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3 | <html> |
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4 | <head> |
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5 | <title>SysInfo 3.5 Release Notes</title> |
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6 | </head> |
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7 | |
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8 | <body bgcolor=#ffffff text=#000000 link=#ff0000 vlink=#cc0000 alink=#cc0000 background="http://www.magnicomp.com/images/yellow_weave.gif"> |
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9 | |
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10 | <CENTER> |
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11 | <FONT COLOR=#FF0000 SIZE=+4> |
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12 | <b> |
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13 | <a href="http://www.MagniComp.com"> |
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14 | <img src="http://www.MagniComp.com/images/magnicomp-logo-yweave.jpg" alt="MagniComp Systems" border=0> |
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15 | </a> |
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16 | </b> |
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17 | </FONT> |
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18 | </CENTER> |
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19 | <hr> |
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20 | <br> |
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21 | |
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22 | |
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23 | <center><h1><FONT COLOR="#000099">SysInfo 3.5 Release Notes</font></h1></center> |
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24 | |
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25 | <h2><FONT COLOR="#000099">New License</FONT></h2> |
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26 | <p> |
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27 | In order to fund future improvements to SysInfo, a new license scheme is |
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28 | introduced with version 3.5. The |
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29 | new license allows no-cost use by non-profit and educational institutions |
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30 | and requires payment for use by all other users. More information, including |
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31 | pricing is available by clicking |
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32 | <a href="http://www.magnicomp.com/cgi-dat/mcservices.cgi">here</a> |
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33 | </p> |
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34 | <p> |
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35 | SysInfo will automatically detect if it's being run on an educational |
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36 | or non-profit system |
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37 | if the domain name of the system is one of the known educational or |
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38 | non-profit domains. |
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39 | Currently this includes: |
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40 | <UL> |
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41 | <LI>.edu |
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42 | <LI>.edu.<I>CC</I> |
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43 | <LI>.ac.<I>CC</I> |
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44 | <LI>.uni-*.de |
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45 | <LI>.org |
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46 | </UL> |
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47 | where <I>CC</I> is a country code. |
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48 | All other institutions must |
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49 | <a href="http://www.magnicomp.com/cgi-dat/mcservices.cgi">register</a> |
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50 | and request a (free) license. |
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51 | </p> |
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52 | <p> |
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53 | SysInfo will automatically allow 60-days of free use for demonstration purposes |
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54 | whenever run with no license found. |
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55 | </p> |
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56 | |
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57 | <h2><FONT COLOR="#000099">New Platform Support</FONT></h2> |
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58 | <TABLE border=0 cellpadding=5> |
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59 | <TR> |
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60 | <TD valign=top><i>Solaris 7 (SunOS 5.7)</i></TD> |
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61 | <TD>Full support for all Solaris 7 |
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62 | systems, including 64-bit (UltraSPARC) systems. |
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63 | </TD> |
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64 | </TR> |
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65 | <TR> |
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66 | <TD valign=top><i>IRIX 6.5</i></TD> |
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67 | <TD>Add support for IRIX 6.5. |
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68 | </TD> |
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69 | </TR> |
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70 | <TR> |
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71 | <TD valign=top><i>Linux 2.0 on x86<i></TD> |
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72 | <TD>This is the first version of SysInfo to |
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73 | include support for Linux. All but |
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74 | device (hardware) information is available. Linux 2.1 should |
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75 | also work, but hasn't been tested. See |
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76 | <a href="#linuxnotes">Linux Notes</a> for more information. |
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77 | </TD> |
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78 | </TR> |
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79 | <TR> |
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80 | <TD valign=top><i>FreeBSD on x86</TD> |
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81 | <TD>Introducing support for FreeBSD on x86 |
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82 | systems. FreeBSD versions 2.2.x are supported. Version 3.0 |
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83 | will be supported in the next release. |
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84 | </TD> |
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85 | </TR> |
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86 | <TR> |
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87 | <TD valign=top><i>BSD/OS on x86<i></TD> |
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88 | <TD>Introducing support for BSDi's BSD/OS on |
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89 | x86 systems. BSD/OS 3.1 and 4.0 are supported. |
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90 | </TD> |
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91 | </TR> |
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92 | <TR> |
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93 | <TD valign=top><i>HP-UX 11.0<i></TD> |
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94 | <TD>Add support for HP-UX 11.0. |
