SLES9 = SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 (yes, it is compatible according
to Sun)

Machine: Sun Fire V40z Server w/LSI Logic SCSI Controller and dual
Seagate 146GB hard drives with Solaris 9 loaded on the primary drive.

PROBLEM: SUSE's YAST installer uses 'parted' and it's telling me that
'parted' can't remove or edit the existing Solaris 9 partitions (created
using Solaris' 'fdisk').

First, I deleted the RAID 1 array, which destroys the data on Drive 1.
Drive 0 is left intact. I had to do this to get Solaris 9 on Drive 0,
then I created the RAID array in the SCSI card's configuration and had
it sync the drives.

I'm thinking I should use Solaris 9's 'fdisk' to remove the current
existing partitions, then try to install SLES 9.

I'm just concerned that if SUSE still gives me an error on the drives,
then I will have 2 drives and no usable OS to help any further.

Suggestions?

Thanks!
John

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, John wrote:

> Suggestions?

Stick with Solaris? ;-)

--
Rich Teer, SCNA, SCSA, OpenSolaris CAB member

President,
Rite Online Inc.

Voice: +1 (250) 979-1638
URL: http://www.rite-group.com/rich

In article <44c951a2$0$26356$baae4c71@news.mindlink.net>,
John <sun_powered@cmaaccess.com> wrote:
>I'm thinking I should use Solaris 9's 'fdisk' to remove the current
>existing partitions, then try to install SLES 9.

You can use dd(1) from your SLES media to zero the bits where the
fdisk table resides.

On Solaris,
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/dsk/c1t0d0p0 bs=1

BTW why are you migrating from Solaris 9?
John
groenveld@acm.org

Rich Teer wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, John wrote:
>
>> Suggestions?
>
> Stick with Solaris? ;-)
>

The application is only available for Linux on these x86 servers,
otherwise, I would be using Solaris. ;-) Heck, if you look into it,
Solaris support on the x86 architecture is abysmal. I wouldn't throw
away my Linux at home for OpenSolaris, I'll tell you that.

In case you're wondering why an x86 server was purchased, the Dr. of EE
who purchased it is a former engineer and manager from AMD.
Hardware-wise, this is a very slick "box." I'm very curious to see how
it stacks up against the Sun SPARC servers here. My initial impressions
are: 1)the x86 world has lots of add-on hardware available compared to
Sun SPARC--but all that hardware requires software support--which only
adds to the support issues, and 2)Sun Solaris is very clean and simple
by design (compared to Linux), and the installation defaults have
security and robustness at the forefront. Linux, on the other hand, is
trying to be all things to all people. It's like comparing peaches and
nectarines, close, but not the same thing. ;-)

John D Groenveld wrote:
> In article <44c951a2$0$26356$baae4c71@news.mindlink.net>,
> John <sun_powered@cmaaccess.com> wrote:
>> I'm thinking I should use Solaris 9's 'fdisk' to remove the current
>> existing partitions, then try to install SLES 9.
>
> You can use dd(1) from your SLES media to zero the bits where the
> fdisk table resides.
>
> On Solaris,
> # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/dsk/c1t0d0p0 bs=1
>
> BTW why are you migrating from Solaris 9?
> John
> groenveld@acm.org
>
>

Thanks, John! While you were sending your reply, I answered your
question in a long reply to Rich Teer.

FYI, only migrating this one machine due to what best supports the x86
architecture. All the Sun SPARC machines (servers AND workstations) will
continue running Solaris. :-)

John
sun_powered@cmaaccess.com

In article <44C96A6F.4060107@cmaaccess.com>,
John <sun_powered@cmaaccess.com> wrote:
>The application is only available for Linux on these x86 servers,
>otherwise, I would be using Solaris. ;-) Heck, if you look into it,

What is your application?

John
groenveld@acm.org

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, John wrote:

> The application is only available for Linux on these x86 servers, otherwise, I

I guess that does help. WHat application?

> would be using Solaris. ;-) Heck, if you look into it, Solaris support on the
> x86 architecture is abysmal. I wouldn't throw away my Linux at home for
> OpenSolaris, I'll tell you that.

Have you tried Solaris 10 (or better, Solaris Express)? Solaris 10's support
for x86 is a big improvement over previous releases.

--
Rich Teer, SCNA, SCSA, OpenSolaris CAB member

President,
Rite Online Inc.

Voice: +1 (250) 979-1638
URL: http://www.rite-group.com/rich

John D Groenveld wrote:
> In article <44C96A6F.4060107@cmaaccess.com>,
> John <sun_powered@cmaaccess.com> wrote:
>> The application is only available for Linux on these x86 servers,
>> otherwise, I would be using Solaris. ;-) Heck, if you look into it,
>
> What is your application?
>
> John
> groenveld@acm.org

Cadence - It's an EDA app (Electronic Design Automation); it's used to
design chips and circuits, such as the microprocessors that run our
computers. Think of it as Autocad for Electrical Engineers, only it does
much more than just drawings.

John <sun_powered@cmaaccess.com> writes:

>The application is only available for Linux on these x86 servers,
>otherwise, I would be using Solaris. ;-) Heck, if you look into it,
>Solaris support on the x86 architecture is abysmal. I wouldn't throw
>away my Linux at home for OpenSolaris, I'll tell you that.

You haven't look at Solaris in a while or you wouldn't by using
abysmal...

Casper
--
Expressed in this posting are my opinions. They are in no way related
to opinions held by my employer, Sun Microsystems.
Statements on Sun products included here are not gospel and may
be fiction rather than truth.

John wrote:
> SLES9 = SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 (yes, it is compatible according
> to Sun)
>
> Machine: Sun Fire V40z Server w/LSI Logic SCSI Controller and dual
> Seagate 146GB hard drives with Solaris 9 loaded on the primary drive.
>
> PROBLEM: SUSE's YAST installer uses 'parted' and it's telling me that
> 'parted' can't remove or edit the existing Solaris 9 partitions (created
> using Solaris' 'fdisk').
>
> First, I deleted the RAID 1 array, which destroys the data on Drive 1.
> Drive 0 is left intact. I had to do this to get Solaris 9 on Drive 0,
> then I created the RAID array in the SCSI card's configuration and had
> it sync the drives.
>
> I'm thinking I should use Solaris 9's 'fdisk' to remove the current
> existing partitions, then try to install SLES 9.
>
> I'm just concerned that if SUSE still gives me an error on the drives,
> then I will have 2 drives and no usable OS to help any further.
>
> Suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
> John

I got SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and that solved 2 of my
installation problems: 1)the partitions, and 2)the video card and
Xwindows server. SLES9 was not able to start an Xwindows screen, and
that would have meant additional trial and error time getting that
going, since the Sun dealer wasn't able to tell me the brand or anything
about the video card; and Sun's specs on this box don't mention the
video card anywhere. I had Xwindows running under Solaris 9 by
configuring the video as VESA-compatible @ 65K colors, so I knew it was
possible for Linux to do it, also.

As for the applicatiion, a Red Hat user told me he has successfully used
newer versions of Red Hat than the app vendor lists as compatible, so
I'm betting the newer OSes are simply untested or in-testing now.

This Sun Fire V40z Server is brand new, so it makes sense to use the
latest Linux server OS, which has the most recent hardware support (and
most complete support for these dual-core Opteron processors).

If anyone's interested, let me know and I'll give you feedback how this
entire experience goes.

John