Try to use /usr/bin/test or /bin/test to work around missing features.
The builtin "test" of Solaris 8 /bin/sh doesn't understand -nt.
#!/bin/sh
hg init
touch a
hg add a
hg ci -m "a" -d "1000000 0"
echo 123 > b
hg add b
hg diff | sed -e "s/\(+++ [a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]*\).*/\1/" \
-e "s/\(--- [a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]*\).*/\1/"
hg diff -r tip | sed -e "s/\(+++ [a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]*\).*/\1/" \
-e "s/\(--- [a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]*\).*/\1/"
echo foo > a
hg diff | sed -e "s/\(+++ [a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]*\).*/\1/" \
-e "s/\(--- [a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]*\).*/\1/"