Solaris 8 (SPARC Platform Edition) 7/01 Release Notes

Chapter 2 Solaris Runtime Issues

This chapter describes known runtime problems.

The following runtime bug descriptions have been added to this chapter since this document was published on the Solaris 8 7/01 Documentation CD and in the Installation Kiosk on the Solaris 8 7/01 Installation CD.

Note –

The name of this product is Solaris 8 7/01, but code and path or package path names may use Solaris 2.8 or SunOS 5.8. Always follow the code or path as it is written.

Security Bugs

NIS Domain Master Server Potential Security Issue (4456994)

If you are running the Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7, or Solaris 8 operating environments a local or remote attacker might gain root access to the NIS domain master server. There may be no symptoms that the server has been exploited to gain unauthorized access.

Workaround: Apply one of the following patches to fix the potential security issue.

Smart Card Bugs

Screen Does Not Lock When Smart Card Is Removed (4463360)

If a user initiates a log out and removes their smart card, but then clicks the Cancel button in the log out confirmation dialog, the screen will not lock when the smart card is removed.

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds.

Smart Card User Cannot Login (4449515)

If you change the smart card authentication defaults and the PIN authentication mechanism is not included, access to the smart card is denied. Subsequent authentication mechanisms are inaccessible and the smart card user cannot login.

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds.

System Does Not Respond to Smart Card (4415094)

If ocfserv terminates and the display is locked, the system remains locked even when a smart card is inserted or removed.

Workaround: Perform the following steps to unlock your system.

  1. rlogin to the machine on which the ocfserv process terminated.

  2. Kill the dtsession process by typing the following in a terminal window.

    % pkill dtsession

ocfserv will restart and smart card login and functionality will be restored.

Edit Config File Menu Item in Smart Cards Management Console Does Not Work(4447632)

The Edit Config File menu item in the Smart Cards Management Console does not edit smart card configuration files located in /etc/smartcard/opencard.properties. If the menu item is selected a warning is displayed that indicates not to continue unless requested by technical support.

Workaround: Do not use the Edit Config File menu item in Smart Cards Management Console. For information on smart card configuration, see Solaris Smart Cards Administration Guide.

Common Desktop Environment (CDE) Issues

Compiling Motif Programs on the Solaris 8 Operating Environment

A problem occurs when compiling a Motif program in the Solaris 8 operating environment when you link to a shared library that has been compiled in the Solaris 2.4, 2.5, 2.5.1 or 2.6 operating environments and the older library also uses the Motif Application Programming Interface (API).

The Motif program uses Motif version 2.1 and the old shared library uses Motif version 1.2. A core dump occurs. This is not a binary compatibility problem for applications compiled in the Solaris 2.4, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.6 operating environments, which should run correctly in the Solaris 8 operating environment.

Workaround: If you have an older shared library that links directly to the Motif library, and if you want to compile a program in the Solaris 8 operating environment that links to both Motif and that older shared library, use a line like this to compile:

cc foo.c -o program -DMOTIF12_HEADERS -I/usr/openwin/include \
 -I/usr/dt/include -lXm12 -lXt -lX11

where program is the name of the program you are compiling.

Common Desktop Environment Bugs

OpenWindows File Manager Fails to Mount Diskette (4329368)

If you insert a diskette into its drive on a system with SCSI removable media devices and then select Check for Floppy from the File menu in OpenWindowsTM File Manager, File Manager mounts the diskette in the /floppy directory, but fails to display a File Manager view listing the disk contents. The Format Floppy and Eject Floppy options do not appear in the File menu of File Manager.

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds.

To prevent this problem, apply patch 109463-01.

PDASync Cannot Delete Last Entry From the Desktop (4260435)

After deleting the last item from the desktop (for example, the last appointment in your Calendar or the last address in the Address Manager), it is restored from the handheld device to the desktop when you synchronize your handheld device.

Workaround: Manually delete the last entry from the handheld device prior to synchronization.

PDASync Does Not Support Data Exchange With the Multibyte Internationalized PDA Device (4263814)

If you exchange multibyte data between a PDA device and Solaris CDE, the data may be corrupted in both environments.

Workaround: Back up your data on your personal computer with the PDA backup utility before you run the PDASync application. If you accidentally exchange multibyte data and corrupt that data, restore your data from the backup.

System Administration Bugs

Error When Removing SUNWppdx 64-bit Package (4470877)

If the 64-bit SUNWpppdx package is installed and and you switch to 32-bit mode, pkgrm will fail when you attempt to remove SUNWpppdx. The following message is displayed.

WARNING:The <SUNWpppdu> package"Solaris PPP 4.0 daemon and utilities" 
depends on the package currently being removed.
Dependency checking failed.
Do you want to continue with the removal of this package [y,n,?,q] 

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds.

Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) Event Delivery Fails When Uppercase Is Used (4441369)

If a Solaris provider generates indications and the class name is set to uppercase, the event delivery fails.

Workaround: Use uppercase to define indication class names.

