Going AMD64!!

[Patrick]

Got a sweet kit deal from tigerdirect:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 00M9-32009
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=ULT31664
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... =TC3J-2134

Total cost: $318 - $100 in rebates = $218

I'm slapping in my own 250 GIG hard drive and DVD burner. This is my first AMD based system. Now for what distro to run? I'll probably go with either Suse or Kubuntu. Are there any gotchas besides issues with browsers and plug-ins (flash, etc..)?

To help fund this I'm selling some old parts:
eVGA Nvidia GeForce MX440, 64 meg, PCI, S-Video out - $20
PNY Verto Nvidia GeForce MX420, 64 meg, AGP 4x/2, S-Video out - $20
Atheros mini-pci 802.11g wireless card for laptop - $20
black wireless keyboard with built-in joystick mouse - $20

Please email me if you're interested.

[doublejoon]

I'm running a similar setup only with this case http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=ULT33116 for the mythtv setup

Xubuntu using easyubuntu script.......no probs so far. All of my flash and other multimedia software seem to work ok. I apt-getted the Kubuntu Desktop as well

That case is a great deal!

[Patrick]

Xubuntu using easyubuntu script.......no probs so far. All of my flash and other multimedia software seem to work ok. I apt-getted the Kubuntu Desktop as well
That case is a great deal!

Good to know that easyubuntu works. Do you know if Automatix works for AMD64 as well? I'm really torn on which distro to go with. I really like Ubuntu/Kubuntu but Suse 10.1 has been a pretty positive experience (minus the initial issues with the package manager). I might just install Kubuntu and take it from there. I have to say that Debian testing with the latest Gnome was very sweet. Anybody running it on AMD64?

[Patrick]

Do you know if Automatix works for AMD64 as well?

Apparently AMD64 is supported by Automatix:
http://getautomatix.com/wiki/index.php? ... _for_AMD64

[jsusanka]

amd rocks - it seems faster and the chips run cooler - also considering this they would rock even more

http://www.thelinuxlink.net/forum/posti ... ply&t=1411

"Lastly, and remember you heard it here, AMD is strongly considering open-sourcing at least a functional subset of ATI’s graphics drivers. It’s time for X Window System, OpenGL, and client virtualization for which ATI binary drivers aren’t available to escape the ghetto of the 1980s-era framebuffer. And what a boon for PR. If AMD’s graphics cards were the only ones with open device drivers, it might affect a buying decision or two."

I chose suse on my amd 64 mostly because of all the plugins etc - they just worked and no fiddling - ubuntu 64 bit ran fine though on my box without any hassles - just no plugins

I tried to install ubuntu 32 bit but it just wouldn't go and it always crashed at then end installing/doing initrd.

I would recommend suse - no hassles and it just worked - and using smart and the guru/packman repos installed all the multimedia stuff. no gotchas with suse and learning apparmor is pretty cool.

[Tsuroerusu]

Now for what distro to run? I'll probably go with either Suse or Kubuntu. Are there any gotchas besides issues with browsers and plug-ins (flash, etc..)?

Hey, you know what I'm gonna say!

But seriously though, SUSE was the first distro to introduce AMD64 support, so they have close to three years of experience in that field.
What they do is that by default, they install a 32-bit Firefox to avoid compatibility issues with Flash and browser plugins in general.
If you wanna use the w32codecs package, you'll need to use a 32-bit MPlayer as far as I know.

Generally, I think SUSE is the best distro for AMD64 when it comes to having a good user experience, because sure Linux in general is great on AMD64.

Anyway, speaking of those issues with the package manager, if you decide to use SUSE, try doing an online update during the installation (DO NOT UPDATE THE KERNEL DURING THE INSTALLATION, AS IT CAN CAUSE HARDWARE DETECTION ISSUES) the process is a little funky because it needs to reload YaST and reinitialize libzypp and a bunch of stuff, but generally it's an easy process. Shouldn't be too big of a problem, once you have the installation and updating done, I'd recommend rebooting, just to make sure everything related to the package manager is fully reloaded.
Pat, you should really try the new way of installing NVIDIA's drivers on SUSE, just add NVIDIA's repository to the package manager (After all the updates it works pretty well, it's just a little slow) by running:

Code: Select all

rug sa --type=zypp http://download.nvidia.com/novell SL-10.1-nvidia
rug sub SL-10.1-nvidia

After executing these two commands as root, you need to install x11-video-nvidia and nvidia-gfx-kmp-default, no need to mess with xorg.conf, it'll do that for you. This is the same process that SLED 10 users will have to do, except for the fact that the ATi and NVIDIA repos are added automatically during the installation. No need to worry about kernel updates breaking the NVIDIA driver, because as I explained in another thread, it takes care of all that for you.

