Re: [gentoo-user] x32 ABI
On Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:40:50 -0500 Alecks Gates aleck...@gmail.com wrote: After a recent update to binutils 2.22 I started to look into the x32 ABI support. It looks very interesting and I am thinking about installing it via the experimental stage3[1], but I have some questions to ask first. What are the benefits and drawbacks of using the x32 ABI, other than the obvious experimental cautions? I currently do not have a computer with more than 4GB of ram, and one only has 2GB (used as a media center). How do I go about installing an x32 ABI system? Is it as simple as using the x32 stage3 and enabling CONFIG_X86_X32 in the kernel, or is there more to it? How would I convert a running system to the x32 ABI, if possible? Your first step should be to read flameeye's blog on the matter, then decide. It's nowhere near at awesome as Intel makes out. You can find the blog on the front page of gentoo.org under the name Diego Alecks [1] http://distfiles.gentoo.org/experimental/amd64/x32/ -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
Re: [gentoo-user] x32 ABI
Am Montag, 30. Juli 2012, 11:40:50 schrieb Alecks Gates: After a recent update to binutils 2.22 I started to look into the x32 ABI support. It looks very interesting and I am thinking about installing it via the experimental stage3[1], but I have some questions to ask first. What are the benefits and drawbacks of using the x32 ABI, other than the obvious experimental cautions? I currently do not have a computer with more than 4GB of ram, and one only has 2GB (used as a media center). How do I go about installing an x32 ABI system? Is it as simple as using the x32 stage3 and enabling CONFIG_X86_X32 in the kernel, or is there more to it? How would I convert a running system to the x32 ABI, if possible? Alecks [1] http://distfiles.gentoo.org/experimental/amd64/x32/ how about: almost zero benefits and lots and lots of downsides? It was only introduced because ATOM sucks so much in 'real' 64bit mode. -- #163933
Re: [gentoo-user] x32 ABI
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 11:40:50AM -0500, Alecks Gates wrote What are the benefits and drawbacks of using the x32 ABI, other than the obvious experimental cautions? I currently do not have a computer with more than 4GB of ram, and one only has 2GB (used as a media center). In theory, real life is identical to theory. In real life, real life is different from theory. A 32-bit system can directly address 4 gigs of memory. The problem is that the 4 gigs includes your video ram. So you lose part of the top end of your 4 gigs of ram, to make room for your video card's ram. This is true for both linux and Windows. A bit over 3 gigs is the effective memory max for 32-bit systems. 32-bit linux can access the extra ram for data storage, via some jumping through flaming hoops, but it's slower than direct addressing via 64-bit mode. If you have 4 gigs on a machine, it's a candidate for 64-bit mode. -- Walter Dnes waltd...@waltdnes.org