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95 | </TD> |
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96 | </TR> |
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97 | </TABLE> |
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98 | |
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99 | <h2><FONT COLOR="#000099"><a name="supportplatforms">Supported Platforms</a></FONT></h2> |
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100 | <p> |
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101 | The following table indicates what platforms are supported for this |
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102 | release of |
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103 | <b>SysInfo</b>. |
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104 | This platform list is subject to change with each <i>dot dot</i> release of |
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105 | <b>SysInfo</b>. |
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106 | </p> |
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107 | <TABLE border=1 cellpadding=5 bgcolor="#ccff99"> |
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108 | <TR bgcolor="#AAAAAA"> |
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109 | <TH COLSPAN=3></TH><TH COLSPAN=4>SysInfo Class of Information</TH> |
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110 | </TR> |
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111 | <TR bgcolor="#AAAAAA"> |
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112 | <TH>Man.</TH><TH>OS</TH><TH>Hard- ware</TH> |
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113 | <TH>Gen- eral</TH><TH>Ker- nel</TH><TH>Sys- conf</TH> |
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114 | <TH>Dev- ice</TH><TH>Notes</TH> |
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115 | </TR> |
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116 | |
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117 | <TR align=center> |
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118 | <TD>Sun</TD><TD>Solaris 1.x (SunOS 4.1.x)</TD><TD>SPARC</TD> |
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119 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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120 | <TD>Not fully tested, but should work.</TD> |
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121 | </TR> |
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122 | <TR align=center> |
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123 | <TD>Sun</TD><TD>Solaris 2.x (SunOS 5.x)</TD><TD>SPARC</TD> |
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124 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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125 | <TD>Solaris 2.5.1 - 7 (SunOS 5.5.1 - 5.7) verified working. |
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126 | See <a href="#platnotes">Platform Notes</a></TD> |
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127 | </TR> |
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128 | <TR align=center> |
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129 | <TD>Sun</TD><TD>Solaris 2.x (SunOS 5.x)</TD><TD>x86</TD> |
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130 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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131 | <TD>Solaris 2.6 (SunOS 5.6) tested on limited hardware.</TD> |
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132 | </TR> |
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133 | <TR align=center> |
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134 | <TD>IBM</TD><TD>AIX 3.x, 4.x</TD><TD>RS6000</TD> |
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135 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>N</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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136 | <TD> </TD> |
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137 | </TR> |
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138 | <TR align=center> |
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139 | <TD>SGI</TD><TD>IRIX 5.3, 6.x</TD><TD>MIPS</TD> |
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140 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>N</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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141 | <TD>IRIX 5.x may no longer work. Tested on IRIX 6.2 and 6.5.</TD> |
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142 | </TR> |
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143 | <TR align=center> |
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144 | <TD>HP</TD><TD>HP-UX 9.x 10.x 11.x</TD><TD>hp9000</TD> |
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145 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>N</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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146 | <TD> </TD> |
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147 | </TR> |
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148 | <TR align=center> |
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149 | <TD> </TD><TD>BSD/OS 3.1, 4.0</TD><TD>x86</TD> |
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150 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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151 | <TD> </TD> |
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152 | </TR> |
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153 | <TR align=center> |
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154 | <TD> </TD><TD>FreeBSD 2.2.x, 3.0</TD><TD>x86</TD> |
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155 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD> |
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156 | <TD>See <a href="#platnotes">Platform Notes</a></TD> |
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157 | </TR> |
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158 | <TR align=center> |
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159 | <TD> </TD><TD>Linux 2.0</TD><TD>x86</TD> |
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160 | <TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>Y</TD><TD>P</TD> |
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161 | <TD>See <a href="#platnotes">Platform Notes</a></TD> |
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162 | </TR> |
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163 | |
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164 | <TR BGCOLOR="#aaaaaa"> |
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165 | <TD COLSPAN=8><B>KEY:</B><BR> |
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166 | <B>Y</B> - Yes, it's supported<br> |
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167 | <B>N</B> - No, it's not supported<br> |
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168 | <B>P</B> - Planned<br> |
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169 | </TD> |
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170 | </TR> |
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171 | |
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172 | </TABLE> |
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173 | |
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174 | <h2><FONT COLOR="#000099">Major New Features/Improvements</FONT></h2> |
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175 | A complete list of changes in this release is available by reading the |
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176 | <B>CHANGES</B> file provided with the distribution. |
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177 | <TABLE border=0 cellpadding=5> |
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178 | <TR> |
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179 | <TD valign=top><i>HPUX<i></TD> |
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180 | <TD>Full device (hardware) support is now provided for |
