--- old/src/cpu/sparc/vm/vm_version_sparc.cpp	Wed Jul  6 14:42:54 2011
+++ new/src/cpu/sparc/vm/vm_version_sparc.cpp	Wed Jul  6 14:42:54 2011
@@ -144,6 +144,18 @@
   // buf is started with ", " or is empty
   _features_str = strdup(strlen(buf) > 2 ? buf + 2 : buf);
 
+  // UseVIS is set to the smallest of what hardware supports and what
+  // the command line requires.  I.e., you cannot set UseVIS to 3 on
+  // older UltraSparc which do not support it.
+  if( UseVIS > 3 ) UseVIS=3;
+  if( UseVIS < 0 ) UseVIS=0;
+  if( !has_vis3() ) // Drop to 2 if no VIS3 support
+    UseVIS = MIN2((intx)2,UseVIS);
+  if( !has_vis2() ) // Drop to 1 if no VIS2 support
+    UseVIS = MIN2((intx)1,UseVIS);
+  if( !has_vis1() ) // Drop to 0 if no VIS1 support
+    UseVIS = 0;
+
 #ifndef PRODUCT
   if (PrintMiscellaneous && Verbose) {
     tty->print("Allocation: ");