Re: switching from i386 to amd64
Hi, On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 06:00:51 -0500 Aryeh Friedman aryeh.fried...@gmail.com wrote: I have been using i386 (-STABLE) for years now and was wondering if switching to amd64 finally makes sense (i.e. are enough ports working on it now [xfrce4, firefox, libreoffice, openjdk-6, tomcat, mysql, apache22, flash, cups, devel/aegis, devel/cook, devel/fhist, virtualbox-ose, nvidia-kmod are the minimal ones I need]) the main reason for asking is PAE seems to be broken now and virtualbox-ose refuses to let me install 64 bit OS's like Win 8. I did the switch 2010 and missed nothing but wine. Ok, flash is not realy working for me but I also do not miss it. Erich ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 2012-12-16 at 05:35 -0600, Joseph A. Nagy, Jr wrote: I'm running amd64 and it seems rock-solid and well supported. I had a similar question. I wanted to know if there are issues for audio, when using 64 bit and got this reply: If you do not have a _specific_ requirement for 32 bit, use 64 bit, of course if you have a 64 bit CPU. :-) Specific requirements _could_ be wine and nVidia's proprietary GPU driver, as far as I know. - Polytropon (Btw. thank you Polytropon :) I guess in the web I read something about issues with VBox, but perhaps I'm confusing VBox with wine. I chose 64 bit and will stay with it, even if I should install another version of FreeBSD today. Regards, Ralf ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 2012-12-16 at 18:45 +0700, Erich Dollansky wrote: flash For Linux there are no issues with the proprietary 64 bit flash, but there will be no new versions of Flash any more for Linux. If FreeBSD should use the Linux version, than Flash in the near future either way won't work any more. IIRC Flash only is needed by some browsers and only for videos that e.g. start with an advertising and special tasks like that. I'm not sure, but AFAIR HTML 5 can replace Flash, assumed a video doesn't start with an advertising and things like that. For Linux Adobe will continue providing security upgrades for 11.2 in the future, but that won't help, when websites expect newer versions. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:05:47 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote: On Sun, 2012-12-16 at 18:45 +0700, Erich Dollansky wrote: flash For Linux there are no issues with the proprietary 64 bit flash, but there will be no new versions of Flash any more for Linux. If FreeBSD should use the Linux version, than Flash in the near future either way won't work any more. That shouldn't be _that_ complicated, as Flash is going to be extinct soon (primarily to the lack of it on mobile devices with their growing market share). HTML5 will take over the world instead. :-) IIRC Flash only is needed by some browsers and only for videos that e.g. start with an advertising and special tasks like that. Oh, if it would be that simple... :-( Sadly, for some developers, Flash has gotten a replacement for HTML. They design their whole pages _inside_ Flash, so if you don't have it installed, you get an empty page. Their excuse is interactivity. Still more and more online games (those you can play in the web browser) migrate to HTML 5 technology which offers good support on many platforms (and not only on the latest Windows). And if you're using Firefox, there are plugins available that allow you to download video content instead of dealing with the Flash player the site wants you to use. This also encourages the idea of wathcing such content offline with your favourite player, which is mplayer. :-) I'm not sure, but AFAIR HTML 5 can replace Flash, assumed a video doesn't start with an advertising and things like that. It already does this in more and more locations. Regarding video, there's still the problem created by patent lawyers and other strange guys: the coded. HTML 5 can support many formats for video content, even free formats (that do not require anyone to pay royalties in order to use it), but in how far those are already distributed among browsers and systems, that's a totally different question. However, the out of the box experience gets better. Soon the functionality of Flash will be integrated per default in modern web browsers. Just imagine how stupid it would be if I created a web page that requires you to download a proprietary plugin (with lots of security holes!) in order to see a PNG image, to see text in green color, or to render text centered. Sounds idiotic? It is! And it's mostly what applies to Flash. :-) For Linux Adobe will continue providing security upgrades for 11.2 in the future, but that won't help, when websites expect newer versions. Correct, so this is another good reason for finally dropping Flash and move on to better alternatives. Side note: I've been experiencing working Flash for many years now without any trouble on FreeBSD. Sometimes I wish it wouldn't work anymore. It makes the web much more readable. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012, Ralf Mardorf wrote: On Sun, 2012-12-16 at 05:35 -0600, Joseph A. Nagy, Jr wrote: I'm running amd64 and it seems rock-solid and well supported. I had a similar question. I wanted to know if there are issues for audio, when using 64 bit and got this reply: If you do not have a _specific_ requirement for 32 bit, use 64 bit, of course if you have a 64 bit CPU. :-) Specific requirements _could_ be wine and nVidia's proprietary GPU driver, as far as I know. - Polytropon (Btw. thank you Polytropon :) I guess in the web I read something about issues with VBox, but perhaps I'm confusing VBox with wine. I chose 64 bit and will stay with it, even if I should install another version of FreeBSD today. VirtualBox works well with both i386 and amd64 hosts and guests. Of course, with an amd64 host there can be more RAM to share between host and VMs. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:48:40 +0100 Ralf Mardorf ralf.mard...@rocketmail.com wrote: Specific requirements _could_ be wine and nVidia's proprietary GPU driver, as far as I know. - Polytropon (Btw. thank you Polytropon :) I'm using amd64 on an Atom/ION box here, the Nvidia binary drivers work fine for both openGL and the vdpau stuff. Virtualbox worked fine too, but this Atom doesn't have hardware virtualisation support so it's a bit sluggish. I've not tried (or wanted) Wine in years. -- Steve O'Hara-Smith st...@sohara.org ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On 12/16/12 11:00, Aryeh Friedman wrote: I have been using i386 (-STABLE) for years now and was wondering if switching to amd64 finally makes sense (i.e. are enough ports working on it now [xfrce4, firefox, libreoffice, openjdk-6, tomcat, mysql, apache22, flash, cups, devel/aegis, devel/cook, devel/fhist, virtualbox-ose, nvidia-kmod are the minimal ones I need]) the main reason for asking is PAE seems to be broken now and virtualbox-ose refuses to let me install 64 bit OS's like Win 8. I've been using amd64 since I built my current box in April 2008 (starting with 7.0-RELEASE) and have never had a problem. However, I avoid Flash like the plague it is. I recently installed an nVidia card and have no problems with the driver - the latest release dealt with the screen flash problem I had been having. As far as I understand, PAE usage has always had the caveat that certain device drivers may not work with it, and I suspect PAE support is suffering bit rot. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On 12/16/12 04:00, Aryeh Friedman wrote: I have been using i386 (-STABLE) for years now and was wondering if switching to amd64 finally makes sense (i.e. are enough ports working on it now [xfrce4, firefox, libreoffice, openjdk-6, tomcat, mysql, apache22, flash, cups, devel/aegis, devel/cook, devel/fhist, virtualbox-ose, nvidia-kmod are the minimal ones I need]) the main reason for asking is PAE seems to be broken now and virtualbox-ose refuses to let me install 64 bit OS's like Win 8. I've been using 9.0 release for about six months. xfce, firefox, thunderbird, openoffice 3.4.1, jdk (most was done prior to moving to fbsd 9.0, will be doing more) mysql, nvidia driver. had trouble using html5 from youtube -- caused weird transparent rendering issues, had to disable it. minor problems with oo which are probably generic. (Infinite loop when page had 20-40 images to run text around; not repeatable, but happens fairly frequently; scrolling causes refresh which temporarily fixes the problem). On 12/16/12 07:08, Polytropon wrote: And if you're using Firefox, there are plugins available that allow you to download video content instead of dealing with the Flash player the site wants you to use. and the recommended one is? Sometimes I wish it wouldn't work anymore. It makes the web much more readable. :-) amen ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:13:36 -0700, Gary Aitken wrote: On 12/16/12 07:08, Polytropon wrote: And if you're using Firefox, there are plugins available that allow you to download video content instead of dealing with the Flash player the site wants you to use. and the recommended one is? No idea, I can't use Firefox as it freezes my computer (due to a faulty GPU). I prefer using youtube-dl and get-flash-video scripts which do not rely on a browser, but work for 99% of the cases I've tried them. But as suggested, there are Firefox extensions that allow a similar functionality, but integrated with the web browser. Until later, I'm using Opera, it doesn't freeze my computer. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: switching from i386 to amd64
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 06:00:51 -0500 Aryeh Friedman wrote: I have been using i386 (-STABLE) for years now and was wondering if switching to amd64 ... nvidia-kmod are the minimal ones I need]) the main reason for asking is PAE seems to be broken now The last I heard the nvidia driver wasn't compatible with PAE ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
What is involved in switching from i386 to AMD64?
Hi, What actually needs to be done when switching machine architectures? I am facing a motherboard/CPU upgrade following the demise of an Athlon+ setup. (I am running my FreeBSD drive in a P3 while trying to figure this out.) Replacing it with an oldish P4 would be easiest but they are rapidly becoming extinct. After much Googling I can't quite figure out what happens if I were to put the FreeBSD i386 HD into a 64-bit system. Nothing? Disaster? Do I totally have the wrong end of the stick? I'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks, Oliver ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: What is involved in switching from i386 to AMD64?