Incorrect Error Message When Using flarcreate -e and -E (4404811)

If you run the flarcreate command with both the -e and -E options an error is encountered. The following message is displayed.

ERROR: Options -D and -f are mutually exclusive

The message should read.

ERROR: Options -E and -e are mutually exclusive

Workaround: Ignore the error message. Do not use the -e and -E options together.

Obsolete Files Still Present in Help System (4339515)

After selecting Help -> Information from the Front Panel, a list of obsolete files is returned. The correct file is S8FCSreleasenotes.

CIM_ERR_LOW_ON_MEMORY Error Occurs When Trying to Add Data With WBEM (4312409)

The following error message is displayed when memory is low:

You cannot add more entries when the Common Information Model (CIM) Object Manager has run low on memory. You must reset the CIM Object Manager Repository.

Workaround: To reset the CIM Object Manager Repository:

  1. Become superuser.

  2. Stop the CIM Object Manager.

    # /etc/init.d/init.wbem stop

  3. Remove the JavaSpaces log directory.

    # /bin/rm -rf /var/sadm/wbem/logr

  4. Restart the CIM Object Manager.

    # /etc/init.d/init.wbem start

    Note –

    You will lose any proprietary definitions in your datastore. You must recompile the MOF files that contain those definitions using the mofcomp command. For example:

    # /usr/sadm/bin/mofcomp -u root -p root_password your_mof_file

Java Runtime Issues

Java Plug-in Support

Java Plug-in 1.2 is the default plug-in that runs Java 2 applets but not all Java 1.1 applets. If you require the Java Plug-in 1.1, you can download it from http://www.sun.com/solaris/netscape.

If you choose to have both Java Plug-in 1.1 and Java Plug-in 1.2 on the same system, you must follow the instructions for how to install Java Plug-in 1.1 and then configure your environment accordingly.

This procedure is outlined in the “Installing Java Plug-in” section of the Java Plug-in for Solaris Users Guide that is available from http://www.sun.com/solaris/netscape/jpis/usersguide_java_plugin.html.

Java Runtime Bugs

libjvm.so Does Not Function Correctly When Using dlopen (4270715)

libjvm.so does not function correctly if it is brought into the process using dlopen. It must be linked into the executable when that object is created.

Workaround: Explicitly name libjvm.so (-ljvm) and libjava.so (-ljava) as dependencies when you create an executable.

AnswerBook2 Bugs

The ab2admin Command Intermittently Indicates command failed Even Though the Command Succeeded (4242577)

If the ab2admin command fails, the error message contains additional information besides command failed. For example, it may also include path not found or invalid ID.

Workaround: If the message command failed is displayed, make sure that the operation failed. For example, if the command you submitted should have deleted a collection from the AnswerBook2 database, type the following command to verify that the collection is displayed in the database.

# ab2admin -o list 
You can frequently ignore the message command failed when no additional information is provided.

ab2cd Script Displays an Erroneous Error Message (4256516)

During the startup of an AnswerBook2TM server, the ab2cd script may display the following erroneous error message.

sort: can't read /tmp/ab1_sort.XXX: No such file or directory     

This error message states that the ab2cd script has not located any of the AnswerBook (Display PostScriptTM) collections on the CD.

Workaround: Ignore the error message.

Localization Issues

Use Font Downloader to Print From Any Non-ISO8859-1 Locale

Perform the following steps to print from any non-ISO8859-1 locale using the Font Downloader.

  1. Log in to CDE.

  2. Type fdl at the command line to start the Font Downloader.

  3. Specify the printer by selecting Add from the Printer menu.

  4. Select Font Bundle from the Download menu.

    The font bundles are then downloaded to the specified printer, depending on what codeset is needed for printing.

Localization Bugs

kkcv.sh Dumps Core In Japanese Locale (4394340)

kkcv is an input method server for Japanese BCP (4.x Binary Compatibility) applications. When LDAP is used, kkcv dumps core repeatedly with the error message:

cssd: The process "kkcv.sh" has been killed by sig#134, core dumped 

This problem occurs in all locales when 'ja' locale is installed using the Languages CD.

Workaround: If you do not need to use Japanese BCP feature, configure your system not to start input method servers for BCP applications:

  1. Copy /usr/lib/css.d/cs00.sh to /etc/css.d.

    # cp -p /usr/lib/css.d/cs00.sh /etc/css.d
  2. Edit /etc/css.conf and comment out the line of /usr/lib/css.d with `#'.

    # /etc/css.conf
  3. Restart the CS monitor daemon.

    # sh /etc/init.d/loc.ja.cssd stop
    # sh /etc/init.d/loc.ja.cssd start

Euro Not Accessible in UTF-8 Locales (4363812)

The Euro is not accessible in any UTF-8 locale using the standard key sequence ALTGr+E.

Workaround: Login to any ISO8859-15 locale and use Alt+E to access the Euro.

