Re: [gentoo-user] OT: Gentoo on an AMD 64bit portable
On 6/16/06, James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: and usb-serial converter devices, but I have never used any of them so I need recommendations on alternative serial (rs232C) hardware. I have a USB to RS232 converter that I used to connect to a router. It works great. So I wouldn't worry about finding a laptop with a built-in serial port. If you want to know the exact make/model of my converter, I can let you know on Saturday when I get back home. -Richard -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] OT: Gentoo on an AMD 64bit portable
On Fri, 2006-06-16 at 20:34 +, James wrote: > Hello, > > I've seen snipits of various issues related to running gentoo on a 64 bit > amd processor. In particular, I'd like to get a 'low power' > chip such as the Turion in a portable. I have a Turion MT-32 laptop (ABS Mayhem F-15 A40 which is actually an MSI-1011 and only sold by NewEgg for $900.) > One of my concerns is whether to use > 32 bit or 64 bit Gentoo on a 64 bit AMD portable. Is there > a document I can read somewhere that explains the merits > and problems on how to set up Gentoo on a 64 bit machine? > If not can somebody explain the caveats of 64 bit (amd) gentoo? > I do not wish to be on the 'bleeding edge' of 64 bit AMD issues, > but, I'd like to access the power. I'm running a variety of > 32 bit stable gentoo systems now, with relative ease. I've basically had no problems running a 64-bit system other than the well-known mplayer & flash-type problems, except when I go and try to compile open source applications. Many make fundamental assumptions about data layouts and sizes that are simply not true for 64-bit systems. BTW, I have had ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64" for months now without any serious problems, although I do run into the occasional (non-essential) package which won't compile. They are usually fixed (or a patch provided) in a reasonable amount of time. I'd unhesitantly run a 64-bit system on an AMD64 system again. --- Vladimir -- Vladimir G. Ivanovic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] OT: Gentoo on an AMD 64bit portable
On 6/16/06, James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello, I've seen snipits of various issues related to running gentoo on a 64 bit amd processor. In particular, I'd like to get a 'low power' chip such as the Turion in a portable. One of my concerns is whether to use 32 bit or 64 bit Gentoo on a 64 bit AMD portable. Is there a document I can read somewhere that explains the merits and problems on how to set up Gentoo on a 64 bit machine? If not can somebody explain the caveats of 64 bit (amd) gentoo? I do not wish to be on the 'bleeding edge' of 64 bit AMD issues, but, I'd like to access the power. I'm running a variety of 32 bit stable gentoo systems now, with relative ease. Another problem I run into is that I must have a 9 pin serial port (you know with a 16x50+ chip). I use my portables to talk to a wide variety of industrial equipment that all use standard 9 pin serial ports. I know that there are pci cards to give mult serial ports and usb-serial converter devices, but I have never used any of them so I need recommendations on alternative serial (rs232C) hardware. This limits me pretty much to Clevo based portables, unless somebody else can point me to a 64 bit AMD portable with 9 pin serials ports, or a hardware alternative that is robust. Any information/recommendations on 64 bit amd portables in most welcome. I've been *extremely* happy with my xtremenotebooks.com system - it's based on a Clevo (as is the Alienware equivalent), and it was about a $1000 cheaper than the Alienware equivalent. I went with the desktop replacement strategy - AMD 64X2 4400+, GeForce 7800 Go GTX, etc - but xtremenotebooks.com also has Turion64-based systems for the more mobility minded - i.e. those that don't want to lug around a 14 lb "portable". ;) I've been running full 64-bit on the system, and it's been *really* straightforward - I haven't found a *single* show-stopper (now that the RaLink rt2500 wireless driver is SMP-compatible, that is) - the only real minor annoyances I've had are that Flash won't work in the 64-bit (i.e. self-compiled) Firefox - darn, I sure miss all those "Punch the Monkey and win an iPod!" ads (however, I'm told this can be gotten around via either some clever 32-bit Flash plugin + 64-bit Konqueror sleight of hand, or by using the 32-bit firefox-bin instead of the self-compiled), and the fact that, oddly enough, win32codecs don't want to work in a 64-bit system either (which can be gotten around via the mplayer-bin package - another pre-compiled 32-bit version). And, of course, the most important thing - I can't stop just wallowing gleefully in my friends and relatives envious looks when I walk up with a laptop that is more powerful than their most powerful gaming and server systems... :) (With only *slightly* less battery life than a good desktop with no UPS... (Actually, I can get about 2 hours if I'm careful)). The ACPI functionality all seems to work quite well, saving suspend/hibernate, which I haven't really pursued due to my usage of the proprietary NVidia drivers + the fact that the rt2500 driver doesn't seem to play well with power management, but I would bet that if you unloaded both those modules and did a suspend or a hibernate, it would go well for you. So, overall, as far as Gentoo + AMD64 goes, my experience has pretty much been no different than Gentoo + x86 - a good one! HTH- James James -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
[gentoo-user] OT: Gentoo on an AMD 64bit portable
Hello, I've seen snipits of various issues related to running gentoo on a 64 bit amd processor. In particular, I'd like to get a 'low power' chip such as the Turion in a portable. One of my concerns is whether to use 32 bit or 64 bit Gentoo on a 64 bit AMD portable. Is there a document I can read somewhere that explains the merits and problems on how to set up Gentoo on a 64 bit machine? If not can somebody explain the caveats of 64 bit (amd) gentoo? I do not wish to be on the 'bleeding edge' of 64 bit AMD issues, but, I'd like to access the power. I'm running a variety of 32 bit stable gentoo systems now, with relative ease. Another problem I run into is that I must have a 9 pin serial port (you know with a 16x50+ chip). I use my portables to talk to a wide variety of industrial equipment that all use standard 9 pin serial ports. I know that there are pci cards to give mult serial ports and usb-serial converter devices, but I have never used any of them so I need recommendations on alternative serial (rs232C) hardware. This limits me pretty much to Clevo based portables, unless somebody else can point me to a 64 bit AMD portable with 9 pin serials ports, or a hardware alternative that is robust. Any information/recommendations on 64 bit amd portables in most welcome. James -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list