Arch Linux

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Arch64?

I'm going to install arch linux on my new computer (amd64) that arrives tomorrow, should I install with Arch64? How complete is it, and what are the differences? How about packages, should I still install from the normal repositories or are there special ones compiled for 64-bit CPUs?

Krux

Member

From: Holland

Registered: 2006-05-06

Posts: 14

Re: Arch64?

http://wiki2.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch64_FAQ   

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kruxflux (alpha) | kernels: 2.6.17-beyond3-1 |  Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 (Northwood) CPU 1.80GHz 1816.984 MHz | SAMSUNG SP2514N (250 GB) (dm-crypt) | Screen: nVidia  NV11DDR [GeForce2 MX 100 DDR/200 DDR] (rev b2) @ 1280x1024 (24 bpp)

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Re: Arch64?

Thanks for that link krux.

Current repo is complete and almost everything is up to date. Most important packages from Extra are done. In most cases the port is ready for daily use in a desktop or server environment.

That's good enough for me.

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Arch64?

NOTE: If you plan on using this machine as a multimedia/movie watching PC you may be better off with 32-bit Arch until the codecs mature on the 64-bit platform. That is, unless, you happen to have 8GB of RAM.

colnago

Member

From: Victoria, BC

Registered: 2004-03-25

Posts: 438

Re: Arch64?

...also, the java plugin is not available for firefox.  Konqueror can handle java though.

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Re: Arch64?

Anything else I should be worrying about? :S This makes me a bit unsure whether to go with arch64 or not... I think I might just go with the regular one instead...

elahav

Member

From: Ottawa, ON

Registered: 2005-04-18

Posts: 90

Re: Arch64?

I am quite happy with Arch64 on my laptop. However, you should be aware that a few applications are not available for 64bit Linux. For example, you cannot run Skype or the Macromedia Flash plugin. Also, OpenOffice is very unstable.
Depending on how critical the above applications are for you, you may want to consider whether Arch64 is for you.

Elad

Snowman

Developer/Forum Fellow

From: Montreal, Canada

Registered: 2004-08-20

Posts: 5,212

Re: Arch64?

I don't use Arch64, but I'm pretty sure acroread doesn't work with it.

sergej

Package Maintainer (PM)

From: Russia, Voronezh

Registered: 2006-03-21

Posts: 69

Re: Arch64?

acroread successfully runs in 32bit chrooted environment

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 13,069

Re: Arch64?

Possible workaround : make it a dual boot system, with separate root,usr,opt, var and home partitions and a common data partition.
That way you can install both arch and arch64 and find out what suits you best.

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Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Arch64?

Possible workaround : make it a dual boot system, with separate root,usr,opt, var and home partitions and a common data partition.
That way you can install both arch and arch64 and find out what suits you best.

You could alway try it with QEMU first and see what works and what doesn't. It'd be slow but wouldn't require much setup.

sergej

Package Maintainer (PM)

From: Russia, Voronezh

Registered: 2006-03-21

Posts: 69

Re: Arch64?

I just install 32bit pkgs with pacman --root /emul32 ...

Then wrote exec32.sh script that can be used as

exec32.sh /opt/...../acroread

(acroread placed in /emul32/opt/....)

Hendrix

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 11

Re: Arch64?

Possible workaround : make it a dual boot system, with separate root,usr,opt, var and home partitions and a common data partition.
That way you can install both arch and arch64 and find out what suits you best.

I've thought about doing this but I don't know, there's too much hassle.

I tried installing with the arch-cd, but apparently it doesn't support my HDD, so I'll get (after Shadowhand's recommendation) the minimax cd (http://www.kotek.net/minimax/), and install arch through that. It won't be 64-bit, but, as many of you stated above, a 64-bit environment is just too immature at the moment, and I'd rather have stability.