[ATrpms-users] Going x86 to x86_64

[Fedor Pikus]

There is a way to upgrade i386 system to  x86_64 without reinstall. I
upgraded FC4, here are the steps:

1) Download 64-bit packages:
kernel (or kernel-smp)
module-init-tools (replaces i386 version)
initscripts (replaces i386 version)
mkinitrd (replaces i386 version)
coreutils (replaces i386 version)
glibc (coexists with i386 version)
glibc-common (replaces i386 version)
pam (coexists with i386 version)
libselinux (coexists with i386 version)
libacl (coexists with i386 version)
libattr (coexists with i386 version)
audit-libs (coexists with i386 version)
cracklib (coexists with i386 version)
binutils (replaces i386 version)

(the list was current when I upgraded my FC4)

1a) Will also need these packages, but they can be installed later:
glibc-devel (replaces i386 version)
kernel-devel (replaces i386 version)
glibc-headers (replaces i386 version)
i2c-kernheaders (replaces i386 version)
libstdc++-devel (replaces i386 version)
libstdc++ (coexists with i386 version)
gcc (replaces i386 version)
cpp (replaces i386 version)
gcc-c++ (replaces i386 version)
libgcc (coexists with i386 version)
glibc-kernheaders (replaces i386 version)

The above packages you download, but you can't install them yet. Not
until you do the next step:

2) Edit /usr/lib/rpm/macros:
%_transaction_color     3 (was 0)

2a) Optionally change:
%_arch               x86_64
%_build_arch         x86_64
%_host               x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu
%_host_cpu           x86_64

3) Edit /etc/rpm/platform:
x86_64-redhat-linux

4) Add x86_64 macros, /usr/lib/rpm/x86_64-linux/macros
They are similar to /usr/lib/rpm/i386-linux/macros except for this:

%_arch                        x86_64 (was i386)
%optflags             -O2 -g (was -O2 -g -march=i386 -mcpu=i686)
%_lib                 lib64 (was lib)
%_multilibno          2 (was 1)

Now you are ready to install:

5) Install new packages:
rpm -ivh --replacefiles --replacepkgs --oldpackage --ignorearch <rpms>

6) Several module options are not supported, the ones I know are:
options snd-usb-audio enable
options i2c-core i2c_debug=1

If your modules stop loading, check dmesg to see if they complain
about some options.

On 8/10/06, Julian Edwards <atrpms at julian-edwards.com> wrote:
> Keith C wrote:
> > Easy, no.  Your current non-64 bit kernel will prevent you from
> > installing a 64 bit kernel through yum/smart.  The only way I know to
> > upgrade is to use the install DVD/CD.  I went through the same upgrade
> > as you and decided 64 bit wasn't worth the trouble.  I've been fine
> > running 32 bit on my Athlon64.
>
> Ah fair enough.  I'm looking for a performance gain though, as I do a
> lot of video and audio transcoding work so I might persevere.
>
> >> If I want to go to FC5 at the same time would that be a problem?
> >
> > Might as well.
>
>
> I'll probably wait for FC6 and do that.  Hopefully, there won't be any
> problems with it upgrading 32->64
>
> Thanks for the quick reply.
>
> Cheers
> J
>
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-- 
Fedor G Pikus (fpikus at gmail.com)
http://www.pikus.net
http://wild-light.com