I just put together a new machine for a friend. Sempron 3100 on ASUS K8V-MX. It was a rush job, because the computer she was using died. (Same one I wrote about recently that was having lockup problems - pretty sure now that it was the power supply. The last time she tried to turn it on, a big spark came out the back, and that was the end of it. Memory and vid card still test good.) So now that she has a shiny new 64-bit system, I'm wondering whether to go with 64-bit OS or stick to 32. I haven't had much time to research it, but I understand that there are some problems with Macromedia Flash and Java, which she needs. Some of the reading I've done suggests that you can install the 32-bit version of Firefox with the plugins to get around this. Anyone know if it's really as easy as that? Are there any problems with running 32-bit software on a 64-bit OS? Any particular bugginess with 64 that I should know about in advance? She runs KDE desktop and uses Gimp a lot. Oh, one other glitch I ran into - I tried to do the network install, but the boot cd doesn't have the kernel modules for the LAN chip. I was instructed to go to the install cd and make a "modules 3" floppy. There is no modules 3 image on the cd or on the ftp site, but there are images for "bootdisk1, bootdisk2, etc." Do I have to make the whole set and install from floppy, or is there a way to find out which disk has the right module and just use that with the cd? Or could I just put an older card in it for the install and then change the network card setup afterward? I'm thinking the latter would be easier than finding five or six blank floppy disks to use. Thanks, Greg
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 21:13:02 -0500 From: Gregory Avedissian <gma2004@verizon.net> I just put together a new machine for a friend. Sempron 3100 on ASUS K8V-MX. It was a rush job, because the computer she was using died. (Same one I wrote about recently that was having lockup problems - pretty sure now that it was the power supply. The last time she tried to turn it on, a big spark came out the back, and that was the end of it. Memory and vid card still test good.) So now that she has a shiny new 64-bit system, I'm wondering whether to go with 64-bit OS or stick to 32. I haven't had much time to research it, but I understand that there are some problems with Macromedia Flash and Java, which she needs. Some of the reading I've done suggests that you can install the 32-bit version of Firefox with the plugins to get around this. Anyone know if it's really as easy as that? Are there any problems with running 32-bit software on a 64-bit OS? Any particular bugginess with 64 that I should know about in advance? She runs KDE desktop and uses Gimp a lot. I hate to say it, but I installed 32-bit SUSE on my Athlon 64 for the following reasons: 1) It was always a pain in the butt syncing up software between my laptop (32-bit) and the 64-bit software. 2) Valgrind didn't work at the time (9.1 timeframe) on 64-bit code, which made it all but useless. Yes, it's possible to forcibly compile things in 32-bit mode, but it was a real pain when most of the development libraries were 64-bit only. 3) Yes, Java, Flash, etc. didn't work. That was generally a fairly minor nuisance, and there are no guarantees with 32-bit software. Right now the Adobe PDF plugin doesn't work on 32-bit SUSE 10.0 because it's compiled with an older version of g++ than what SUSE uses. The usual grief with proprietary software. -- Robert Krawitz <rlk@alum.mit.edu> Tall Clubs International -- http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2 Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lpf@uunet.uu.net Project lead for Gimp Print -- http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net "Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works." --Eric Crampton
