Re: kernel mess
Wackojacko wrote:
> Clive Menzies wrote:
>
>> On (26/09/06 11:46), Wackojacko wrote:
>>
>>> I run nvidia graphics drivers on my AMD64 3200+, in both 64 bit and
>>> 32 bit sid, so they definitely work.
>>>
>>> Here's what I do.
>>>
>>> ~apt-get install module-assistant nvidia-kernel-source
>>> ~m-a prepare (sudo or root)
>>> ~m-a a-i nvidia (sudo or root)
>>> ~dpkg -i /usr/src/nvidia-kernel-moduleXXXXX.deb (sudo or root)
>>> ~apt-get install nvidia-glx (sudo or root)
>>>
>>> Restart X.
>>
>>
>> Thanks for this. A recent sid upgrade borked X and it would appear the
>> 'nv' module had disappeared. I resorted to a backup system on a
>> different partition but avoided updating for a while. I spotted your
>> post and thought I'd try to recover the main system and whoopie!
>>
>> I had to dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg because I'd been playing around
>> trying to fix the problem orginally but other than that, I have the best
>> clarity of diplay I've seen .... and it wsn't bad before :)
>>
>> Thanks again.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Clive
>
>
> No problem, glad it works for you as well. Now if we could only work
> out what was wrong with the OP's setup :)
>
> Wackojacko
>
>
Hi again wackojacko, thanks for the interest. I am as much lost as you,
in this.
I kinda gave a bad name to my thread, it seems. There are three kernels
installed here, but this isn't the real problem. Let me try to re-state
the whole thing:
I was running 2.6.8-2-k7 stock kernel on a abit kv8-pro board with a
sempron 2600+. That was a traditional i386 install, no problem, very
nice desktop, lots of apps installed the debian way and a few of
compiled ones.
Then I purchased a new cpu, a 'sempron64' 3400+. I only changed the cpu,
the rest of the system remains the exactly same. There seems to be some
confusion regarding the terminology of amd 64bit cpu's, as I can see
from (1).
After booting the new cpu, I went to see if I had software support to
benefit from the new instructions x86_64 and sse3. There the confusion
began. Sse3 was clarified first, it is called 'pni' (from 'prescott new
instructions') by the kernel folks, which is why there's no 'see3' under
my cpuinfo. x86_64 wouldn't appear anywhere, so I started to think that
kernel-something had to be done.
Then I begun to figure out what architecture was the new cpu. What I
know for sure is: cpu is a 'hammer family', still unknown to the bios.
bruno@frank:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 15
model : 44
model name : AMD Hammer Family processor - Model Unknown
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 2043.279
cache size : 256 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge
mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext lm
3dnowext 3dnow pni
bogomips : 4038.65
These two kernels are installed alongside my 2.6.8-2-k7 and all of them
boot and run and don't panic:
kernel-image-2.6.8-11-amd64-generic - Linux kernel image for version
2.6.8 on generic x86_64 systems
kernel-image-2.6.8-11-amd64-k8 - Linux kernel image for version 2.6.8 on
AMD64 systems
This is the exact processor:
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/details.aspx?opn=SDA3400AIO3BX
So, from the point of view of the software, I am running a 32bit system.
But the hardware is able to run 64bit (amd64) debian-installers from (2).
Firstly, I need to know what arch am I running now.
Then I need to know if reinstalling from scratch will pay off, in terms
of performance.
The other questions that came up are:
- Is the amd64 port as complete as i386?
- Am I not using any x86_64 extension if I stick to 2.6.8-2-k7?
While reading (1) further, I bumped this:
"Running the mixed setup on a workstation is not recommended, because
iptables, the XFS filesystem, non-free NVidia and ATI binary drivers do
currently not support it."
'mixed setup' there is 32bit apps with 64bit kernels. So this might
concern me directly.
(1) -
http://alioth.debian.org/docman/view.php/30192/21/debian-amd64-howto.html#id250846
(2) - http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/sarge-amd64/iso-cd/
Hope this all clear up. I guess the way to go would be to reinstall from
scratch at some time in the future. The problem is I have a ton of apps
installed, and going through all the hassle again freaks me out. Also
the completeness of the amd64 archive is a concern.
thanks again!
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