[Debian] AMD 64 bit architecture
Ibrahim Mubarak
I have an AMD 64 [Socket 754] processor. However, I installed Debian Sarge for the x86
architecture. Is it best to stay like this, or to change to a 64 bit one? As I was told that the
x86 kernel is optimized for the Hammer processor.
And if I want to change, is it enough to compile a kernel for the 64 bit arch and install it, or
do I have to install Debian all over again?
Thx,
ib
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Andrea Vettorello
<ibm...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have an AMD 64 [Socket 754] processor. However, I installed Debian Sarge for the x86
> architecture. Is it best to stay like this, or to change to a 64 bit one? As I was told that the
> x86 kernel is optimized for the Hammer processor.
>
> And if I want to change, is it enough to compile a kernel for the 64 bit arch and install it, or
> do I have to install Debian all over again?
>
I don't know how the IA32 compatibility layer for the AMD 64 works,
but i suspect you need all the applications compiled for 64 bit, so
recompiling only the kernel probably wouldn't be enough.
There's a project on Alioth about the AMD64 port of Debian:
http://alioth.debian.org/projects/debian-amd64/
Andrea
Paolo Alexis Falcone
>
> I have an AMD 64 [Socket 754] processor. However, I installed Debian Sarge for the x86
> architecture. Is it best to stay like this, or to change to a 64 bit one? As I was told that the
> x86 kernel is optimized for the Hammer processor.
Using an AMD64 in pure 32bit mode is just like driving a 5-speed car
only up to second gear. There's nothing really wrong with that though,
although it's pretty much a waste of capabilities. That goes with
running Athlon64's in pure 32-bit mode.
Do mind though that there are still a few software that has yet to be
ported to native AMD64 and/or has some issues with pure 64bit. Caveat
emptor. But look on the bright side nonetheless - you get more
capacity for memory beyond 4GB without resorting to cheats like PAE,
bigger address space, faster decryption, etc...
> And if I want to change, is it enough to compile a kernel for the 64 bit arch and install it, or
> do I have to install Debian all over again?
No. The AMD64, though having an x86 compatibility mode, has a
different native binary format. That means all things would go 64bit
if you'd rely on native AMD64 binaries. Debian's AMD64 port, though a
pure 64bit port, has an /emul directory wherein you can place 32bit
software that hasn't yet been ported to native AMD64.
--
Paolo Alexis Falcone
pfal...@gmail.com
Ron Johnson
> On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 02:57:51 -0800 (PST), Ibrahim Mubarak
> <ibm...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Do mind though that there are still a few software that has yet to be
> ported to native AMD64 and/or has some issues with pure 64bit. Caveat
One thing that jumps right out is that the w32 codecs needed by
mplayer, avifile-win32-plugin, etc are still 32 bit.
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"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer
arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
Bertrand Meyer
Mike White
> One thing that jumps right out is that the w32 codecs needed by
> mplayer, avifile-win32-plugin, etc are still 32 bit.
Documentation for running those 32 bit binaries in a 32 bit chroot
system is available. Runs flawlessly on my pure amd 64 ubuntu system.
s. keeling
[snip]
Point of order: what is the point of that ten mile long
"X-Accept-Language:" header of yours? Is there any plausible reason
for all of that? Just wondering since I've never seen that done
before, and you must be one primo linguist if all that's real.
--
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(*) http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling Please don't Cc: me.
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Mike White
> Incoming from Mike White:
> [snip]
>
> Point of order: what is the point of that ten mile long
> "X-Accept-Language:" header of yours? Is there any plausible reason
> for all of that? Just wondering since I've never seen that done
> before, and you must be one primo linguist if all that's real.
I've been told i'm a cunning linguist, but you're right, that's
ridiculous.
Funny story: I used to get all sorts of Mozilla dialog boxes coming up
whenever i hit debian.org complaining that unless i installed so-and-so
language pack characters from such-and-such language would not be
rendered properly. So i clicked around in the settings and found some
sort of language installer thing and installed everything i could. I
don't have mozilla on this current system, so i can't check to see where
that settings dialog was. That didn't have any affect on the rendering
of debian.org, but as a bonus i now have a huge X-Accept-Language in
every outgoing email.
This message is being written from Thunderbird in Ubuntu so you
shouldn't see any of those excessive languages in X-Accept-Language.
Please alert me if you do. :)
Thanks for the heads up,
mike
s. keeling
> s. keeling wrote:
> >Incoming from Mike White:
> >[snip]
> >
> >Point of order: what is the point of that ten mile long
> >"X-Accept-Language:" header of yours? Is there any plausible reason
>
> whenever i hit debian.org complaining that unless i installed so-and-so
Ah. Yet another GUI gone Frankenstein. :-) Makes me glad I use mutt.
> This message is being written from Thunderbird in Ubuntu so you
> shouldn't see any of those excessive languages in X-Accept-Language.
Nope: "X-Accept-Language: en-us, en", so rest easy. Thx for the
explain. It sure looked odd.
--
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(*) http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling Please don't Cc: me.
- -