Tips & techniques for Users of Sunsoft Solaris

August 1995

Installing Solaris x86 driver updates

When purchasing a computer,you don't always know exactly what you're getting. You know which processor you want, but because many computer companies offer package deals, the peripheral equipment can vary. This uncertainty can lead to a variety of problems when you install Solaris x86 on a new computer.

The most common problem you'll find when buying a new computer is incompatible equipment. Incompatible video equipment, SCSI controllers, and other peripherals can become major roadblocks for your installation procedure. Fortunately, if you know where to look, you can acquire the drivers for your equipment you need to update your Solaris x86 system. In this article, we'll show you how to get the driver updates using FTP and HTTP. We'll also show you the procedure for installing the driver updates to get your Solaris x86 system working with your equipment.

Getting started

When you purchase a new computer, one of the first things you should do when you unpack it is gather the paperwork and manuals and list your equipment. The list should include the make and model numbers for your system CPU and the video card, network card, hard drive, SCSI controller, sound card, and any other peripherals you think will require some configuration. Once you have the list, you can install Solaris x86.

During the installation procedure, you'll answer several questions regarding your computer configuration. As you answer each one, Solaris will install the driver for each peripheral you select in the procedure. If during your video configuration, you discover you have a video card that isn't listed among those available, you'll probably need to get the driver updates in order for your video to function properly.

Getting the driver updates

Once you've determined which driver updates you'll need for your Solaris x86 system, you can use one of three methods to obtain them. If you don't have an Internet connection, the easiest way for you to do so is to call SunSoft and request them. However, if you have an Internet connection for your Solaris system, you can download the driver updates using anonymous FTP or a World-Wide Web browser. We'll show you how to use both of these methods to acquire the driver updates. Let's first look at anonymous FTP.

Sun allows access to driver updates via anonymous FTP on several of its servers around the world. In addition to these FTP servers, SunSoft has mirrors or backup FTP servers that make these files even easier to acquire. One of the largest FTP sites that Sun sponsors is located at the University of North Carolina. The anonymous FTP address for this server, known as a SunSite, is

sunsite.unc.edu

Using the Command tool in OpenWindows, connect to the SunSite archive by entering the following command at a command prompt:

ftp sunsite.unc.edu

Once you connect, enter your username as anonymous and follow the directions for your password, as shown in Figure A.

After you've logged onto the FTP server, change directories to the location of the driver updates. On this server, the driver updates for Solaris x86 are located in the directory

/pub/sun-info/solaris-x86/sunsoft- drivers/2.4/DU6

Before downloading the driver update files, you'll need to set FTP to binary mode using the bin command. In Figure B, you can see the FTP commands necessary to download the files.

You'll see several files listed in the driver update directory. The file du6tar.3.Z contains the complete driver update disks in 3.5-inch format. We'll show you how to create the disks later in this article. Using the FTP command get, as shown in Figure B, download the driver update file you need for your system. Once you've completed your download, you can close your FTP connection and proceed with installing the updates.

If you have access to a World-Wide Web browser, you can download the drivers from the same FTP server. Launch your Web browser and open the location

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/sun-info/solaris-x86/sunsoft-drivers/2.4/DU6

Once you're connected, you'll see a screen like the one in Figure C. To download the driver update you want, double-click the appropriate icon. Save the file, and you'll be ready to create the update disks.

Creating the driver update disks

When you have the driver update file, you'll need to create the update disks in order to install the drivers. In our example, we downloaded the file du6tar.3.Z. This file has been compressed using the compress command. To uncompress the file, use the uncompress command

uncompress du6tar.3.Z

This will uncompress the file to the filename du6tar.3. When you reach this point, you can extract the disk images from the file using the tar command

#tar xvf du6tar.3

x dsk_boot.3 1474560 bytes, 2880 tape blocks

x net_boot.3 1474560 bytes, 2880 tape blocks

x du_distribution 1474560 bytes, 2880 tape blocks

This will extract the three listed disk-image files and place them into your working directory.

Now that you've extracted the disk- image files, you're ready to create the update driver disks. To do so, copy the disk images to a diskette using the dd command. You'll need three blank diskettes for the image files contained in the du6tar.3.Z update file. For each image file, place a blank diskette in your floppy drive and enter the command

dd if=filename of=/dev/rdiskette bs=1024k

This command will create the disk needed to install the driver updates for each disk-image file. If you use Volume Manager (vold) on your Solaris x86 system, use the commands

# volcheck

# dd if=filename of=/vol/dev/aliase/floppy0 bs=1024k

# eject floppy0

for each disk-image file. Be sure to label each diskette with the disk-image filename so that you won't confuse them later. Once you've created the diskettes, you'll be ready to install the driver updates.

Installing the driver updates

In most cases, you probably won't know you need any driver updates until you've already installed your Solaris x86 operating system. Fortunately, you don't have to completely reinstall Solaris x86 to install your new device drivers. However, you'll need to install a kernel patch on your Solaris x86 system for the new drivers to work properly with your applications.

To install the driver updates on an existing Solaris x86 system, log into your system as the superuser root. Make sure that you're in the root directory and then enter the commands

# mkdir /tmp/Drivers

# cd /tmp/Drivers

to create a directory for the driver installation files. Now you're ready to extract the files from the diskettes.

Insert the distribution diskette that you created from the du_distribution.3 image file. At the command prompt, enter the command

# cpio -iduBI /dev/diskette0

# ./installdu.sh

This will extract the driver update files and execute the script file installdu.sh.

Follow the installation script's directions. When the driver updates finish installing, you'll be directed to reboot your system.

If you use Volume Manager, the commands for extracting the driver diskettes are a little different. Use the command

# ps -e |grep vold

to determine whether Volume Manager is in use. If you find vold running on your system, you can insert the distribution diskette and enter the commands

# volcheck

# cpio -iduBI /vol/dev/aliases/floppy0

# ./installdu.sh

To begin installing the driver disks, follow the script file's directions and reboot the system when the installation completes. Be sure to remove the diskette from the floppy drive when the system reboots.

Conclusion

When you purchase the latest and greatest hardware, you face the possibility that your operating system might not support it. Installing device drivers for new computer equipment is a chore that all system administrators can relate to. In this article, we've shown you how to acquire and install the device driver updates for Solaris x86.

You can download the driver update files with a World-Wide Web browser.

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