Re: Hardware Question

Scott Ehrlich wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Jul 2007, Nils Kassube wrote:
>
>
>> Donald D Henson wrote:
>>
>>> 1. Does i686 always mean that the referenced processor/machine/platform
>>> is 64-bit?
>>>
>> No, it is 32 bit. The CPUs which are referred to by "i686" are usually 32
>> bit CPUs. See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I686>.
>>
>>
>>> 2. Does i386 always mean 32-bit?
>>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>
>>> 3. If the 'uname' command reports that the machine/processor is i686
>>> and that the platform is i386, does this mean that I am restricted to
>>> 32-bit software?
>>>
>> Yes and no. If your CPU understands 64 bit instructions, they should work,
>> but what you get as 64 bit software probably needs the libraries compiled
>> for 64 bit Linux. If you want to have 64 bit Ubuntu, you need the AMD64
>> version.
>>
>
> One way to check your processor's 32 vs 64-bit capability:
>
> - Try to boot or install a 64-bit version of an OS. If the OS sees a
> 32-bit processor, it will complain and instruct you to install the 32-bit
> version.
>
> Scott
>

Kind of the sink or swim technique, eh? Actually, that's my strategy. But as I was working on my upgrade plan, I realized that I have no idea which processors are 32-bit and which are 64-bit. After the upgrade, I guess I'll know. Thanks, everybody.

Don Henson
>
>> Nils
>>
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>
>

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