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What proccessors are classified under 686? What does 686 mean?
Also: When compiling the kernel, what proccessor family is a P4 under? Pentium-Pro (default) or P4?
I compiled a kernel and modules using P4, it didn't work.. Now, when I go back to my other kernel (P-Pro), I get error messages that say that 686 and P4 or different. I'm very confused. What is a 686?
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2
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i believe i686 is a very generic set of instructions most of which follow an intel x86 architecture. a wide variety of processors fall within a i686 architecture all the way from a p2 upto and including all p4's. amd k7 (athlons, athlon-xp, duron) also fall under the i686 banner.
but remember it is a very generic set of instructions ... it is like one size fits all. there are more specific instruction sets you can compile into the kernel and packages in general. for example choosing the k7 option in the kernel and setting your makepkg.conf to -march=athlon-xp will buildin more specific processor options. options that will allow software to run more efficiently on a athlon xp chip. (note efficient does not necessarily mean faster)
arch uses the more generic i686 option because it allows the distro to be used by more people and not restrict it to p4 users or AMD users.
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Can i also add -march=athlon-xp to the gcc conf file or something similar so everything i build it will be for my cpu without giving any extra parameters to the make command.
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like i said if you want to change your abs compiling parameters change your /etc/makepkg.conf. this file passes CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS for compiling with abs.
but i should point out that if you want your system truly optimized to your athlon xp you will have to recompile your base packages and kernel. the kernel needs processor options changed.
also you will probably want to recompile every upgrade as it come in. so basically will be doing the source based distro thing and without the aid of auto dependency checking in many cases.
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