Re: Installing an i386 OS on an ia64 system

[Wackojacko <wackojacko32@ntlworld.com>]

Bill Wohler wrote:
> 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.

No expert on these, but it looks like amd64 would be the right OS.  ia64 
is for itanium processors afaik.

> > > 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.

The main advantage of running 64 bit, afaict, is the ability to address 
more RAM, so if this is an issue then 64 bit would help.  Otherwise, I 
am not sure what other benefits there are.  I'm only running it cos I can :)

> > > 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?

Actually, I think now that etch is to be the new stable and etch has 
official support for amd64 there are no longer -k8 kernels in i386. 
Sorry for the misonformation.  But yes they did work on intel processors 
with the emt64 instruction set.

> > > 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?

Sorry I was referring to the OS name not the processor. Regardless, a 
reinstall will still be necessary if you don't wont a dual boot, and 
there are still a few apps that aren't available in 64 bit so you will 
need a 32 bit chroot to run these.

HTH

Wackojacko