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for Hardware support for SolarisX86

Looks like Sun has recognized that releasing Solaris for the x86 architecture will have a huge market impact. Providing the media and license for $75 will provide some stiff competition for the Linux's and NT's of the world. That said, please enable me to run this sucker on my mid- & high- end Compaq servers. The Sol8 x86 HCL claims no Array-3200 or up controller support. That's got to be one of the big (read: BIG) hardware whoops's of this release. (as an I.T. kind, it'd so quickly enable me to convince the Directors/Managers of the world I work in that this is a viable O/S and DB platform..) Cheers, Scott.

I have Solaris 8 but it does't see my Voodoo 3 video card. The 3dfx web site has linux drives but not Unix or Solaris 8. Could anyone help me get this video card working under Solaris?

What would you want me to say. I am single.

This is one of the later 3com PCMCIA adaptors as shipperd with Dell Latitude laptops

Is possible that there are not drivers for SOLARIS 7 ?????????

Is possible that there are not drivers for SOLARIS 7 ?????????

...in sun's hw compatability list for the 8/99 release of Solaris 7 for intel architecture, there is an entry for an SMC8432T PCI NIC. upon install, the OS recognizes this nic as a DNET NIC & creates the file /etc/hostname.dnet0 instead of a /etc/hostname.smc??? the localhost ( 127.0.0.1 ) & the box's ip both are pingable, but a snoop -v turns up nothing!!! other boxes can't ping it, it can't ping others, the NIC works in the OS on the other partition ( in other words, the HW is fine ). sun has not, as of yet, been able to help me with configuration of this NIC. i would use a compatable ISA NIC, but the "genious" engineers that designed this pc only made room for PCI!!! abrams

If the 2940 is supported, why not the 2920?

Support this chipset!!!! It works on M$ Win, Linux, and BSD...time to get ahead of the game. Not play catch-up. Thanx

Can you please add the driver for this chipset (PCI) ? Thanks.

I've run SOlarisX*6 on a variety of Cyrix processors without any hassles.

I have a Gateway 2000 laptop (Solo 5150)on which I have installed Solaris 2.6. I am after video drivers for the NN2200 that I can install under openwin as I use CDE as my desktop. I dont want to go the xfree86 road as there is a good xserver with the operating system and I have been using CDE for almost 5 years on Sparc and x86 and am reluctant to change. I am also after other drivers to support the laptop, namely for the PCMCIA: Card controller - TI-PCI 1250A

It was distressing to know that EVEN in Sol 7 Sun did not include support for this type of cards. What should i do? Buy another card or choose another OS such as Microsoft Windows? Sun NEVER will have such widespread and ISP's support of their OS as Windows have if they will not think about their users' needs, despite their OS likely much better in core.

That, and true OpenGL support would be nice, too.

I totally agree with the previous posting by Randy Wilson, In addition I feel Sun needs to offer support and tools that will help x86 rival other OS's.

I think Sun's problem is that like Cisco it see's it self as primarily a hardware vendor, no-one buys Cisco or Sun for the tin, what you buy with SUN or CISCO is Solaris or IOS, their stability, backing and support, its about time Sun realised this.

Sun need to provide, good all round support for the major graphics, sound, scsi and network cards, they need to provide full OpenGL(ala sparc) and a decent sound API so that hardware vendors will develop the drivers themselves instead of relying on Sun.

And Sun should sell PS/2 Keyboards, mice and nice looking PC cases, I'd love to have the SUN logo plastered all over my desk rather than Intel inside, does anyone at Sun ever listen???

Bring back the x86 laptops! What more can I say? At least provide some Solx86<->x86Unices driver kludge. Who cares if I lose 25% performance, the useability (and therefore ***SALES***) would make it (Solx86) a much more viable platform.

This board has TV, Video in --Camcorders (S-Video, Composite, and TV)-- VCR - Out to TV. I can only use this in Windows to create, edit, and view my own home movies. I would like to have the strength of the Unix Kernel to feel assured that things are not going to crash in the middle of the editing process or piping out to a VCR tape.

I really like the keyboard idea. Hey sun if you want to sell hardware, sell me a keyboard for my PC of the quality that came with my ULTRA put your logos on it, just give me the quality I expect. Give em away with a copy of Solarisx86, get with the marketing program (plus $25 shipping and handling).

support for creative live sound card ?

support for diamond v550 with riva nvdia chipset ?

