Attachment 63499 Details for Bug 99168 – Amd64 FAQ XML

Amd64 FAQ XML

amd64faq.xml (text/plain), 11.43 KB, created by Luis Medinas (RETIRED) on 2005-07-15 20:16:26 UTC

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><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
><!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
>
>
><guide link="faq.html">
><title>Gentoo Linux AMD64 Frequently Asked Questions</title>
>
><author title="Editor">
>	<mail link="lmedinas@gmail.com">Luis Medinas</mail>
></author>
><author title="Editor">
>	<mail link="gerrynjr@gentoo.org">Gerald J. Normandin Jr.</mail>
></author>
>
><author title="Editor">
>	<mail link="blubb@gentoo.org">Simon Stelling</mail>
></author>
>
><abstract>This is the Gentoo Linux/AMD64 Frequently Asked Questions</abstract>
>
>
>
><license/>
>
><version>1.0</version>
><date>2005-07-13</date>
>
><chapter>
><title>Introduction</title>
><section>
><title>Introduction to Gentoo/AMD64 FAQ</title>
><body>
><p>
>This document contains the most commonly asked questions about Gentoo/AMD64. We intend 
>to help and provide useful information about Gentoo/AMD64. Some of these questions can 
>be found in forums, irc or mailing lists. If you have suggestions or questions about this 
>FAQ you are welcome to send a e-mail to the authors explaining the problem.
></p>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Installation</title>
><section>
><title>What CFLAGS should I use for AMD64/EM64T?</title>
><body>
><p>
>You should use simple <c>CFLAGS</c> to avoid future problems with your system. For example, 
>you should use <c>CFLAGS="-march=k8 -O2 -pipe"</c> for Athlon64 or Opteron and 
><c>CFLAGS="-march=nocoda -O2 -pipe"</c> for a EM64T processor. If you plan to use a 32-bits 
>chroot you should use <c>CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O2 -pipe -msse2"</c> for a AMD64 processor 
>and for a EM64T you should use <c>CFLAGS="-march=pentium4 -O2 -pipe"</c> <e>inside the chroot</e>.
></p>
><note><c>-march=k8</c> is the same as <c>-march=athlon64</c> and <c>-march=opteron</c>.</note>
><warn>You should <e>never</e> stick <c>-fPIC</c>, <c>-m32</c> or <c>-m64</c> into your <c>CFLAGS</c>. 
>They are automatically added whenever they're needed. Please also note that the <c>-Os</c> flag is 
>currently not supported.</warn>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>What kernel should I use for AMD64?</title>
><body>
><p>
>You can use almost all kernel sources available in portage. We recomend to use <c>gentoo-sources</c> 
>because it is a special flavor kernel designed for Gentoo Linux. It contains lots of AMD64-specific 
>patches and therefore is the only flavor supported by Gentoo/AMD64. You can try <c>vanilla-sources</c> 
>as well. If you feel brave or you lack of hardware support you can always try the experimental kernel 
>from Andrew Morton called <c>mm-sources</c>.
></p>
><warn>You should watch out for some kernel features which are not tested well, such as <c>PREEMPT</c>.</warn>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>Will I have a performance upgrade if I use 64bit system instead of 32bit?</title>
><body>
><p>
>That is a difficult question to answer: In some cases, you will experience a performance improvement, 
>in other cases you will not. For everyday use there is nearly no difference between 64bit and 32-bit. 
>64bit is generally faster when it comes to floating point computing, which is normally the case in 
>multimedia applications and 3D rendering. This 
><uri link="http://enterprise.linux.com/enterprise/05/06/09/1413209.shtml?tid=121">article</uri> 
>may interest you. There's also a nice <uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-349691.html">thread</uri> 
>in our <uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org">forums</uri>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>How do I get 32bit emulation for my system?</title>
><body>
><p>
>You have to install a few packages to get 32bit libraries into your system. 
>These packages automatically pulled in as dependencies for 32bit applications by portage, so there is no 
>need to manually emerge them. You can install such packages by doing:
></p>
><pre caption="Installing 32bits libraries">
>emerge emul-linux-x86-baselibs
>emerge emul-linux-x86-compat
>emul-linux-x86-glibc
></pre>
><p>
>Furthermore, you need the <c>IA32_EMULATION</c> option activated in 
>the kernel. 
></p>
><pre caption="Activating IA32 Emulation in Kernel source">
>#cd /usr/src/linux
>#make menuconfig
>Executable file formats / Emulations  --->
>[*] IA32 Emulation
></pre>                        
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>What is multilib and how can I use it?</title>
><body>
><p>
>Right now every AMD64 processor is able to run 32bit code as well as 64bit code. However When you have a 32bit 
>application, you are unable to mix it with 64bit libraries or vice versa. However, you can natively run 32bit 
>applications if all shared libraries it needs are available as 32bit objects too. You can choose whether you 
>want multilib support or not by selecting the according profile. The default is a multilib-enabled profile.
></p>
><note>If you use an old profile (2004.3 or older), please upgrade to 2005.0 and read this 
><uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/howtos/index.xml?part=1&amp;chap=1">guide</uri> carefully.</note>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>How do I create a 32bit chroot?</title>
><body>
><p>
>There's a <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/howtos/index.xml?part=1&amp;chap=3">32bit chroot guide</uri>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>Can I upgrade from my x86 system to amd64 by doing emerge -e world ?</title>
><body>
><p>
>Due to several differences between an <c>x86</c> and an <c>amd64</c> installation, it is impossible to upgrade. Please 
>perform a fresh install. The installation is slightly different from an x86 one, therefore please use 
>the <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml">AMD64 Handbook</uri>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>Can I use ReiserFS4 on amd64?</title>
