Re: switch to amd64, need help
On 7/13/05, A Mennucc <debdev@mennucci.sns.it> wrote:
> 0) when I buy a new CPU-M/B-RAM, I usually enjoy to mount them in my
> old case, connect all cards and drives, and reboot the system (this is
> one of the feats where Debian rules and Win*s sucks - after my last
> upgrade at home, I was never able to boot into Win*s again). Is this
> possible when switching to Athlon64 ? Does it boot an install of
> Debian for i386?
Yep, that's what I did, and it works perfectly fine.
Note that most AMD64 boards will come with SATA, so you can get a nice
SATA drive. However, there are still some issues with SATA, so if you
are conservative, you should stay with ATA only. The same probably
applies to PCIe.
> 1) googling thru the list I read that in the past it was not
> possible to upgrade from the i386 to amd64 and that people need to
> reinstall. What is the current situation ?
That is not going to change soon.
> Is there any simpler way
> (=tweak) to start using amd64 packages (for example, can I install
> the kernel for amd64 into the i386 Debian ?
You can build a chroot, which is like a second installation. Running a
64bit kernel with a 32bit system requires some tweaks, though, so most
people run a 64bit system and a 32bit chroot.
If you don't want to set up a chroot, you will not be able to run
binary apps such as Acrobat Reader, Flash plugin etc. Openoffice is
not available for 64bit system yet, either.
> (AFAI understand this is called "multiarch" and is a goal for etch,
> so maybe it is too early).
I hope that it will be in etch, but there is still a lot to be done.
> ps2 : yes the above question 1 seems a bit confused ... indeed I am
> confused by this fact that Athlon64 runs 32 bit code ... I googled
> around but still did not understand this fact completly
The Athlon64 is backwards compatible, so it can run a 32bit kernel
without changes. In that case, you cannot use 64bit apps. With a 64bit
kernel you can run 32bit and 64bit apps, but they cannot link
together. So you need a set of 32bit libraries and a set of 64bit
libraries.
Thomas
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