Hardware configuration overview

General compatibility issues

The SCO list of compatible hardware (included in the Getting Started Guide) identifies the computer hardware that runs on UnixWare 7 systems. However, if you are adding additional hardware such as host, video, or network adapters, you may require new or updated device drivers. See the SCO Compatible Hardware Web Pages for more information.

NOTE: Except where noted, the hardware described in SCO documentation has been tested with UnixWare 7 systems. However, because the manufacturers of compatible machines or add-on peripherals may change configuration, functionality, or firmware at any time, no guarantee is implied.

To determine whether hardware components are compatible with your machine, you must know the processor (for example, 486 or Pentium^®) and the bus architecture (ISA, EISA, MCA and PCI) that it uses. You should also be aware of the type of disk controller in your system.

If you have added any adapters, make sure that all switches or software-controlled settings are set as recommended in the manufacturer's hardware manual for that board. Some computers require specific switches or software-controlled settings to run UnixWare 7 systems. If your computer does not run the UnixWare 7 system with the settings as shipped, contact your computer hardware representative for the proper settings.

UnixWare 7 supports ``versioning schemes'' to allow the operating system to support a range of devices of a given type without mixing older and newer fixtures within the driver. This makes for more robust drivers and simplifies driver development and support. Versions are implemented for various driver configuration files documented in Section 4dsp manual pages to specify different formats for the file. The principal versioning scheme is ``driver interface versioning'', which defines the set of interfaces used to code the driver. A driver's interface versions are set in the ``$interface'' field of the driver's Master(4dsp) file. This file should be supplied with the driver; current driver versioning has been implemented for all devices listed in the UnixWare 7 Getting Started Guide. If your device is not listed, consult your hardware vendor for the most current driver interface version.

For example, DDI (Device Driver Interface) is the primary interface versioning scheme that is used for all kernel drivers. DDI 8 is the newest interface version that is supported for UnixWare 7, but drivers written for DDI 5 and later versions will run without modification on UnixWare 7. However, drivers written for DDI versions prior to version 8 do not support DDI 8 features such as hotplug. Other interface versions include SDI for mass storage devices and MDI for network adapter cards.

NOTE: Drivers written for DDI 1 through 4 that ran on SCO UnixWare 2.X do not run on UnixWare 7 unless they are modified to support a later DDI interface version. SCO UnixWare 2.X network adapter card driver interfaces were not supported by a versioned interface; most of these drivers will run on UnixWare 7 but they cannot be rebuilt and are unlikely to run on future versions of the operating system. SCO OpenServer drivers do not support DDI interface version and will not run on UnixWare.

For more information on interface versioning, see Intro(7).