><body>
><p>
>ReiserFS4 is <c>broken</c> and will <c>cause data curruption</c>. You can try previous version of ReiserFS, but 
>it is not recommended.
></p>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Hardware</title>
><section>
><title>Will my binary NVIDIA/ATI drivers work?</title>
><body>
><p>
>Yes, NVIDIA and ATI provide drivers to work on AMD64. You can install them by executing <c>emerge nvidia-kernel</c> 
>or <c>emerge ati-drivers</c>. If you have more questions about these drivers you should read the 
><uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/nvidia-guide.xml">Nvidia guide</uri> or the 
><uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/ati-faq.xml">ATI FAQ</uri>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>How do I use Cool'n'Quiet/Powernow features ?</title>
><body>
><p>
>You have to compile your kernel with support for these features. You just need to enable these features below:
></p>
><pre caption="Kernel configuration">
>Power management options --->
>[*] Power Management support
>CPU Frequency scaling --->
>[*] CPU Frequency scaling
>[*] CPU frequency table helpers
>[*] AMD Opteron/Athlon64 PowerNow!
></pre>
><p>
>Then <c>emerge cpudyn</c> and edit <path>/etc/conf.d/cpudyn</path> with your favourite editor.
></p>
><pre caption="example /etc/conf.d/cpudyn">
>INTERVAL=1
>CPU_UP=0.5
>CPU_DOWN=0.9
>THROTTLING_LOW=7
>CPUFREQ_25="/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq /sysfs/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq"
>CPUFREQ_ACPI="/proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/throttling"
></pre>
><p>
>Now you only have to run <c>rc-update add cpudyn default</c> to make sure it gets started every time you boot.
></p>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Applications</title>
><section>
><title>Can I get Macromedia Flash working?</title>
><body>
><p>
>Yes. To get Flash working, you need a 32bit browser like <c>mozilla-bin</c>, <c>mozilla-firefox-bin</c> or 
><c>opera</c>, because Macromedia doesn't provide a 64bit version. After emerging the -bin-package of 
>your favourite browser, install flash by doing <c>emerge netscape-flash</c>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>Can I get OpenOffice.org working?</title>
><body>
><p>
>OpenOffice 1.x does not build on a 64bits systems, so you have to use the binary version for 32bit, 
>available in portage as <c>openoffice-bin</c>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>How do I get java working in my browser?</title>
><body>
><p>
>Blackdown provides a 64bit JRE. To install it, <c>emerge blackdown-jre</c>. Then, perform the following step.
></p>
><pre caption="example of java link to browser plugins">
># ln -s /opt/blackdown-jre-*/plugin/amd64/mozilla/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib64/nsbrowser/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so
></pre>
><p>
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>I want to install package foo, but emerge says: (masked by: ~amd64 keyword)</title>
><body>
><p>
>This means that the package is still in the 'testing' tree. Please read <c>man portage</c> for more information.
></p>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>I want to install package foo, but emerge says: (masked by: missing keyword)</title>
><body>
><p>
>This means that the package hasn't been tested yet. It does <e>not</e> mean that the package doesn't work.
>You can unmask it by performing the following steps:
></p>
><pre caption="example of adding package keywords">
># echo "category/package x86" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords
># emerge package
></pre>
><p>
>If it works fine for you, please let us know and file a bug on <uri link="http://bugs.gentoo.org/">Gentoo Bugzilla</uri>, 
>so other users can benefit too.
></p>
><warn>Do not try commands like  <c>ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge package</c>: It will most certainly 
>break your tree.</warn>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Bug Reports</title>
><section>
><title>How do I report bugs?</title>
><body>
><p>
>If you find a bug or you want to send us patches, you need to file a bug report. 
>It only takes you a little while, and your help is really appreciated. Please follow 
>this <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/howtos/index.xml?part=1&amp;chap=2">guide</uri>.
></p>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>How you can help</title>
><section>
><title>How can help I the Gentoo/AMD64 project?</title>
><body>
><p>
>With a growing popularity of the amd64 architecture, we also increasingly need more help.
>There's still much work to be done to improve the quality of Gentoo/AMD64. An average user can help us by:
></p>
><ul>
>  <li>Filing general bug reports</li>
>  <li>Testing software that does not yet have the <c>~amd64</c> keyword</li>
>  <li>Participating the <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/tests/index.xml?part=1&amp;chap=1">Arch Testers project</uri></li>
>  <li>Help answering questions on the mailing lists, forums and IRC channels</li>
>  <li>Sending patches</li>
></ul>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Other Resources</title>
><section>
><title>Where can I get more help or information about Gentoo/AMD64?</title>
><body>
><p>
>If any of your questions wasn't answered here, you can try other resources like 
>the <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml">AMD64 Handbook</uri>, 
>the <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/technotes/index.xml">AMD64 Technotes</uri> 
>or <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/index.xml">our project homepage</uri>. 
>You can also ask us at <e>#gentoo-amd64</e> on <e>irc.freenode.net</e>, 
><uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org/viewforum-f-46.html">Gentoo/AMD64 Forums</uri>, 
>or on the <c>gentoo-amd64@lists.gentoo.org</c> mailing list.
></p>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
></guide>

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Attachments on bug 99168: 63499 | 63500 | 63502 | 63503