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Jim_1981
March 17th, 2008, 03:35 PM
I want to go from the i386 version of gutsy to the amd64 one. My questions are these:

1) Do I need to reinstall or can I just use apt to install the amd64 kernel?

2) Are there any compatibility issues with packages? The only software I've installed that isn't in the repositories is mathematica, which has one version for all flavours of linux.

3) How much difference with there be? I do use my computer for number crunching as well as general web browsing (boinc, mathematica and numerical solution of maths problems in C++ to name a few things)

Cheers :)
NightwishFan
March 17th, 2008, 03:36 PM
You need to reinstall. Yes it is faster. Flash is iffy but it works. Read the sticky.
fjgaude
March 17th, 2008, 03:38 PM
I want to go from the i386 version of gutsy to the amd64 one. My questions are these:

1) Do I need to reinstall or can I just use apt to install the amd64 kernel?

You have to fresh install the 64-bit version, as all the support programs are 64-bit, not just the kernel.

2) Are there any compatibility issues with packages? The only software I've installed that isn't in the repositories is mathematica, which has one version for all flavours of linux.

It's just fine now a-days.

3) How much difference with there be? I do use my computer for number crunching as well as general web browsing (boinc, mathematica and numerical solution of maths problems in C++ to name a few things)

Everything looks and feels the same between the two versions.

Cheers :)

Let us know how you make out.
Jim_1981
March 17th, 2008, 03:51 PM
Cheers very much :) The reason I ask is my computer at work is a fairly lowly celeron 430 system and my home one is a athlon 64 3700+. My home computer is a bit faster, but not all that much - I expected my home computer to show the work one a clean pair of heels.
shane2peru
March 17th, 2008, 07:59 PM
Jim,

Make sure you DO NOT keep your /home partition config files. That will greatly downgrade your 64bit experience! I did it, and it wasn't good, many problems, you must start with a clean /home NO HIDDEN files that start with a . Kind of a pain, but it will be worth it.

Shane

EDIT: I second the other fellows suggestion, read the sticky, it has great setup instructions.
jespdj
March 18th, 2008, 10:22 AM
3) How much difference with there be? I do use my computer for number crunching as well as general web browsing (boinc, mathematica and numerical solution of maths problems in C++ to name a few things)
Especially for number crunching you would get a performance gain of up to 20-30% with the 64-bit version compared to 32-bit.