Does anyone know where to buy 3COM Etherlink III 3C509 Rev B? It is amazing how difficult it is to get any network card working with x86 Solaris 2.51! Thanks

I have noticed that Sun offers many more keyboards than before, but the most important configuration is still missing. This would be a type 5 UNIX layout with a PS/2 connection. If such a keyboard existed, I would guess that many Solarix X86, Linux and other PC unix users would opt for this keyboard. Just having a big Sun logo on all of these boxes should be enough to get Sun to virtually give these things away, but I'd be willing to pay the $80 that other SUN PS/2 keyboard cost. If for no other reason, Sun should offer this keyboard just to get those stupid M$ logos off of the PC's running Solaris. I wouldn't even care if the plastic was completely covered by every Sun trademark in existance. Note to Sun marketing: Think Free Advertisement Better Yet: Think Advertisements that people would actually purchase

I have noticed that Sun offers many more keyboards than before, but the most important configuration is still missing. This would be a type 5 UNIX layout with a PS/2 connection. If such a keyboard existed, I would guess that many Solarix X86, Linux and other PC unix users would opt for this keyboard. Just having a big Sun logo on all of these boxes should be enough to get Sun to virtually give these things away, but I'd be willing to pay the $80 that other SUN PS/2 keyboard cost. If for no other reason, Sun should offer this keyboard just to get those stupid M$ logos off of the PC's running Solaris. I wouldn't even care if the plastic was completely covered by every Sun trademark in existance. Note to Sun marketing: Think Free Advertisement Better Yet: Think Advertisements that people would actually purchase

Can anybody instruct me how to see Adaptec embedded UW/SCSI host adapter with chipset AIC 7880 on Solaris 2.5.1 x86? I installed DU11 but nothing happend. Solaris 2.6 x86, Linux, MS Windows see this adapter excelent. What settings must I tune? Does anybody use similar adapter with 2.5.1? Thank you in advance.

i desperately need to get this card configured with Solaris 7

"The network is the computer" What about this network card?

I know this is gonna be a shot at the moon, but I'm so used to solaris, I just need to be able to use when I'm home. The only other available driver is the 16color 640x480 which is something i won't resort to using.

Recently did some research on access1.sun.com for a solaris x86 printer. Seems the only compatible printers are the Lexmark laser series. I may be wrong but it seems those are three times the cost of a printer that Red Hat linux supports. One printer cost as much as the pc I bought two years ago. If I have to spend that much I'll just say "Forget it" and switch to Red Hat linux. Somehow I'll have to politely tell Sun "Thanks for nothing!"

Recently did some research on access1.sun.com for a solaris x86 printer. Seems the only compatible printers are the Lexmark laser series. I may be wrong but it seems those are three times the cost of a printer that Red Hat linux supports. One printer cost as much as the pc I bought two years ago. If I have to spend that much I'll just say "Forget it" and switch to Red Hat linux. Somehow I'll have to tell Sun "Thanks for nothing!"

How about some support for what seem to be very common video cards, considering how many postings to newsgroups relate to this issue. Or at least a generic SVGA server that will give more than 16 colours.

How come there is a server for linux and not for Solaris? Lost three months looking for that. Now it seems that the only way to make it work is to buy one of those old-fashioned video boards listed in the HW compatibility list. What's the plan: do I have to open my box and change the video board each time I switch between Win/linux and solaris?

I would like to see ISDN support for Solaris x86 (at least, ip/ppp over isdn) for some popular ISDN Cards. Linux's HISAX driver are an example of HOW-TO-DO. IFF working ISDN-Driver for those siemens-chipset based isdn cards are available, i would have no reason to run linux instead of Solaris! Juergen.

Why can't I use the premium adapter with the premium OS?

So is it a crime to add a piece of software to the wish list? Rational supports Purify under Solaris/SPARC and NT/x86, so why not Solaris/x86? Is Sun paying them not to support Solaris/x86?

Com'on, Sun, JUST DO IT!

****TWO NEW ULTRA2 SCSI DRIVERS FOR SOLARIS 7(INTEL PLATFORM EDITION)TM****

Two new Ultra 2 SCSI drivers for Solaris 7 on Intel are now available.

ADAPTEC
The Ultra2 SCSI driver for ADAPTEC devices supports their Ultra2 host adapters. This driver was developed by Sun with the direct support of Adaptec's CHIM (Common Hardware Interface Module) development group. This driver supports the following hardware:

Adapters:       Adaptec AHA-2940U2W, AHA-2940U2B,
                AHA-2940U2-OEM, AHA-2950U2B, AHA-3950U2B

Chips:          AIC-7896, AIC-7890A, AIC-7890AB.

Sun will begin certification of Adaptec devices soon. Starting later this spring you will be able to see which of these Adaptec devices we have certified by checking the Solaris 7 Intel Hardware Compatibility List at . http://access1.sun.com/drivers/hcl/hcl.html.

To DOWNLOAD a patch containing this driver, go to: http://sunsolve.sun.com/sunsolve/us/pubpatches/patches.html#Solaris_x86_Intel_Drivers-rec. and use your browser's find function to locate the patch (107573-06.zip). Installation instructions are provided in the README file next to the patch download link.

