs are not different, AFAIK.  (Though new hardware has its own hardware
specific docs)

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.

|> This is just a newer release of 2.5.  Normally
|> it will include some patches to the OS and add/fix support
|> for new/existing hardware.

Negative! Solaris 2.5 hw 11/95 and Solaris 2.5 hw 1/96 are *identical* on
all Sun SPARC hardware released _PRIOR_ to november 1995.  No patches are
"rolled into" hardware_only releases.

For example:

        SPARCstation 10 model 51 and Solaris 2.5 hw 11/95 w/no patches

                *** IS BIT FOR BIT IDENTICAL TO ***

        SPARCstation 10 model 51 and Solaris 2.5 hw 1/96 w/no patches

I only know of one exception to this:

        Solaris 2.4 hw 11/94 and Solaris 2.4 hw 3/95 on systems with
        Sun's SPARCstorage arrays.  On the "hw 3/95" CDROM they included
        new device drivers for the SSA where as with the "hw 11/94" CD you
        had to use device drivers from the SSA v 1.3(?) CDROM.  As many
        people are painfully aware, this caused alot of confusion.

IMHO this model is a nice one.  All I need to know is which OS release
I have (ie. 2.3, 2.4 or 2.5) and which patches have been applied, and
I know exactly whats on a given system.  The "hardware" revision is
only used to update the OS for NEW hardware.

rh

|> >
|> > This is a silly question I am sure :(  However, I can't find the answer
|> > anywhere (including the FAQ).  We just got our Solaris workgroup server
|> > media and docs shipped to us and I saw this Solaris 2.5 Hardware 1/96
|> > stamped on the CDs.  What does it mean?  What is "Hardware 1/96"?
|> >
|> > We also have several Desktop media/docs sets, they don't have such
|> > a thing stamped on them?  Should I care?  As far as I can tell, these
|> > Desktops run fine on our SSes.
|> >
|> > Any hints?
|> >
|> > Chin Fang

|>
|> --

|> Engineering Network Services
|> Auburn University
|> http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~rayh/rayh.html
|>
|>    If you are not in the lead your view never changes.

Quote:>"Solaris 2.5" is the operating system version.  Between "Solaris 2.5"
>releases with a different "Hardware X/XX", there is only one difference;
>device driver support.

Is this naming convention true for all versions of the OS?  The reason
I ask is that we recently purchased as Sun FastEthernet Adapter, and
for Solaris 2.3 (which we are forced to run on this one workstation due to
application software constraints) the device drivers are only present on
hardware release 5/94 or 8/94.  The person I spoke with at (800) USA-4SUN
said that I *wouldn't* be able to simply pkgadd the drivers from the
subsequent hardware release to our base 2.3 system, but instead would have to
go through the entire upgrade process.

Reading what Casper has written above implies that adding the drivers should
work, since the base OS is exactly the same (at least for 2.5).  Does anyone
know if the 2.3 hardware releases only differ from the original 2.3 by
additional device driver support?

--
Mark Day

University of California, San Francisco
(415) 476-1068