On this page:
These caveats make you aware of changes or potential problems that could significantly affect your installation.
Different caveats will be relevant for different types of users; scan the list for information that is applicable for you.
This is not a complete list of all known bugs, workarounds, or changes, which are documented in the release notes for each individual product. In addition to reviewing this list, you may want to check "Caveat and Release Note Updates" link at http://support.sgi.com/6.5/caveat_updates.html for any late-breaking information.
Confirm that the applications you rely on are supported
(This is also Step 3 of the Preparation Checklist.)
Note: An application supported on any release in the IRIX 6.5 family will run on all subsequent IRIX 6.5 family releases. Additionally, the application will be compatible with all prior releases of the IRIX 6.5 family, as long as the application does not utilize a new feature from a later 6.5.x release.
Here are some examples (not a complete list) of applications that either need to be upgraded or are not yet supported:
- DFS Domestic: DFS Domestic version 1.2.2a (1275426100) is incompatible with IRIX 6.5.12. DFS Domestic version 1.2.2c is available and is compatible with IRIX 6.5.12. DFS Domestic users must remove DFS Domestic version 1.2.2a before they upgrade and install DFS Domestic version 1.2.2c after they upgrade.
- Netscape Communicator or Navigator: By default, version 4.76 will install the new N32 version of the browser. Any existing third-party plugins for the browser that are O32 will no longer function. If you require existing O32 plugins, you can install an O32 version of the browser from netscape.sw.o32_client and netscape.o32_plugin.*. Macromedia is planning to release an N32 version of the Flash plugin in the near future. Real.com has released an N32 version of their plugin. Check the third-party web sites for updates on the status of their plugins.
- REACT/Pro: Version 3.2 is incompatible with IRIX 6.5.2 or later releases. REACT/Pro users need to upgrade to version 4.1 to run frame scheduler applications on IRIX 6.5.2 or later.
- HIPPI: Version 3.2 or later is needed to run on IRIX 6.5.x releases.To find out how to upgrade, see www.sgi.com/software (under Software Categories, click Networking, then click HIPPI 3.3.1).
- iFOR/LS: Contact the Isogon Corporation at http://www.isogon.com for the latest release of LicensePower/iFOR (formerly known as iFOR/LS) that runs on IRIX 6.5.
- Inventor: Version 2.1.6 or later is needed to run on IRIX 6.5.12. The Inventor overlay 2.1.6 is available from the /CDROM/dist directory of IRIX 6.5.12 Overlays CD (3 of 3), May 2001. This overlay requires that the base Inventor 2.1.4 image be installed already, or with the overlay during the same install session. The Inventor overlay 2.1.6 can be installed on IRIX 6.5.5 and later.
If you have Inventor 2.1.5 installed through some other mechanism, you will get a conflict when you attempt to install this release. If you get this conflict, you can resolve it by using the following set of commands. You will need your Inventor 2.1.4 installation CDROM or a network distribution for it as part of the process. From within your installation session, enter the following commands:
open <Inventor 2.1.6+ from /CDROM/dist/inventor_657+>
open <Inventor 2.1.4 from the base IRIX 6.5 CD>
install inventor_eoe
set neweroverride on
Ensure that you have not selected any other downgrades before proceeding or an incorrect installation may occur. You can check for other downgrades by using the following command:
list i D
If any subsystems other than inventor_eoe
are listed, you must deselect them before you continue.
- Intranet Junction: Version 1.0.2 or later is needed to run on IRIX 6.5.x releases.
- ClearCase: See the RATIONAL Software site for information on purchasing a version of ClearCase that runs on IRIX 6.5.
- Sybase: Contact Sybase, Inc. for information on purchasing a version of Sybase that runs on IRIX 6.5.
If you have edited configuration files, check for changed versions at end of installation
Ideally, configuration file differences should be merged prior to restarting the system at the end of an installation. Before restarting the system at the end of your installation, use the Inst commandadmin config
changed
to find out which system configuration files were modified since installation. You can find out more about this command by enteringhelp config
at the Inst prompt. To avoid compatibility problems, merge configuration files if new versions were created. The "Updating Configuration Files" section of the versions(1M) man page describes configuration file updating, as does the online IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing guide.
One example of a file that may need to be merged is the/etc/group
file. If you have edited your/etc/group
file, see the Default group file now reinstalled caveat under Caveats to Read After Upgrading.
Users who have installed ftn_eoe.sw.lib from the MIPSpro 7.3 product before installing the IRIX 6.5.x images may see a downgrade conflict with distribution subsystem ftn_eoe.sw.libeag when they install with theinstall maint
command if they also have the original 6.5 Foundation-1 CD open when they do the installation.
If this downgrade conflict occurs, you must specify thekeep ftn_eoe.sw.libeag
command. The conflict occurs because ftn_eoe.sw.libeag was replaced by the 7.3 ftn_eoe.sw.lib, and the install program logic withinstall maint
now automatically selects downgrades.
Customers who have the MIPSpro 7.3 compilers installed or who will install MIPSpro 7.3 on R4000 or R4400 platforms running IRIX 6.5.5 should install the new 7.3.1m runtime libraries that are available from Supportfolio at http://support.sgi.com.
Customers enrolled under a valid support contract who do not have web access can obtain these libraries on CD media free of charge upon request from their local support organization.
1a. Do not install ftn_eoe.sw.libbals (1276765510)
1b. Also install base product
ftn_eoe.sw.libblas (1274567300) from an additional distribution --
insert another CD or specify another software distribution
You can resolve this conflict by either not
installing libblas or by installing the base product from the IRIX 6.5
Foundation 1 CD.
