File System Issues

This section describes file system issues in the Oracle Solaris 11.1 release.

`zfs set/inherit mountpoint` Shows a Failure Message on Oracle Solaris 10 Branded Zones (7195977)

On Oracle Solaris 10 Branded Zones, if you use the following commands to inherit or set the mount point of a dataset, the command will operationally succeed but return an error message:

zfs inherit mountpoint
zfs set mountpoint

The following error message is displayed:

ERROR: /usr/sbin/zfs inherit mountpoint zonectr0 exited 1

Workaround: Ignore the error message. The command has executed correctly.

System Reboots Continuously Because of a ZFS-Related Panic (7191375)

If your system reboots continuously because of a ZFS storage pool with corrupted space map entries, send a system crash dump to Oracle support for root cause analysis.

The initial or subsequent panic strings begin as follows:

zfs: freeing free segment 
zfs: allocating allocated segment

Any attempt to import and mount the problem pool causes the system to panic.

Workaround: Identify the problem pool and import the pool in read-only mode.

Stop the system and boot the system with the milestone=none option.

For SPARC, type the following command:
```
ok boot -m milestone=none
```
For x86, add the milestone option to the appropriate GRUB entry:
```
-m milestone=none
```
Immediately, rename the zpool.cache file to prevent the system from importing non-root pools.
```
# mv /etc/zfs/zpool.cache /etc/zfs/zpool.hold
```
Do not use any ZFS commands that cause the pool information to be loaded.
Reboot the system.
```
# reboot
```
Import each pool one at a time to determine the problem pool.
Import the problem pool in read-only mode.
```
# zpool import -o readonly=on poolname
```

Issues When Replacing or Using New Advanced Format Disk Drives on Oracle Solaris Systems

Disk manufacturers now provide larger capacity disks, also known as advanced format (AF) disks. An AF disk is a hard disk drive whose physical block size exceeds 512 bytes. AF disks use block sizes that are greater than 512 bytes, usually 4096 bytes, but their sizes can vary as follows:

4 KB native disk (4kn) – Uses a physical and logical block size of 4 KB
512-byte emulation (512e) – Uses a physical block size of 4 KB but reports a logical block size of 512 bytes

Review the following issues if you are considering the purchase of AF disks as new or replacement devices on your Oracle Solaris 11.1 system.

Lack of a Power Safe Feature on Certain Models of Advanced Format `512e` Disk Drives Can Result in Data Loss

The failure of certain 512e disk drives to provide a power-safe feature can result in data loss if a power failure occurs during a read-modify-write (rmw) operation.

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds:

Confirm with the disk manufacturer that their 512e devices provide a power safe feature.

No consistent power safe identification appears on such drives, but they tend to be SATA drives. An indication that they are AF drives does not necessarily mean that they support 512 emulation (512e).
Do not use these drives on an Oracle Solaris system.

Installation and Boot Support on `4kn` Disks on SPARC Systems Requires a Specific PROM Version

Installing and booting Oracle Solaris 11.1 on a 4kn disk on a SPARC system requires a volume table of contents (VTOC) label and PROM version 4.34.0.

Workaround: Choose one of the following workarounds:

If you want to install and boot Oracle Solaris 11.1 from a 4kn disk, then apply a VTOC label and confirm that your system is running this version.

For example:
```
# prtconf -pv | grep OBP
  version: 'OBP 4.34.0 ... '
```
Request a firmware upgrade from Oracle support.

For more information about using advanced format disks in Oracle Solaris 11.1, see Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Devices and File Systems.

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