I have actually upgraded a machine from i686 to x86_64 (different point releases), but there are a number of files not upgraded that bugger up yum. You would have to search through a number of /etc/ and /usr/lib/ and /usr/share files (iirc) that contain various bits regarding the architecture of the machine. I got it working, but ended up reinstalling the OS anyway, and I wouldn't recommend the hassle :P
After all that tinkering, I agree with the "clean is better" sentiment. -Chris On 2011-11-21, at 6:42 AM, Andrew Z wrote: Vladimir, Thank you for reply. I like things clean , so ill ill do just that - backup and wipe out. Andrew -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. Vladimir Mosgalin <mosga...@vm10124.spb.edu<mailto:mosga...@vm10124.spb.edu>> wrote: Hi Andrew Z! On 2011.11.21 at 01:07:44 -0500, Andrew Z wrote next: > all this brings me to a simple question - how do i move from i686 SL 6.1 > that was running on Sempron to Phenom ( which is 64 and 4 cores ) system? There isn't a good way to move from i686 system to x86-64 with upgrade. Sure, it can be performed as a big hack, but really it's not something one should do, and it's not supported in any way. If you are fine with using i686 system, then you usually don't need to do anything on such hardware upgrade - the only typical minor problem can be with ide controller detection (driver for new controller is not present in old initrd). It can be fixed in various ways - for example, I prefer booting rescue mode, going to console, mounting old system, chrooting into it and running mkinitrd or reinstalling kernel. If you want to move to x86-64, then you have to reinstall system, as in real reinstall, not upgrade; depending on your partition scheme /home might be preserved, or you might need full backup, clean reinstall and then restore of parts you need. Or, if your VG has enough free space, you can just create new LVs during installation, install there then copy data you need from old LVs. Installing from usb should be no problem, be that usb flash drive or usb cdrom. -- Vladimir