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181 | HP-UX 10 and later systems. |
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182 | </TD> |
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183 | </TR> |
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184 | <TR> |
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185 | <TD valign=top><i>New -msglevel option<i></TD> |
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186 | <TD> |
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187 | A major revamp of how messages are output from SysInfo has been |
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188 | performed. All output is now classified and output through the |
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189 | <b>SImsg()</b> call. |
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190 | The <b>-msglevel</b> option modifies what types of |
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191 | messages are output. |
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192 | </TD></TR> |
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193 | <TR> |
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194 | <TD valign=top><i>New /etc/sysinfo.cf<i></TD> |
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195 | <TD> |
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196 | A new file called <b>/etc/sysinfo.cf</b> has been introduced |
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197 | to make binary distributions of SysInfo more easily installed. |
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198 | This file uses the same syntax as described in <b>sysinfo.cf(5)</b> |
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199 | which now supports the <b>ConfDir</B> <i>PathName</I> directive. |
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200 | By specifing a <i>PathName</I> you can override the value of |
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201 | <b>CONFDIR</B> compiled into SysInfo. For example, to use |
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202 | <b>/net/sysinfoserver/conf</b> as your SysInfo configuration |
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203 | directory, you could create a file |
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204 | </b>/etc/sysinfo.cf</b> with the line: |
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205 | <PRE> |
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206 | ConfDir /net/sysinfoserver/conf</PRE> |
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207 | </TD> |
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208 | <TR> |
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209 | <TD valign=top><i>New Device Fields<i></TD> |
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210 | <TD>Devices now have several new fields: |
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211 | <i>Vendor, Serial, Revision, ClassType, Driver</i>. |
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212 | The <i>Model</i> name no longer includes the <i>Vendor</i> name |
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213 | in most cases. These should be visible in "-level all" output |
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214 | as well as in the <b>DevInfo_t</b> data type. |
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215 | </TD></TR> |
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216 | <TR> |
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217 | <TD valign=top><i>New General Field<i></TD> |
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218 | <TD> |
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219 | A new field called <i>OS Distribution</i> has been added. |
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220 | This field shows information about a particuliar distribution of |
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221 | a version of an OS. For instance, <b>Solaris 2.6 HW2 SPARC</b>. |
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222 | </TD></TR> |
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223 | <TR> |
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224 | <TD valign=top><i>New and Improved SCSI Support<i></TD> |
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225 | <TD> |
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226 | The existing SCSI query support for SunOS has been greatly |
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227 | improved and new information added. The code is now generalized |
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228 | and is now used on BSD/OS, FreeBSD, HP-UX, and IRIX. |
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229 | </TD></TR> |
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230 | <TR> |
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231 | <TD valign=top><i>Improved Monitor Info<i></TD> |
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232 | <TD> |
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233 | SysInfo can now process |
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234 | VESA Extend Display Identification Data (EDID) to provide lots |
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235 | of information about monitors. This information is so far only |
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236 | available on Sun hardware. See the |
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237 | <a href="#sunedidnote">Sun EDID</a> note below. |
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238 | </TD></TR> |
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239 | <TR> |
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240 | <TD valign=top><i>Improved PCI Device Info<i></TD> |
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241 | <TD> |
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242 | Information about PCI devices in general has been consolidated |
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243 | and generalized across multiple OSs. See <b>config/pci.cf</b>. |
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244 | </TD></TR> |
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245 | <TR> |
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246 | <TD valign=top><i>HW+SW Disk Info<i></TD> |
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247 | <TD> |
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248 | SysInfo now differentiates between disk information (geometry, etc.) |
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249 | obtained directly from the hardware (such as via a SCSI query) versus |
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250 | what is obtained from the OS. Output from "-level all" |
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251 | is marked as "HW" for hardware |
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252 | and "SW" for software. |
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253 | </TD></TR> |
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254 | <TR> |
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255 | <TD valign=top><i>New RunTime Platform Check<i></TD> |
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256 | <TD> |
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257 | SysInfo now checks at runtime to make sure it's running on the |
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258 | same platform (Kernel Arch, OS Name, OS Version) as it was |
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259 | compiled on. |
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260 | </TD></TR> |
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261 | <TR> |
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262 | <TD valign=top><i>New RunTime Root Check<i></TD> |
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263 | <TD> |
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264 | SysInfo now checks at runtime to make sure it's being run as |
