[mythtv-users] Switch from 32 to 64 bit

Mark Knecht markknecht at gmail.com
Sat Dec 13 20:55:00 UTC 2008


On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 6:49 AM, Rod Smith <mythtv at rodsbooks.com> wrote:
> On Saturday 13 December 2008 09:15:55 am Jos Hoekstra wrote:
>> Hey,
>>
>> I'm on Ubuntu 8.10 and planning to install a new motherboard, CPU and
>> graphics. I'd like to keep my current installation on disk because I'm
>> pretty much done the way it is.
>> In the past I've done this several times staying within on architecture,
>> so within x86. Only thing I needed to do is to keep an eye on it's first
>> boot and if that checked out I was off. I never needed to change things
>> or whatever.
>>
>> Is the same going to happen with this upgrade? Or will linux just drive
>> the processor via 32-bit?
>
> There are x86 (32-bit) and x86-64 (64-bit) versions of most modern Linux
> distributions, including Ubuntu. Thus, to run the system in 64-bit mode, you
> need to swap out your current 32-bit version of Ubuntu in favor of a 64-bit
> version. Unfortunately, there's no installation option for a direct
> 32-to-64-bit upgrade, so this can be a bit involved. I've never done it
> myself, but my understanding is that you'd need to back up your databse and
> video files (this will be easier if the video files are on a separate
> partition from everything else), do a fresh install, and then restore your
> backed-up database and video files. Unless you're planning a major software
> upgrade, this may be more hassle than it's worth. The speed gain is likely to
> be modest, and therefore not critical unless your system is on the edge
> speed-wise.
>
> --
> Rod Smith

Given a bit of disk space it's almost always an option to run both
32-bit and 64-bit on the same machine. Just create new partitions,
install 64-bit to the new partitions, and then modify grub to allow a
boot choice. Work out whatever the issues are with 64-bit, and then
get rid of 32-bit if desired.

I see NO speed advantage to 64-bit Gentoo myself. I have only 4GB DRAM
so no need to go further for that reason. I run 64-bit, and it runs
well, but for me as a desktop type user it provides no real advantage
and a few minor disadvantages.

Cheers,
Mark


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