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Greg et al, I have a dual Opteron at home running SuSE 9.2 with stock kernel upgrades. I am running the 64-bit version of SuSE with the exception of Firefox, which is a 32-bit executable. This is so that I can run the 32-bit version of Macromedia Flash and other plugins. I don't know of any 64-bit plugins for Firefox, and 64-bit Firefox, while it exists and functions, doesn't like 32-bit plugins, and I wanted the plugins. The 32-bit plugins work fine with the 32-bit Firefox. I have the Adobe plugin (32-bit), Flash, and Java. I believe that everything else on my machine is 64-bits. SuSE has the RPMS for 32-bit as well as 64-bit libraries, both of which I have installed (in /usr/lib and /usr/lib64). I'm not a software developer like Robert (Gutenprint), so my issues won't be the same. My use is that of a power user, and for that purpose, the 64-bit SuSE suits me well. Greg - what purpose will the machine serve? Let's see - I run KDE 3.4.2 without problems, VMware (with the unofficial vmware-any-any patches), Qemu, Thunderbird, Firefox, amaroK, xmms, Gimp, seti boinc, cross compile to MIPS, XEmacs, and many others, all without problems. As Robert mentions, the problems really arise when one starts to deal with proprietary software (try finding a Cisco proprietary VPN driver for a dual x86_64 running Linux, for example...). I think you'll also find yourself compiling from source more often. 64-bit RPMs aren't as easy to find as 32-bit RPMs. Also, on occasion, I've seen a source package have issues compiling on a 64-bit machine, but mostly they work fine if you have the necessary prerequisites installed. Later, Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFDtNmYHl0iXDssISsRAhoKAJ9s5V6ZWw8d+bgAREWtp4LXC/DsfACghX/p cMTz/M08kxSjXMxalx8nYzI= =4XAn -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Friday 30 December 2005 01:54, Andy Stewart wrote:
I don't know of any 64-bit plugins for Firefox, and 64-bit Firefox, while it exists and functions, doesn't like 32-bit plugins, and I wanted the plugins. The 32-bit plugins work fine with the 32-bit Firefox. I have the Adobe plugin (32-bit), Flash, and Java.
macromedia posted a status update for amd64/linux support: http://www.kaourantin.net/2005/12/flash-player-8-for-linux-update.html -mike
Thanks for your answers, guys. The person using this computer is doing genealogical research and writing. She also uses Gimp to create artwork, uses Skype for communications, and uses Geneweb for the genealogical database. She runs KDE with eight virtual desktops, and they're usually all occupied. Typically, there will be multiple firefox tabs/windows open, sometimes on maps that require Flash, multiple text editor (gedit) tabs open, editing several files at once, moving large blocks of text. Gimp is frequently open with a work in progress (many edits) and Skype is always running. And there are usually at least two Konqueror windows open - one for the Geneweb database, and one for file browsing, and sometimes one on a website. Occasionally, she'll use OOo to deal with a word doc that someone sends her. With all these projects open, any lockups or having to shutdown creates a major pain in the ass. The user is still fairly new to linux (about a year) and is way more interested in using it than in tweaking it. If anything has to be compiled from source, I'd be the one to do it. And I'd definitely need instructions on installing dual libraries. Stable and low-maintenance are important factors. I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to install both, on different partitions, and if one doesn't work, she can just switch to the other. Greg Andy Stewart wrote:
HI Greg et al,
I have a dual Opteron at home running SuSE 9.2 with stock kernel upgrades. I am running the 64-bit version of SuSE with the exception of Firefox, which is a 32-bit executable. This is so that I can run the 32-bit version of Macromedia Flash and other plugins. I don't know of any 64-bit plugins for Firefox, and 64-bit Firefox, while it exists and functions, doesn't like 32-bit plugins, and I wanted the plugins. The 32-bit plugins work fine with the 32-bit Firefox. I have the Adobe plugin (32-bit), Flash, and Java.
I believe that everything else on my machine is 64-bits. SuSE has the RPMS for 32-bit as well as 64-bit libraries, both of which I have installed (in /usr/lib and /usr/lib64).
I'm not a software developer like Robert (Gutenprint), so my issues won't be the same. My use is that of a power user, and for that purpose, the 64-bit SuSE suits me well. Greg - what purpose will the machine serve?
Let's see - I run KDE 3.4.2 without problems, VMware (with the unofficial vmware-any-any patches), Qemu, Thunderbird, Firefox, amaroK, xmms, Gimp, seti boinc, cross compile to MIPS, XEmacs, and many others, all without problems. As Robert mentions, the problems really arise when one starts to deal with proprietary software (try finding a Cisco proprietary VPN driver for a dual x86_64 running Linux, for example...).
