Other Considerations

There are additional items beyond the requirements above that should be taken into consideration before installing D3 Linux 9.0.

OpenDB

If you are using OpenDB and you are upgrading to D3 Linux 9.0, you must also upgrade to OpenDB 3.3.  OpenDB 3.3 is available in versions that allow using 32 bit ODBC drivers or 64 bit ODBC drivers.  Contact your sales representative or customer support for details on obtaining the upgrade to OpenDB 3.3.

Third-Party Products that Use Assembly Code

You must obtain a new copy of any third-party product that uses assembly code (for example, Accuplot, PowerComm, Jet, and so on). Third-party products that use assembly code must be updated if you are coming from a D3 7.3 or earlier release because of the frame size change. All custom code needs to be reassembled. If you have D3 7.4 or higher installed and already reassembled the custom code, there is no need to reassemble the custom code again. However, due to interface changes, it is recommended that 3rd party assembly code be recertified on D3 9.0.

Changing Time

The set-time command changes the D3 time but not the Linux time.

International Character Set

If you have Unicode enabled to use the international character set, you must do one of the following:

NOTE

By default, xcs is set to off.

Disk Partitions

When the hard disk is greater than 8 GB, an older BIOS may not pass on accurate information to the operating system. This may limit the available space of this drive to 8 GB.

When partitioning the hard disk, be advised that D3 uses raw disk partitions to store data.

Set the hard disk up with one or more partitions with no file system created on them, available for D3.

Writing to a Floppy Disk

When writing to a floppy disk (for example, if you are performing an account-save or a t-dump), you must execute either the t-det (detach the tape) or t-rew (rewind the tape) command before removing the floppy disk from the device.

WARNING

The floppy device may not clear the last buffer if one of the two commands is not executed. Consequently, some of the data may not be written to the floppy disk.

Tape Label Sizes

In D3 version 7.1.0, the label size for 8mm tapes was changed from 512 to 80 bytes. Tapes created on earlier releases of AP or D3 can be read using this release by setting the label to 512 bytes.

To read D3 9.0.x tapes on other platforms using an earlier release of AP or D3, the label size must be adjusted to 80 bytes.

Where n is the device number:

chg-device n label=512

chg-device n label=80

SMP Support

SMP support is based on the Linux distribution.

Printing

Since Linux printing is BSD based, lppick must be told explicitly to send to lpr. Any references from existing applications to lp should be substituted with lpr. Any references to lpstat should be substituted with lpq. Neither command takes the same arguments. Refer to the man pages for more details.

Backups

To ensure proper operation of 4mm and 8mm tape devices as well as multireel saves, see the Peripherals section in the D3 Linux System Administration Guide.

BACKSPACE Key on Linux Console

By default, the Linux console maps the value of DELETE to the BACKSPACE key, and the value of BACKSPACE to CTRL+BACKSPACE. D3 expects to see a Backspace in most cases. To correct this on the Linux console, load the supplied keyboard map to swap the definitions of Backspace and CTRL+BACKSPACE:

loadkeys /usr/lib/pick/keymap

Perform this procedure after every Linux boot. To execute this command from user-coldstart, place an ! (exclamation mark) before the command.

BACKSPACE may seemingly fail in other environments such as under X Window System or other terminal emulators. Please refer to their documentation for instructions to redefine a key or send a BACKSPACE.

Default UNIX User

The default UNIX user statement cannot be changed to null in the Display/Modify D3 configuration menu by selecting the option and pressing the Spacebar, then ENTER as indicated in the Installation Guide.

To change the user to null before starting the virtual machine:
  1. Complete the D3 installation options.

  2. Locate the file /usr/lib/pick/vmname.

where vmname is the name of your virtual machine. Our examples in the installation guide use pick0.

  1. Edit the file with an editor of your choice.

  2. Go to the user line and remove it.

Device is Write-Protected

When Linux is installed, the permissions are set to 660 for the 3 1/2" 1.44 floppy device /dev/fd0H1440 and 660 for the /dev/nstN, where N is the number of tape drives. Because the user pick is not a root user, the permissions are not sufficient for D3. As a result, when a D3 process attempts to write to the floppy or tape, a message displays indicating that the drive is write-protected or the system hangs. To write to the device from D3 execute the command:

chmod 666 /dev/fd0H1440

chmod 666 /dev/nstN

Default Compression Routine

Starting with D3 9.0, the default compression routine employs gzip instead of compress. As such, a save on a D3 9.0 system cannot be read on a D3 7.5 system without making changes.