Switching from 64 bit to 32 bit version

[Brian Astill]

On Sunday 20 July 2008 06:35:51 David Fox wrote:
> > How do you tell which version you are currently running?
Simplest answer - give each installation a different name.
If I see this at the terminal:
brian at brian-desktop:~$                I know I am in 32 bit mode
On the other hand, if I see this:
brian at brian-amd64:~$                 I am using my 64 bit version

If you do install both 32 and 64 bit versions - as I have - it is 
helpful to have a separate partition for /home which both 
versions access.
This is what my drive looks like:
Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  15.7GB  15.7GB  primary   ext2         boot
 2      15.7GB  48.6GB  32.9GB  extended               lba
 5      15.7GB  17.8GB  2097MB  logical   linux-swap
 6      17.8GB  48.6GB  30.8GB  logical   ext3
 3      48.6GB  80.0GB  31.4GB  primary   ext3
Partition 6 is /home for the versions on the primary partitions 1 
and 3.

Frankly, if you have an AMD64 you probably don't need to worry 
about installing a separate 32bit installation, because the AMD64 
chip runs 32-bit natively - but there is always the exception.  A 
little while ago Opera did not have a 64-bit version and the 
32-bit version would not install on a 64-bit system.  Opera now 
has a 64-bit version, so that isn't an issue today.

HTH

--
Brian