I think you'll also find yourself compiling from source more often. 64-bit RPMs aren't as easy to find as 32-bit RPMs. Also, on occasion, I've seen a source package have issues compiling on a 64-bit machine, but mostly they work fine if you have the necessary prerequisites installed.
Later,
Andy
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Greg, Based on your description, I hope you have a lot of memory in that machine! I'm thinking 1GB. The dual library installation was easy - SuSE does it for you with the RPMs. It was largely invisible to me until I compiled some software from source and noticed what was happening. Howard correctly notes that one occasinally needs to tweak the arguments passed to ./configure to get things to compile, and that this is not always documented in an obvious way. Make sure you have a stable motherboard. I've heard that sometimes they can be flaky and that can cause lockups and such, which are quite annoying. ;-) (In fact, I recently swapped out my flaky MSI MB in favor of a Tyan. Target practice, anyone?). I suppose one could install SuSE 32-bit on one part of the hard drive and SuSE 64-bit on the other, but I suspect that would defeat your goal of low maintenance since you'd end up tweaking both. Later, Andy Gregory Avedissian wrote:
Thanks for your answers, guys.
The person using this computer is doing genealogical research and writing. She also uses Gimp to create artwork, uses Skype for communications, and uses Geneweb for the genealogical database.
She runs KDE with eight virtual desktops, and they're usually all occupied. Typically, there will be multiple firefox tabs/windows open, sometimes on maps that require Flash, multiple text editor (gedit) tabs open, editing several files at once, moving large blocks of text. Gimp is frequently open with a work in progress (many edits) and Skype is always running. And there are usually at least two Konqueror windows open - one for the Geneweb database, and one for file browsing, and sometimes one on a website. Occasionally, she'll use OOo to deal with a word doc that someone sends her. With all these projects open, any lockups or having to shutdown creates a major pain in the ass.
The user is still fairly new to linux (about a year) and is way more interested in using it than in tweaking it. If anything has to be compiled from source, I'd be the one to do it. And I'd definitely need instructions on installing dual libraries. Stable and low-maintenance are important factors. I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to install both, on different partitions, and if one doesn't work, she can just switch to the other.
Greg Andy Stewart wrote:
HI Greg et al,
I have a dual Opteron at home running SuSE 9.2 with stock kernel upgrades. I am running the 64-bit version of SuSE with the exception of Firefox, which is a 32-bit executable. This is so that I can run the 32-bit version of Macromedia Flash and other plugins. I don't know of any 64-bit plugins for Firefox, and 64-bit Firefox, while it exists and functions, doesn't like 32-bit plugins, and I wanted the plugins. The 32-bit plugins work fine with the 32-bit Firefox. I have the Adobe plugin (32-bit), Flash, and Java.
I believe that everything else on my machine is 64-bits. SuSE has the RPMS for 32-bit as well as 64-bit libraries, both of which I have installed (in /usr/lib and /usr/lib64).
I'm not a software developer like Robert (Gutenprint), so my issues won't be the same. My use is that of a power user, and for that purpose, the 64-bit SuSE suits me well. Greg - what purpose will the machine serve?
Let's see - I run KDE 3.4.2 without problems, VMware (with the unofficial vmware-any-any patches), Qemu, Thunderbird, Firefox, amaroK, xmms, Gimp, seti boinc, cross compile to MIPS, XEmacs, and many others, all without problems. As Robert mentions, the problems really arise when one starts to deal with proprietary software (try finding a Cisco proprietary VPN driver for a dual x86_64 running Linux, for example...).
I think you'll also find yourself compiling from source more often. 64-bit RPMs aren't as easy to find as 32-bit RPMs. Also, on occasion, I've seen a source package have issues compiling on a 64-bit machine, but mostly they work fine if you have the necessary prerequisites installed.
Later,
Andy
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- -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFDtU7WHl0iXDssISsRAsWpAJ9jcKRgaG2elsl3pr4ffqBJ8ZGXuQCffOzP 9XDbX135T4SMBJ/wDYQ8940= =eOoH -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (4)
-
Andy Stewart -
Gregory Avedissian -
Mike Frysinger -
Robert L Krawitz