On this page:

• Caveats to Read Before You Upgrade
  • All-Platform
  • Platform-Specific
    
    
• Caveats to Read After You Upgrade

Caveats to Read Before You Upgrade

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.

All-Platform Caveats to Read Before You Upgrade

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 6.5.14. DFS Domestic version 1.2.2c is available and is compatible with IRIX 6.5.14. 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 4.78 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 6.5.13. The Inventor overlay 2.1.6 is available from the /CDROM/dist directory of IRIX 6.5.14 Overlays CD (3 of 3), August 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.

Cumulative for 6.5 through 6.5.13, and still applicable for 6.5.14:

• Installation of ftn_eoe.sw.lib from the MIPSpro 7.3 product

  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 the install 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 the keep 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 with install 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

• Configuration files

  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 command admin config changed to find out which system configuration files were modified since installation. You can find out more about this command by entering help 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

• XVM root filesystem

  If you are running the 6.5.13f release leg of the IRIX operating system and are installing or upgrading to a mirrored XVM root filesystem from under the miniroot, you will need to detach all mirror legs except for the one on the boot device before running the install command. Failure to do so could result in filesystem damage. The detached legs can then be re-attached once the install is complete and the system is booted

• CXFS and IRIX FailSafe coexecution configuration
  As of IRIX 6.5.12f, a cluster can be configured with a maximum of 16 nodes. All the nodes in the cluster are CXFS nodes. As many as 8 nodes can also run IRIS FailSafe (coexecution).
  
• The Fortran BLAS libraries packaged under ftn_eoe.sw.libblas (ftn_eoe.sw64.libblas on IRIX64 systems) are marked for default installation
  As a result of this packaging, you may receive the following conflict during installation if you did not already install these libraries:
  
  Overlay product ftn_eoe.sw.libblas (1276765510) cannot be installed because of missing prerequisites: base product ftn_eoe.sw.libblas (1274567300):

  1a. Do not install ftn_eoe.sw.libblas (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.
  

• System processor compatibility with XVM
  XVM installed with CXFS is currently qualified on IP27 systems (Origin 200, Origin 2000, and Onyx2), IP30 systems (Octane) and the SGI Origin 3000 server series.
  
• XVM and the CXFS filesystem
  The XVM Volume Manager can be used when layered with the CXFS filesystem. The XVM Volume Manager can also be used as a standalone volume manager; this requires that you be running the 6.5.13f release leg of the IRIX operating system. The 6.5.13m leg does not support XVM as a standalone volume manager; this support will be added in a later release. For information on CXFS filesystems, see CXFS Software Installation and Administration Guide.
  
• Use the XVM give and steal commands with extreme caution
  XVM runs in either the local domain or in the cluster domain, and XVM disks are classified according to whether they are owned by the local domain, an active cluster domain, or a foreign domain. The XVM give and steal commands let the administrator change the ownership of a list of XVM disks. Here are some guidelines to follow when using the give and steal commands:
  • If you are changing the domain ownership of XVM disks, you should use the give command instead of the steal command. The steal command is intended to be used only as a last resort when the give command cannot be used.
  • In general, an XVM probe command should be run after the give command. If the XVM disk was given to a local host, the probe command is run on the new owner host. If the XVM disk was given to a new cluster, the probe command is run on any host that is a member of that cluster.
  • The give and steal commands should never be used so that a multidisk volume configuration is split between domains. The user must ensure that the list of disks that will move from one domain to another is complete; that is, all volume configurations are fully contained on this set of disks. The XVM show command can be used to examine the top-down configuration for all volumes in the system, including the full set of disks that contain parts of these volumes.
    
• The NUMA migration call migr_range_migrate() was not reporting a migration failure
  The NUMA migration call migr_range_migrate() was not reporting a migration failure when the migration target was either a nonexistent node or an uninitialized policy module of an SGI Origin system. Beginning with the IRIX 6.5.9 release, this error condition is now reported back to the user application as EINVAL. For more information, see the migration(5) man page. This caveat will affect the MediaBase application and it will be fixed in a subsequent release.
  
• The fibre channel storage area network (SAN) port names may change
  There has been a change in the way the final component of a fabric target's path will be generated. Some paths that include a 16-digit port name in the final component may have that port name shortened to a single digit port number. If you use fibre channel switches to form SANs, this change will affect you. This name change will require you to update the configuration files that contain the paths to fibre channel fabric devices, including the following files:
  • /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
  

• Miser unable to schedule jobs during the transition from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time
  If the requested time of a submitted Miser job is such that the job, when scheduled, will be executed during the transition time period from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard time, Miser will not schedule the job until after the transition occurs.
  
• Installing CXFS and XVM products available in the IRIX 6.5.11 release
  If you install the CXFS and XVM products that are available in the IRIX 6.5.11 release, it is highly recommended that you check the "Caveat and Release Note Updates" link at http://support.sgi.com/6.5/caveat_updates.html for information on the latest CXFS and XVM patches, CXFS and XVM feature descriptions, and any late-breaking caveats.
  
• The miser_qinfo command only reports the first 250 scheduled jobs
  This limitation is due to the Miser buffer limit and will be fixed in a subsequent release.
  
• The miser_qinfo command rounds up the amount of reported available system memory
  The amount of reported system memory available may be inaccurate by 0.5 gigabytes (GB) when Miser is configured with more than 1 gigabyte (GB) of memory.
  
• Repacking stops scheduled Miser jobs if daemon is restarted
  If scheduled Miser jobs are in a Miser queue that has a repack scheduling policy, after Miser has been stopped and restarted, the repacking stops for the existing jobs.
  
• Submitting a large number of jobs to a Miser queue
  If you submit a large number of jobs to a Miser queue, it may result in some of these jobs being hung and failing to terminate.
  
• Coexecution of CXFS and IRIS FailSafe
  CXFS 6.5.12f can install and run CXFS with IRIS FailSafe 2.1 or later, with applicable licensing. This is known as coexecution. However, CXFS cannot reside on the same system with earlier versions of IRIS FailSafe. (If you first install an earlier version of IRIS FailSafe, you must deinstall it before you can install CXFS, and vice versa).
  
  XVM is currently provided at no additional charge with this release. With future releases, XVM will be repackaged, licensed, and supported as an additional software product for use with the IRIX operating system. For more information on how to obtain a license, contact your SGI service provider.
  
  
• Xservers file changes
  Starting with 6.5, the file /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.
  
  Also, the Xsgi command line argument shmnumclients is no longer supported, and will prevent the X server from coming up if it's specified in the Xserver file. If you added the shmnumclients flag to the Xservers file, remove the shmnumclients flag before upgrading to 6.5 or later.
  
  
• "Filesystem too large for device" error message
  If you have repartitioned your disk drive with fx but did not create a filesystem with mkfs, you may see a message like this (under certain rare conditions) when booting the miniroot:
  
  "Mounting file systems:
  mount: /dev/dsk/dks0d1s0 on /root: Filesystem too large for device.
  mount: giving up on: /root
  Unable to mount partition: /dev/dsk/dks0d1s0 on /root.
  This is your system disk: without it we have nothing on which to install software.
  Please manually correct your configuration and try again.
  Press Enter to invoke C Shell csh:"

  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):