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List:       gentoo-user
Subject:    Re: [gentoo-user] Install Gentoo 64bit from 32bit running enviroment
From:       Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon () gmail ! com>
Date:       2009-12-26 13:41:57
Message-ID: 200912261541.57420.alan.mckinnon () gmail ! com
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On Saturday 26 December 2009 14:05:52 Francisco Ares wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 8:41 AM, Alan McKinnon 
<alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>wrote:
> > On Thursday 24 December 2009 16:33:26 Carlos Moyano Cubillos wrote:
> > > Dear friends,
> > >
> > > I have a gentoo system running 32bit .. and I have a 30GB partition
> > > available on which I would like to install a 64bit Gentoo to test for
> > > 64bit extensions processor supports .
> > >
> > >
> > > someone could help me and tell me how to proceed with this
> > > installation from my running system without having to reboot with a
> > > livecd.
> >
> > You have to reboot with a LiveCD.
> >
> > Your running 32 bit kernel does not support 64 bit instructions and there
> > is
> > no magic voodoo to make it possible. The CPU might understand 64 bit
> > instructions but the running kernel that drives it definitely does not.
> >
> > --
> > alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
> 
> I don't know for sure, but I would guess that if you don't try to use any
> file from the new 64 bit partition, that would be fine.
> 
> AFAIK you can install a 64 bit system using the 32 bit livecd.
> 
> Just a guess, though

Think it through. The OP wants to install a 64 bit OS using a running 32 bit 
system. Now, this can work with a pure binary distro - you are just copying 
files after all with those installs.

But this is Gentoo, and he'll have to build something sometime. The absolute 
minimum is to build a 64 kernel as that is not supplied in binary form. How 
will a running 32 bit system generate 64 bit code?

At some point he's going to have to reboot, even if just to use the new OS. 
But before he uses it for real, he'll have to rebuild most of it. That will 
take a good few hours as opposed to the 20 minutes or so to do the original 
install. What has he saved? Very little - 20 minutes at most.

Far easier to just reboot into a LiveCD and install from there. No sense in 
spending large numbers of dollars to save small numbers of pennies

-- 
alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com

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