64 bit Newbie question.

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#1

Evening guys,

In the next week I’m looking forward to getting a new laptop and I intend to run OpenSuSE 11 64 on it.

As I have never run any 64 bit OS’s previously, asides from 64 bit OS being able to access more than 3Gb of system memory I know very little (by my own admission) about the abilities of a 64 bit OS. :rolleyes:

Is it possible to run a 32 bit application on a 64 bit version of OpenSuSE without any major drama (I presume that it would work via some form of compatibility layer)?

Unfortunately there are some 32 bit apps that I will not be able to get 64 bit versions of. This means I am left with the option of running 32 bit version of OpenSuSE and not be able to access the full 4Gb of memory that I have in the laptop which I would prefer to avoid.

Apologies if this question is a bit silly but I really don’t know.

Regards,

Andrew.

#2

with the 32 bit version of opensuse they have changed the standard kernel to the pae kernel. With this kernel you can access full 4 gb of memory or up to 64 GB of memory on a 32 bit system.

With the x86_64 version you can run 32 bit applications as long as you install 32 bit compatibility and the 32 bit libraries, version, etc etc of that program.

hope this helps

#3

Thanks idshark!
Good to see that there is an ‘escape route’ if I do need to go to the 32 bit solution.

Is this easy to install via YAST software lists; ie. select ‘32bit compatability’?

Regards,

Andrew.

#4

Yes you can install through yast or in the initial opensuse installation

#5

Awesome!!!

Can’t wait to check it out later this week :cool: :slight_smile:
Thanks for your help IdShark!

#6

In Yast > Software Management > Filter > Patterns > now check 32-bit runtime library
look in the right window & see if everything is checked that you might need.

Accept:)