/etc/fstab
/etc/failover.conf
You are not impacted by this change if the paths to your SAN targets are similar to the following:
/dev/dsk/5006094670006f7d/lun0s7/c4p1
You may be impacted by this change
if the paths to your SAN targets are similar to the following:
/dev/dsk/5006094670006f7d/lun0s7/c4p5006094670006f7d
The path name to the target might be
shortened as follows:
/dev/dsk/5006094670006f7d/lun0s7/c4p1
/var/X11/xdm/Xservers
is no longer automatically replaced when installing new
versions of x_eoe.sw.eoe. Instead, the new version is installed as Xservers.N
.
This allows most users to preserve changes that they have made to their Xservers
file without having to merge them back in with each new software
upgrade. fx
but did not create a filesystem with mkfs
,
you may see a message like this (under certain rare conditions) when
booting the miniroot:
This generally indicates that you need to
run /sbin/mkfs
on the named disk partition.
Inside the miniroot, a convenience script (mrmkfsrc
)
is provided to run mkfs
.
For example, for the above failure, you
could press Enter
and do the following (only if the
disk is free of important data, because this procedure will remove all
the data on the disk):
csh
and have the miniroot
script try to remount root.) When you transition from MediaMail to Netscape mail:
.forward
file. If you have one that
contains a line that mentions /usr/lib/Zmail/bin/reassembler
,
remove or rename the .forward
file immediately
before or after the IRIX installation, in order to prevent
problems with mail delivery to your account. On multi-user systems,
each user should check for this file within their own home directory.
Note:
If you still require MediaMail, please contact NetManage, Inc. for
product and sales information: http://www.netmanage.com.
(Note that NetManage's Z-Mail for UNIX product is the same as
MediaMail.) Please be aware that MediaMail is no longer officially
supported on IRIX.
appletalk
installs files into /usr/adm
. mkfs
, or install the current XFS patches on the pre-6.5
system."/proc/pinfo/: no such file or directory"
If you have an Indigo R4000, Indigo2, Octane, O2, Origin 2000, or Origin 3000 please check the relevant caveats below
before you begin your installation.
Indigo R4000 and Indigo2 R4000 Systems |
If the system you are
upgrading has a separate filesystem for To check, use the command "df -k /" If the df -k / output looks similar to
the disk will need to be backed up, and repartitioned with the fx command before IRIX can be installed.
To do this, refer to the online book
IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing, Troubleshooting
section, Using fx to Restore the Swap Partition,
for how to do this with the "fx/repartition/rootdrive: type of data partition = (xfs)" Next, when you see "Warning: you will need to re-install all software and restore user data from backups after changing the partition layout. Changing partitions will cause all data on the drive to be lost. Be sure you have the drive backed up if it contains any user data. Continue?" press Enter. The kbytes number should be at least 25600 in order to install IRIX, and it is recommended that it be at least 40MB, particularly on systems that support running 64 bit address executables (systems whereuname -s returns
IRIX64, on systems running IRIX 6.2 and later). |
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The EISA Token Ring driver is not
supported. |
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Octane Systems |
|
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O2 Systems |
You can compare the before and after results of
|
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Origin 2000 Systems |
|
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If the system you are upgrading
is partitioned, the /var/sysgen/system/irix.sm file must be edited
again after the installation has completed. Merge the changes that you
previously made to this file back into the new version of the file to
reenable system partitioning support. |
These caveats make you aware of changes or potential problems that could significantly affect your experience after your upgrade.
Different caveats will be relevant for different types of users; scan the list for information that is applicable for you.
This is not a complete list of all known bugs, workarounds, or changes, which are documented in the release notes for each individual product. In addition to reviewing this list, you may want to check "Caveat and Release Note Updates" at http://support.sgi.com/6.5/caveat_updates.html for any late-breaking information.
If you use the Web Setup product, you must turn off the Netscape FastTrack version to run the SGI version, by entering the following commands before you reboot your system:
# chkconfig webface off
# chkconfig webface_apache on
The SGI web server includes software that
was developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org).
This release contains no administrative GUI for the SGI web server; this will be included with a future IRIX release. For information on how to configure and administer the Apache web server, see httpd://httpd.apache.org/docs/. For a list of frequently asked questions, see httpd://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html.
live_install
" preference to "on
"
before typing go/pressing start. /etc/group
,
is reinstalled. The original group file is saved as group.O, which
appears only if you have previously edited /etc/group
.
This update is necessary because some optional packages, such as
nss_fasttrack, require the group "nobody"
to
be present during the installation process. nobody
."admin config change
and the post-installation command versions changed will
both report any changed configuration files, including the /etc/group
file. As mentioned in the Caveats to Read
Before You Upgrade, this should ideally be done before at the
end of the installation process, but before you restart the system. /etc/config/ypbind.options
file. If your
system is configured this way, create the file
/var/yp/binding/<
DOMAIN>/ypservers
where <DOMAIN> is the NIS
domain name. Type the NIS server on a new line in this file.
There were several other NIS-related
changes in 6.5 that affect
customers who upgrade from a pre-6.5 release of the IRIX operating
system. For example, the IRIX name services have been completely
rewritten. Please refer to the IRIX eoe release notes (chapter 3,
Changes and Additions) for details.
The following caveats are for large (64+ processors) Origin 2000 systems.
rtmond
, produces a data stream that
overloads the clients. As a result, clients that feed par, like padc,
will discard events. If the process exited event is
discarded by these clients, par hangs. When this happens, you see
messages like the following in /var/adm/SYSLOG
:
"rtmond[669]: (CPU 0) Client <local>:11:64505 events 1718 dropped (2%) 289 writes(0% push)for 4720560 bytes, 5 push buffers for 80 KB"
As shown in this example, you can tell that par has hung because the message tells you that the dropped count is other than 0.