On Sun, Dec 31, 2006 at 10:40:37AM -0800, Oliver Iberien wrote: Hi, What actually needs to be done when switching machine architectures? I am facing a motherboard/CPU upgrade following the demise of an Athlon+ setup. (I am running my FreeBSD drive in a P3 while trying to figure this out.) Replacing it with an oldish P4 would be easiest but they are rapidly becoming extinct. After much Googling I can't quite figure out what happens if I were to put the FreeBSD i386 HD into a 64-bit system. Nothing? Disaster? Do I totally have the wrong end of the stick? I'd be grateful for any advice. Since the AMD64 architecture is completely backwards-compatible with the older i386 architecture, the i386 version of FreeBSD should work just fine in the new system. -- Insert your favourite quote here. Erik Trulsson [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: What is involved in switching from i386 to AMD64?
Thank you very much! On Sunday 31 December 2006 11:05, Erik Trulsson wrote: On Sun, Dec 31, 2006 at 10:40:37AM -0800, Oliver Iberien wrote: Hi, What actually needs to be done when switching machine architectures? I am facing a motherboard/CPU upgrade following the demise of an Athlon+ setup. (I am running my FreeBSD drive in a P3 while trying to figure this out.) Replacing it with an oldish P4 would be easiest but they are rapidly becoming extinct. After much Googling I can't quite figure out what happens if I were to put the FreeBSD i386 HD into a 64-bit system. Nothing? Disaster? Do I totally have the wrong end of the stick? I'd be grateful for any advice. Since the AMD64 architecture is completely backwards-compatible with the older i386 architecture, the i386 version of FreeBSD should work just fine in the new system. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: What is involved in switching from i386 to AMD64?
On Sunday 31 December 2006 11:05, Erik Trulsson wrote: On Sun, Dec 31, 2006 at 10:40:37AM -0800, Oliver Iberien wrote: Hi, What actually needs to be done when switching machine architectures? I am facing a motherboard/CPU upgrade following the demise of an Athlon+ setup. (I am running my FreeBSD drive in a P3 while trying to figure this out.) Replacing it with an oldish P4 would be easiest but they are rapidly becoming extinct. After much Googling I can't quite figure out what happens if I were to put the FreeBSD i386 HD into a 64-bit system. Nothing? Disaster? Do I totally have the wrong end of the stick? I'd be grateful for any advice. Since the AMD64 architecture is completely backwards-compatible with the older i386 architecture, the i386 version of FreeBSD should work just fine in the new system. Thanks very much for this. I have the impression from scanning the freebsd-amd64 archives that it is difficult to convert an existing system from i386 to AMD64, and probably not worth it. Do people have any opinions on this? Oliver ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: What is involved in switching from i386 to AMD64?
Oliver Iberien [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sunday 31 December 2006 11:05, Erik Trulsson wrote: On Sun, Dec 31, 2006 at 10:40:37AM -0800, Oliver Iberien wrote: Hi, What actually needs to be done when switching machine architectures? I am facing a motherboard/CPU upgrade following the demise of an Athlon+ setup. (I am running my FreeBSD drive in a P3 while trying to figure this out.) Replacing it with an oldish P4 would be easiest but they are rapidly becoming extinct. After much Googling I can't quite figure out what happens if I were to put the FreeBSD i386 HD into a 64-bit system. Nothing? Disaster? Do I totally have the wrong end of the stick? I'd be grateful for any advice. Since the AMD64 architecture is completely backwards-compatible with the older i386 architecture, the i386 version of FreeBSD should work just fine in the new system. Thanks very much for this. I have the impression from scanning the freebsd-amd64 archives that it is difficult to convert an existing system from i386 to AMD64, and probably not worth it. Do people have any opinions on this? Depends on your need. I've never upgraded from i386 to amd64, so I can't say what the process is like. If you're running a desktop system, I recommend against running amd64. A lot of desktop code burns down, falls over, then sinks into the swamp when run on amd64. If you're running a server, not much problem. Most serious server programs have been running on 64-bit systems since before amd64 existed. One workaround is that you can run i386 programs on an amd64 kernel, if you compile with a special kernel option. I have no actual experience with this to comment on how well it works. Except for some very specific workloads, CPUs tend to perform roughly equally when run in i386 mode vs. amd64 mode. The only majorly compelling argument for amd64 at this time is that it makes life much easier if you have more than 3.5G of RAM in your system. In i386 mode, you either need to compile your kernel with PAE (which is an ugly, poorly supported hack in my opinion) or give up the RAM over 3.5G. -Bill ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