Warning Messages Might Appear When Launching Java Applications From Any UTF-8 Locale (4342801)

LucidaSansLat4 font aliases are not available so related error messages might appear when launching a Java application from any UTF-8 locale.

Workaround: Log into the ISO-1 equivalent of the locale and launch the Java application from there.

Some Greek Characters Are Not Available in CDE (4179411)

Some dead-key combinations do not work correctly in CDE. Also, names for months do not function correctly in the Calendar Manager in the Greek locale.

Cannot Print Extended Characters in Calendar Manager in All Partial Locales (4285729)

If you attempt to print extended characters when using Calendar Manager in a partial locale, the extended characters do not print correctly.

Cutting and Pasting Text Between Arabic and UTF-8 English Does Not Work (4287746)

You cannot cut or paste Arabic text between an application or window running under en_US.UTF-8 in Arabic input mode and one running under ar_EY.ISO8859-6 in Arabic input mode.

The CDE Extras Drop-Down Menu Is Not Available for European Locales (4298547)

When you right-click in any CDE application for a European locale, the CDE Extras drop-down menu does not display any options.

CTL Is Not Supported in Japanese and Asian UTF-8 Locales (4300239)

Complex Text Language (CTL) support for entering Hebrew, Arabic, or Thai has been implemented in en_US.UTF-8 and European UTF-8 locales, but is not supported in ja_JP.UTF-8, ko.UTF-8, also known as ko_KR.UTF-8, zh.UTF-8, which is also known as zh_CH.UTF-8, and zh_TW.UTF-8 locales.

Workaround: Use the en_US.UTF-8 locale if you need to enter Thai, Arabic, or Hebrew using CTL. If you want to enter those languages in Asian and Japanese UTF-8 locales:

  1. Create a symbolic link to common CTL modules. In the case of ja_JP.UTF-8:

    	# cd /usr/lib/locale/ja_JP.UTF-8
    	# mkdir LO_LTYPE ; cd LO_LTYPE
    	# ln -s ../../common/LO_LTYPE/umle.layout.so.1
    	# mkdir sparcv9 ; cd sparcv9
    	# ln -s ../../../common/LO_LTYPE/sparcv9/umle.layout.so.1 

  2. Edit the /usr/openwin/lib/locale/ja_JP.UTF-8/XLC_LOCALE file by commenting out the load_option delay_nocheck line from Thai, Arabic, or Hebrew entries. For example, in the case of Thai:

    # fs14 class (Thai)
     	fs14    {
            charset         TIS620.2533-0:GR
            font {
                # load_option delay_nocheck  <--- comment out
                primary     TIS620.2533-0:GR

Cannot Add, Remove, or Modify Users in Solstice AdminTool in the Greek Locale (4302983)

The Add, Modify, and Remove User screens are blank in the Greek locale of the Solstice AdminTool software.

Workaround: In superuser mode, copy the following file :

# cp /usr/openwin/lib/locale/C/app-defaults/Admin
You can now add, remove, and modify user information in the Greek locale.

Font Downloader Add and Cancel Buttons Are Incorrectly Labeled in the Italian Locale (4303549)

When you are in the Italian locale using the Font Downloader, both the Add and Cancel buttons in the Add Printer dialog box are incorrectly labeled; they are both labeled A ....

Missing Arabic Characters and Incompatibility Between the Sun Arabic Keyboard and the Microsoft Arabic Keyboard (4303879)

The following table describes the differences between the Sun Solaris Arabic keyboard and the Microsoft Arabic keyboard.

Table 2–1 Differences Between Sun and Microsoft Arabic Keyboards


Sun Keyboard Layout 

Microsoft Keyboard Layout 

Arabic Lam_alef with Hamza below 

Right single quotation mark 

Arabic multiplication sign 

Arabic division sign 

Arabic Kasra 

Arabic Kasratan 


Arabic Sukun 

Arabic Kasratan 

Left curly bracket 

Arabic Kasra 

Right curly bracket 


Single low quotation mark 

Arabic comma 

The Euro Currency Symbol Is Not Adequately Supported in the UTF-8 and Greek Locales (4306958, 4305075)

The Euro currency symbol is not generated when pressing AltGr+E in the UTF-8 locale.

Workaround: Perform the following steps to enter the Euro currency symbol in the UTF-8 locale:

  1. Select Lookup in the UTF-8 Input Mode Selection window.

  2. Select Currency Symbols.

  3. Select the Euro symbol.

    Note –

    In the Greek locale type dumpcs at the console prompt. Then copy and paste the Euro currency symbol.

Sorting in the European UTF-8 Locales Does Not Function Correctly (4307314)

Sorting in the European UTF-8 locales does not work properly.

Workaround: Before you attempt to sort in a FIGGS UTF-8 locale, set the LC_COLLATE variable to the ISO1 equivalent.

# echo $LC_COLLATE
>  es_ES.UTF-8
# setenv LC_COLLATE es_ES.IS08859-1
Then start sorting.

Applications Not Fully Localized (4304495, 4306619)

The following applications are not fully localized. Some parts will not be fully translated.