On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:37:09 +0800
"Chee How Chua" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hi guys,
> 
> When I install openSUSE, how does it know whether it should install a
> 32-bit kernel or a 64-bit kernel?
> 
> Does any part of the installation reflect that?
'uname -a' will show you whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit kernel.
The 64-bit kernel should show up as "x86_64" where a 32-bit kernel will
show up as i386 (and possibly the CPU type, such as athalon).


> The complication arises when the system originally has 2GB RAM but
> will later on be increased to 8GB RAM.
> 
> If the installed kernel had been 32-bit, is it possible to upgrade the
> whole installation to 64-bit to support the increase in RAM?

Upgrading from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system is dangerous. The
x86_64 architecture supports 32-bit, but you need a kernel that
supports the 32-bit environment (Linux does) and a set of libraries for
both 32-bit and 64-bit.  You are much better doing a clean install of a
64-bit system when you can schedule it, then when you upgrade to 8GB
your kernel will support it.  

-- 
Jerry Feldman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
PGP Key fingerprint:053C 73EC 3AC1 5C44 3E14 9245 FB00 3ED5 C506 1EA9

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