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265 | root (uid==0) on most platforms. If it's not, a warning |
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266 | message is issued. |
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267 | </TD></TR> |
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268 | <TR> |
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269 | <TD valign=top><i>Performance Improvements<i></TD> |
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270 | <TD> |
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271 | Performance should be noticable improved, especially on systems |
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272 | with lots of hardware. Several key changes where made to how |
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273 | SysInfo builds its list of devices which should reduce CPU and |
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274 | the real amount of time it takes to run SysInfo. |
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275 | </TD</TR> |
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276 | <TR> |
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277 | <TD valign=top><i>Reduced Stack, Buffer Handling<i></TD> |
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278 | <TD> |
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279 | A review of static buffer size usage was done and many items where |
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280 | fixed. A more comprehensive review should still be done. |
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281 | </TD></TR> |
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282 | <TR> |
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283 | <TD valign=top><i>DOS FDISK Partitions on x86<i></TD> |
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284 | <TD> |
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285 | Generalized support for showing DOS |
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286 | FDISK partition information on x86 |
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287 | machines was added. |
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288 | </TD></TR> |
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289 | <TR> |
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290 | <TD valign=top><i>Sun dual port disks</i></TD> |
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291 | <TD> |
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292 | Dual ported disks on Sun's should now only show up once. |
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293 | This code should work on all other platforms also, since it uses |
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294 | the hardware device <i>Serial Number</i> to uniquely identify |
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295 | each disk. |
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296 | </TD></TR> |
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297 | |
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298 | </TABLE> |
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299 | |
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300 | <h2><FONT COLOR="#000099"><a name="platnotes">Platform Specific Notes</a></FONT></h2> |
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301 | <TABLE border=0 cellpadding=5> |
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302 | <TR> |
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303 | <TD valign=top><i>Solaris 7<i></TD> |
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304 | <TD> |
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305 | Starting with Solaris 7 (SunOS 5.7), |
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306 | you will need two binaries for each |
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307 | version of the OS - one for 32-bit systems and one for 64-bit systems (all |
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308 | <b>Ultra</b> machines are 64-bit). |
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309 | You can check which version you are running by looking at the |
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310 | first line of <b>/etc/motd</b> |
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311 | for the phrase "64-bit". |
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312 | <p> |
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313 | To build a binary of <b>sysinfo</b> for a system running a 64-bit kernel, |
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314 | you must have a compatible compiler. Sun Compiler 5.0 is the first Sun |
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315 | compiler to support this via the <b>-xarch=v9</b> option. At the time |
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316 | this document was written there was no version of GCC which supports 64-bit |
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317 | compiles. |
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318 | </p> |
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319 | </TD> |
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320 | </TR> |
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321 | <TR> |
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322 | <TD valign=top><i><a name="sunedidnote">Sun/SPARC EDID</a><i></TD> |
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323 | <TD> |
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324 | VESA Extend Display Identification Data (EDID) |
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325 | for monitors appears to only be available from Creator |
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326 | Series 2 (FFB2) and later Creator frame buffers. No sign of |
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327 | EDID data |
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328 | on any other Sun framebuffer so far. |
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329 | </TD></TR> |
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330 | <TR> |
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331 | <TD valign=top><i><a name="linuxnotes">Linux</a><i></TD> |
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332 | <TD> |
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333 | There is no support for devices in SysInfo on Linux platforms at |
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334 | this time. This is due to lack of a consistant kernel interface for |
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335 | acquiring such information. The Linux core developers are aware |
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336 | of this |
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337 | lack and plan to add appropriate plumbing in a future Linux |
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338 | kernel. That is |
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339 | likely to be Linux 2.4, but may not make that release. |
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340 | </TD></TR> |
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341 | <TR> |
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342 | <TD valign=top><i>FreeBSD<i></TD> |
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343 | <TD> |
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344 | There is currently support for finding devices on PCI and ISA buses. |
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345 | There is no EISA support. |
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346 | </TD></TR> |
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347 | </TABLE> |
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348 | |
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349 | <hr> |
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350 | </body> |
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351 | </html> |
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