[OpenIndiana-discuss] OI new user questions

[Andreas Wacknitz]

Am 05.12.20 um 18:42 schrieb Judah Richardson:
> On Sat, Dec 5, 2020 at 10:02 AM Kalle Anka via openindiana-discuss <
> openindiana-discuss at openindiana.org> wrote:
>
>> I am a long time Solaris user that tried out Linux for a couple of years,
>> namely Ubuntu LTS. Alas, the Ubuntu updates caused numerous problems, in
>> some cases causing a reinstall.
> I've been running Ubuntu on the same machine since 18.10, updating to each
> release in-place, with no issues. Currently on 20.10. An excellent
> Debian(-based) OS stability primer is here
> <https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian>. If you follow that and ask
> questions at AskUbuntu and Reddit you shouldn't have showstopper problems.
>
>> At the end I switched to Ubuntu 2020.10 hoping it would be more stable. It
>> was not.
>>
>> Another problem is that OpenZFS v0.8.4 renders Solaris 11.3 disks unusable.
> Disappointing, but not unexpected given that Solaris ZFS and OpenZFS are 2
> different and independent ZFS implementations.
>
>> Try this:
>> -Create a ZFS disk in Solaris 11.3 (using zpool version 28, and zfs
>> version 5)
>> -Import the disk into Ubuntu 2020.10 using OpenZFS v0.8.4
>> -Copy data to the zpool using Linux zfs send recv
>> -Import the zpool back into Solaris 11.3 - This will fail. Solaris says
>> the disk is UNAVAIL and I need to use a backup to restore data.
>> So if you use OpenZFS to import a zpool, chances are you cannot import the
>> disk back into Solaris.
>>
>> Because of all these problems I have now tried the OpenIndiana 2020.10
>> LiveDVD and I liked it. The splash screen says it is OI "2020.04". It maybe
>> should be changed to "2020.10"? Before I migrate off Linux to OI, I have
>> some questions I hope I can get help with?
>> 1) I boot Win10 which is installed using UEFI. According the OI manual, OI
>> does not support UEFI.
>>
>> http://docs.openindiana.org/handbook/getting-started/#booting-the-hipster-installer
>>
>> So I should not install BIOS OI and UEFI W10 for dualbooting on the same
>> disk. I learned this the hard way. I had a Win10 and Solaris 11.2 dual
>> booting install, on the same disk using BIOS, i.e. MBR disk. Then an W10
>> update silently changed the disk to UEFI (GPT disk), and Solaris 11.2 was
>> still on MBR. So I could boot W10, but not boot Solaris. It took me a long
>> time to figure out why Solaris would not boot. I had to reinstall Solaris
>> using UEFI.
>>
> I think dual booting creates far more problems than it solves, and avoid it
> my personal setups. I definitely do not think having dual booting an MBR
> and UEFI OS is a good idea.
>
>> To solve my problem of BIOS os and UEFI os, I wonder if this might work: I
>> remove all disks except one, and install Win10 using UEFI. Then I remove
>> all disks, and insert another disk to which I install BIOS OpenIndiana.
>> Then I insert all disks, and when I boot my PC, I choose which OS to boot
>> from the disk boot menu by pressing F11. Do you think this could be a way
>> to have both BIOS OpenIndiana and UEFI Win10 on my PC, but on different
>> disks? I have read that you should not install BIOS and UEFI oses on the
>> same PC,
> Sounds like you just answered your own question :P
>
> even on the different disks - but I dont know why. I cannot find
>> information on this. But if I choose the different disks to boot in the
>> boot menu, this could work? Anyone know?
>>
> Such a setup is neither robust nor reliable, nor were PC BIOSes engineered
> or tested for it. You're welcome to try it, but you'll be in unsupported
> waters.
>
>> (BTW, I have a WARNING! If you boot Win10 install usb and only look at the
>> different disks in your PC, i.e. check the sizes of the disks, and then
>> exit without doing anything - this will mess up your ZFS disks. W10 install
>> software will mess up disks that are not NTFS. ZFS is something new, so
>> Win10 install software will overwrite the ZFS disks even scanning the ZFS
>> disks. If you do get your ZFS disks messed up this way, I have heard that
>> you can try to import the zpool and scrub it, and it might solve this mess.
>> Another way to solve this problem, is to remove all non ntfs disks from
>> your system before installing Win10).
>>
> See my previous warning about dual booting. I would never expose a ZFS disk
> to Windows and generally do not expose disks to OSes that lack 1st party
> support the filesystems on them. It's easy and affordable enough to get a
> used, good condition Core 2nd gen or later x86-64 desktop on my end that
> dual booting just isn't something I have to futz with.
>
>> 2) Does OI support Sunray? (Solaris 11.4 does not support Sunray)
>>
>> 3) Graphics. I have a Geforce GTX 1070 Ti. On a UEFI installed Solaris
>> 11.3, it is not possible to install the latest Nvidia 1070 Ti driver
>> because the driver explicitly requires a BIOS Solaris installation. To
>> install GTX 1070 Ti, you must install Solaris 11.3 as BIOS, and not UEFI.
>> If you have UEFI, there are no GTX 1070 Ti driver at all. You need to use
>> VESA driver.
>>
>> The GTX 1070 Ti driver is certified for Solaris, but can the GTX 1070 Ti
>> driver be installed on OI, as OI is a Solarish derivative?
> I wouldn't expect that to be the case as Solaris and Illumos have diverged
> significantly since Illumos continued OpenSolaris.
I am running NVIDIA cards (P600 and P620) without problems with newer
drivers (from 390.xx onwards up to 455.xx).

Andreas