LSI/Symbios
The Ultra2 SCSI driver from LSI (Symbios) supports devices based on the Symbios Dual Channel Ultra2 SCSI 53C896 chip. This driver supports integrated motherboard implementations of the 53C896. LSI/Symbios developed this driver with support from Sun.

For specifications of the products this driver supports, see http://www.symbios.com/semi/scsi1.htm.

Certification of LSI/Symbios devices with systems from Fujitsu, Intel, and others is now underway. Soon you will be able to see which of these devices we have certified by checking the Solaris 7 Intel Hardware Compatibility List at http://access1.sun.com/drivers/hcl/hcl.html

To DOWNLOAD a patch containing this driver, go to: http://www.lsil.com/products/pci_sw.htm. .

So what is the word on this? Will this "patch" be available free? Last week there were a couple questions about this but I didn't see a definative answer. Now I hear the patch is released but not on a public location. What gives? How is this new driver support any different than any other new hardware drivers freely released many times over the past few years?

I've been waiting on this driver for 6 months now, and now that its finally released I can't get it.

Not a lot of development point of view so far so here's a different perspective.

Contrary to a number of the other users, developers and service providers on this list I do not have a need for unlimited hardware support. Any x86 purchases I make or influence are made with solaris x86 in mind, however there are a number of issues any time I try to push this solution.

Hardware ---

not concerned about overwhelming breadth, but in order to convince someone that SolX86 is serious it will have to support the primary players in most hardware areas - scsi, video, media, network/modem and it must support them well on their first release (customers don't like to hear that they need driver patches to make their hardware run as fast as they see it under windows on other machines - perception of speed is easily as important as actual performance)

hardware support also needs to be reasonably up to date - I would set 6 months as a maximum lapse time from the day when new mainstream hardware is available till when the driver is ready

Graphics---

although the mainstream vendors for cards are supported, some of the performance for them (compared to other X servers/drivers) is fairly poor - impressive video performance may not make the sale, but poor performance will definately kill it

OpenGL support ought to march completely in step with the sparc workstations for at least a limited amount of hardware - since this is a key area for the development I do however I'm sure I consider this more important than most of the market

notebooks----

please select a few models and support them and their built in hardware - it doesn't have to be the model released last month but something less than a year old would be a real help - unlike a number of members of this community I don't need sound or dvd/cdrom playback and a wide support of pcmia cards, but I do need a graphics driver that works, a modem driver for the built in modem (if its not soft) OR for a decent card modem AND the assurance that all support for notebooks won't be dropped next month

I and the companies/customers I deal with build software for Unix workstations - the development platform of choice is still Sun (usually sparc), which is then ported to other lines as needed - BUT, if I cannot show early versions of software I cannot sell it to completion - the notebook running the same OS and capable of building the same software with only minimal changes is one of the reasons why solaris is still my first development choice - take that away and Sun loses one more reason why I would buy other sun hardware and tools - inability to build and demo the same source == inability to maintain business == reduced future purchases

In addition, some of the software I've been involved must be used in the field - my customers just don't seem to want to carry workstations with extension cords into combat - if I want that customer I have to build on something that is portable - if Solaris won't do that, then I have to look for other options

I hope the point has been made in this effort that dropping the notebooks sent a clear message to the development community that we are unimportant and we're on our own - software that runs on the big servers has to start somewhere and it usually gets built on a workstation

pricing ---

again, unlike others here, the price of the OS is not a major concern - I would find it easier to push X86 if the core OS license was less - since most people never see the price of the tools they couldn't possibly care how much I paid - my view of a sensible pricing model is, cheap base OS, medium expense for add on software, high expense for development tools. That said - if you can't bring developers in, there won't be a reason for the OS at all - so give the OS and basic tools (possibly crippled versions of the full suite) away every chance you get - especially to schools, individuals and small companies - support the freeware/shareware by helping people find it - a disk would be nice but not critical - eventually they'll need real tools and real support anyhow

BUT, if I pay full price it better do everything the Sparc version does - if that's not feasible, then I need another option - a limited ability suite just to build, profile and debug on X86 and I won't be willing to pay any kind of premium for it

other stuff---

the install has gotten much better - but every install could stand to be improved

driver development - if you build it we will come - a significant release of sample code and a tool set would go a long way to letting us write drivers for the peculiar hardware we use - a full open release would also go a long way to convincing us that Solaris x86 is here to stay

Java support - this shouldn't even have to be mentioned.....

I hope that Sun is as serious about this market as we are - for many of our customers the other options are tempting but we want this option to give them - I do not want to see the day when I have to tell customers they now have two options (and we all know what they're going to be)

A) a completely closed, unfriendly to develop in, poor performance, change any time someone decides they can OS

B) a completely open, what patch do I need today, professional tools?, what's a tool ?, changes with every clock cycle OS

Many of us cut our Unix teeth (at least for workstations) on SunOS/Solaris. If Sun takes us seriously and continues to lead in performance and reliability, we'll do the rest.