BigAdmin XPerts

1. What is SunPCi technology?
2. Which Sun systems does the SunPCi IIpro coprocessor card support?
3. Which versions of Solaris™ are compatible...
4. Which versions of Microsoft Windows are supported by the SunPCi IIpro card?
5. Where can I get more technical information on using SunPCi technology?
6. Does Sun provide a trial version?
7. How can I use this technology for my company?
8. I am currently using SunPCi 2.2.2...the access times to the local harddrive...
9. Is there a way to configure SunPCi to not use the floppy drive...
10. How can I stop color flashing when I start SunPCI on secondary heads?
11. I'd like to know what the /ms & /ml switches are for.
12. Is there any way to cut & paste between SunPCiII and Solaris?
13. ...auto start/stop the SunPCI from Unix without logging in...
14. ...how can I use that additional 2gigs from the C.diskimage ?

A: SunPCi technology is a hardware/software solution for running Microsoft Windows operating systems and PC applications on a Sun system. Customers can run PC applications at full speed and with complete PC compatibility.

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A: Sun PCI-based workstations and workgroup servers support the SunPCi IIpro coprocessor card, including the following: Sun Ultra™ 5, Sun Ultra 10, Sun Ultra 60, Sun Ultra 80, Sun Blade™ 100, Sun Blade 1000, Sun Enterprise™ 220R, Sun Enterprise 250, Sun Enterprise 420R, Sun Enterprise 450, and Sun Fire™ 280R systems.

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A: The SunPCi IIpro card runs on Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), and Solaris 8 Operating Environments with proper system patches installed.

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A: The SunPCi IIpro card supports the following Microsoft Windows operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Edition including Terminal Server
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server
• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
• Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

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A: Check out the following resources as a good starting point:

1. Supporting Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Applications from Sun Enterprise Servers (PDF)
   
2. Sizing Sun Ray Servers Running Windows Applications Via SunPCi IIpro Coprocessor Cards (PDF)
   
3. Technical documentation for the SunPCi™ IIpro (PDF)
4. SunPCi Article Series

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A: There are free SunPCi drivers download @ http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci/sunpci_download.html

For the hardware, please contact your sales representative.

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A: The SunPCi IIpro coprocessor card enables users to run Microsoft Windows applications on Sun workstations and workgroup servers at native speeds alongside Solaris Operating Environment applications. For further details and benefits, please visit http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci

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A: There are short articles written by SunPCi team that intended to provide "how-to" information for common SunPCi problems/fixes and operation. Please visit http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci/articles.html for the SunPCi Software Performance Tips article.

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A: You can do one of the followings to configure SunPCi not to use the floppy drive a:\

1. Comment out the "A drive=/dev/rdiskette" from the SunPC.ini file.
2. Replace the /etc/vold.conf file with the /etc/vold.conf.beforesunpc (make sure you have a backup copy of the original vold.conf file in case you want the floppy drive back in the future).
   
   Then run the /etc/init.d/volmgt script to stop and to start the volmgt (since you have changed the vold.conf file)
3. Disable the floppy drive from the BIOS menu (to get to the BIOS screen/menu, press del key when SunPCi windows comes up).

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A: First of all, verify that the second monitor has a 24-bit-capable framebuffer.

Run "/usr/openwin/bin/xdpyinfo | grep depths"; if one of the depths is 24, your system is 24-bit capable.
SunPCi needs a 24-bit display to operate without colormap flashing.
If you DO have a 24-bit-capable framebuffer, you can follow these procedures to change to 24-bit mode:

1. Type: (prtconf -F) to determine the default framebuffer.
   Type: (ls -ld /dev/fb*) to see a list of all framebuffers on the system.
   
   
2. Check to see if you have an /etc/dt/config/Xservers file.
   
   
3. Step a: If you have an /etc/dt/config/Xservers file. Go to step 4.
   
   Step b: If you don't have an /etc/dt/config/Xservers file.
   copy /usr/dt/config/Xservers /etc/dt/config/Xservers then Go to step 4.
   NOTE: (the /etc/dt/config directory may not exist, you might have to create it.)
   
   
4. To change the color depth on multiple framebuffers, change the following line of the Xservers file:
   
   :0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner
   to this:
   :0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner -dev /dev/fb0 defdepth 24 -dev /dev/fb1 defdepth 24 -dev /dev/fb2 defdepth 24 etc... .
   
   Note: If there are multiple framebuffers on the system and the default framebuffer is fb1 or fb2 then the -dev parameter would be (-dev /dev/fb1 defdepth 24) or (-dev /dev/fb2 defdepth 24)
   : The change in the Xservers file is on one continuous line
   
   
5. After the modifications have been saved, you will need to reboot the system for the changes to take effect. Xservers is read by dtlogin so you can restart dtlogin to re-read this file, but it is suggested that you reboot the system instead.

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A: the /ml and /ms switch enable mandatory file sharing and locking in the redirector (as opposed to advisory sharing and locking). However, we provide file system drivers for Windows and users should be using it to access the Solaris file systems. To do this, right click on Network Neighborhood, Select "Map Network Drive". Then map drive H (any available drive letter): to \\home\user (wherever $HOME is)if you are running Windows 98 or map to \\localhost\home\user if you are running Windows 2k or Windows NT. The dos redirector is only used for Windows installs.

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A: To copy from SunPCi window:
- Highlight the text and press CTL C to copy from SunPCi window. Then move the cursor to xterm and press the Paste key on the Sun keyboard to paste onto the xterm.

To copy from xterm:
- Highlight the text on xterm and press the Copy key on the Sun keyboard. Then move the cursor to SunPCi window and press CTL V to paste onto the SunPCi window.

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A: Windows NT Server, NT Terminal Server and Windows 2000 Server are supported on SunPCi II pro cards with 2.3 SunPCi II software release. 2.3 SunPCi II software release give you a better server support, such as:

- Virtual console support allowing Windows to be booted and accessed even though an X display isn't attached to the system

- Boot@Boot support allowing SunPCi to be started when the SPARC system is booted, restarts sunpci automatically, and shuts Windows NT/2k/XP and SunPCi down automatically
Please visit The SunPCi Download page for drivers and documentation.

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A: SunPCi II 2.3 software allows you to create emulated drive files as large as 40 Gbytes. However, because of an inherent limitation in DOS file systems, only the first 2 Gbytes are immediately accessible to DOS after you install the Microsoft Windows operating system.

After installing the 4 Gbytes Windows 98se operating system, you can reformat, convert or resize the emulated disk using the third-party software, such as PowerQuest's Partition Magic. For details information, please refer to Troubleshooting section in 2.3 User's Guide.

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