Re: question about AMD64 HOWTO
On 4/21/05, Jonathan Kaye <jonathan.kaye@univie.ac.at> wrote:
> Thanks for that. Yes, the more I read, the more it seems you can install
> amd64 onto an i386 system.
Yes, it assume that you already have an i386 system, and want to
install amd64. Although I am not 100% sure whether I would recommend
that approach. A clean new install on a separate partition certainly
has its advantages.
> The next question is what becomes of the
> existing system?
That is up to you. You can keep the 64bit system a chroot, if you only
use it occasionally, and mainly stay with 32bits.
If you put the chroot on a separate partition, you can also boot it
directly, and then set up the old 32bit system as a chroot.
Until all application actually work on 64bit, I would not delete the
32bit system. I might still come handy at some point.
> Specifically, I don't see why the /home directory
> should be effected.
Yes, you definately want to share /home, just like /tmp, /proc and
maybe /mnt. If your home is a separate partition, then it straight
forward: just mount it in both places. If not, you have to use the
bind mount given in the HOWTO.
> It would be nice if someone with experience installing amd64 over a i386
> installation could chime in here. I've got a bunch of binaries in /opt
> but I'm aware of the issues (they either run in amd64 or a through them
> in chroot). Advice most welcome.
I copied my /opt, and most of it still works. But you also have to
keep at least the libraries from the 32bit system (/lib, /usr/lib,
/usrX11R6/lib and maybe some more places), and tell ld.so about their
new path. If you do that, it is recommended that you keep all of the
32bit system, so that you can still use its administration tools (like
dpkg).
Also several applications still require 32bit libraries. Among these
are openoffice.org, the Flash plugin (which needs 32bit mozilla),
VMware, tcc and of course wine.
Thomas
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