Re: Installing an i386 OS on an ia64 system
Wackojacko <wackojacko32@ntlworld.com> writes:
> Bill Wohler wrote:
>> I installed the i386 etch distribution on my 64-bit system since the
>> ia64 distribution had been burned on suspect media and wouldn't boot.
>>
>
> Are you sure you want ia64. Most 64-bit systems these days use the
> amd64 port (i.e AMD64 and intel emt64 processors). what have you got.
Intel. Some Xeon dual processor thing.
>> Questions:
>>
>> What am I missing out on?
>
> Depends on what you are using it for?
Compiling and running CPU-intensive programs. Lots of I/O too.
>> What components are actually different between these two systems? The
>> stock kernels, for example, don't seem to be different.
>
> Most binaries are recompiled specifically for 64 bit user space. You
> can run a 64bit enhanced kernel on i386, look for the -k8
> linux-images.
I see this:
Package: linux-image-2.6-amd64-k8 (2.6.17+2)
Linux 2.6 image on AMD64 K8 machines - transition package
This package is for transition only.
Why is it in transition? Does it really work on Intel?
>> What tells your system which binaries to grab? The sources.list file
>> doesn't indicate hardware type.
>
> The OS knows what its running:)
>
>> Can I transition my system from i386 binaries to ia64 binaries without
>> starting from scratch?
>
> If you mean amd64, no its a completely different OS but you can
> install in to a separate partition using debootstrap, or an install CD
> and then dual boot.
No, it's an Intel, and dual-booting is not useful. Are you saying I'd
have to reinstall the OS to make use of the 64-bit stuff?
--
Bill Wohler <wohler@newt.com> http://www.newt.com/wohler/ GnuPG ID:610BD9AD
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