[OpenIndiana-discuss] problem with no randomness provider // on even new laptops ( Dell )

[Jan Owoc]

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 8:17 PM, Richard Heil <richard.d.heil at gmail.com> wrote:
> About upgrading the bios, well I bought this computer new in December. This
> may be part of the problem is that this is too new so how can I upgrade?

The problem with the randomness provider shows up on a variety of
hardware and virtual machines - it isn't anything specific to your
hardware setup. Updating the bios (or changing some things like the
ACPI mentioned in bug 995) may change the order or length of time
which some boot processes take.

Often the bios version that is preloaded on the computer is no longer
the current one by the time you buy it. Normally you should not update
the bios unless you experience problems with the current one (you have
problems, so you can try updating). The support section of Dell's
website will let you download a Windows-only tool to update to a newer
bios; here is the US site (I don't know what country you bought your
Dell in):
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriversHome/NeedProductSelection


>  I did try to use it on a much older laptop ( Gateway 5002 WLMI ) and it
> get by this error message and continues to boot. I do however get a lot of
> hardware issues with OI and I don't have the greater power and hardware
> virtualization that this Dell has.

Are you running OI on the bare hardware in each case, or in a virtual
machine? In the case of the Dell, you imply that you get the error
about the randomness provider and then booting stops; bug 995 should
not prevent the boot process from continuing.


Jan