Running both 32bit and 64bit on my 64bit machine

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funkychicken818 · Post by **funkychicken818** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:36 pm

Hey i new to Gentoo, and kind of like it. Its easy to use and i can do pretty much watever i want.
My Problem is that many applications like Skype, Compiz, VirtualBox, etc.... have been masked on my computer because i have a 64bit machine. And i am pretty that unmasking a application, will sometimes work and other won't. So i want to know what my options are if i want to have both a 32bit and 64bit machine running on a 64bit machine.

dopey · Post by **dopey** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:49 pm

i've been running gentoo on amd64 for years now and have no problem with the following 32-bit applications installed from ebuilds:
java
vmware-workstation
firefox-bin
seamonkey-bin
flash plugin
java plugin
openoffice-bin
cedega
mplayer-bin

I'm sure there's more than I'm forgetting. I have also installed various jdk versions and crossover office and many many loki linux games and id and epic linux games (doom3, quake4, unreal tournament 2007 etc) and have no problems mixing 32-bit binaries with a 64-bit system. I also run 32-bit versions of websphere application server and IBM http server under gentoo.

Gentoo has a number of emul-linux-x86-xxx packages that contain pre-built 32-bit libraries in a /lib32 /usr/lib32 environment for working with 32-bit binaries. The default gcc is capable of crosscompiling 32 and 64 bit binaries assuming that development libraries are available for both, and the default glibc has both 32 and 64-bit binaries.

Compiz can be built from source and does not need to be run in as a 32-bit binary. Any other applications that are ~amd64 and amd64 that are 32-bit should have the proper dependencies in portage already to pull in the correct emul-linux-x86-xxx packages. I have ~amd64 keyworded a number of emul-linux-x86-xxx packages because the ~amd64 version are more recent. I have also built my own freetype libraries and gnome libraries as 32-bit to handle things like xdg and other free desktop standard support for firefox-bin. There's a set of instructions that Blubb (former amd64 developer) put together on how to build emul-linux-x86 package for yourself.

dopey · Post by **dopey** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:51 pm

i should mention, your kernel needs to be configured with 32-bit support also.

funkychicken818 · Post by **funkychicken818** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:21 pm

dopey wrote:i should mention, your kernel needs to be configured with 32-bit support also.

So all i need to do is install the following packages and make sure my kernel has 32-bit support:
* emul-linux-x86-baselibs
* emul-linux-x86-compat
* emul-linux-x86-gtklibs
* emul-linux-x86-java
* emul-linux-x86-medialibs
* emul-linux-x86-qtlibs
* emul-linux-x86-sdl
* emul-linux-x86-soundlibs
* emul-linux-x86-xlibs

??

dopey · Post by **dopey** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:49 pm

funkychicken818 wrote: So all i need to do is install the following packages and make sure my kernel has 32-bit support:
* emul-linux-x86-baselibs
* emul-linux-x86-compat
* emul-linux-x86-gtklibs
* emul-linux-x86-java
* emul-linux-x86-medialibs
* emul-linux-x86-qtlibs
* emul-linux-x86-sdl
* emul-linux-x86-soundlibs
* emul-linux-x86-xlibs

??

You don't actually need to install most of those packages by hand if you're installing software all from portage. The ebuilds will usually pull in the appropriate emul-linux-x86-* packages they need. If you have non-portage software, then you'll need to know what libraries those packages need and install the appropriate packages from portage. It won't hurt though to just blanketly install all the emul-linux-x86 packages though.

darklegion · Post by **darklegion** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:50 am

For some obscure or bleeding edge software, you won't find the files you need in the emul-* packages.You can use RPM or DEB files from other distros and they will usually work fine.