Since I like being a nice guy, here's my set of rug commands that I use (Except, I swapped in some US mirrors), sure the package manager is a little slow still, but I've come to really like this new commandline interface (rug):

Code: Select all

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://suse.mirrors.tds.net/pub/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source SL-10.1-inst-source
rug sub SL-10.1-inst-source

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://suse.mirrors.tds.net/pub/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/non-oss-inst-source SL-10.1-non-oss-inst-source
rug sub SL-10.1-non-oss-inst-source

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://suse.mirrors.tds.net/pub/suse/update/10.1 SL-10.1-update
rug sub SL-10.1-update

rug sa --type=zypp http://www2.ati.com/suse SL-10.1-ati
rug sub SL-10.1-ati

rug sa --type=zypp http://download.nvidia.com/novell SL-10.1-nvidia
rug sub SL-10.1-nvidia

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/repositories/KDE:/Backports/SUSE_Linux_10.1 SL-10.1-kde-backports
rug sub SL-10.1-kde-backports

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/suser-guru/rpm/10.1/RPMS guru
rug sub guru

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/packman/suse/10.1 packman
rug sub packman

I'm paranoid about security so I stick to the version of KDE that comes with SUSE, as it's supported by their security team, if this is not of concern to you, you can use this instead of the kde-backports repository if you want the latest version of KDE and related apps (kde-backports has newer versions of stuff like Amarok, digiKam, KOffice for the version of KDE that's supported by the security team):

Code: Select all

rug sa --type=zypp ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/repositories/KDE:/KDE3/SUSE_Linux_10.1 SL-10.1-kde
rug sub SL-10.1-kde

I expect you wanna use Smart over the longhaul, so here ya go:

Code: Select all

smart channel --add SL-10.1-inst-source type=yast2 name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - Installation Repository" baseurl=ftp://suse.mirrors.tds.net/pub/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source

smart channel --add SL-10.1-non-oss-inst-source type=yast2 name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - Addon Installation Repository" baseurl=ftp://suse.mirrors.tds.net/pub/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/non-oss-inst-source

smart channel --add SL-10.1-update type=rpm-md name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - Updates" baseurl=ftp://suse.mirrors.tds.net/pub/suse/update/10.1

smart channel --add SL-10.1-ati type=rpm-md name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - ATi" baseurl=http://www2.ati.com/suse

smart channel --add SL-10.1-nvidia type=rpm-md name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - NVIDIA" baseurl=http://download.nvidia.com/novell

smart channel --add SL-10.1-kde-backports type=rpm-md name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - KDE Backports" baseurl=ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/repositories/KDE:/Backports/SUSE_Linux_10.1 

smart channel --add guru type=yast2 name="Guru for SUSE Linux 10.1" baseurl=ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/suser-guru/rpm/10.1

smart channel --add packman type=yast2 name="Packman for SUSE Linux 10.1" baseurl=ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/packman/suse/10.1

Again, if you're not as paranoid about security as I am, and want the latest KDE (I havn't tried it myself, so I don't know if there's issues, but there could be, so be aware of that) use this instead of kde-backports:

Code: Select all

smart channel --add SL-10.1-kde type=rpm-md name="SUSE Linux 10.1 - KDE" baseurl=ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/repositories/KDE:/KDE3/SUSE_Linux_10.1

[Patrick]

Hey, you know what I'm gonna say!

I had a feeling you might chime in

[Chess]

Whoa ... I am very interested in this, Pat. I have never used a 64 bit system but $218 is mega-cheap. Those nvidia-based motherboards have built-in nvidia 3d graphics, is that right?

[Patrick]

Whoa ... I am very interested in this, Pat. I have never used a 64 bit system but $218 is mega-cheap. Those nvidia-based motherboards have built-in nvidia 3d graphics, is that right?

Yes, it has a built-in GeForce 6100. Better than any card I currently own. It also has a PCI-Express slot if you want to upgrade to a better video card down the road.

[Chess]

Very nice.

Back to the distro question, there is also an amd64 port of debian:

http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

[Tsuroerusu]

Very nice.

Back to the distro question, there is also an amd64 port of debian:

http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

One thing to note about that, it will be released "officially" as part of Debian 4.0 "etch" in December, of course it's usable today.

[Wally Balljacker]

Very nice.

Back to the distro question, there is also an amd64 port of debian:

http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

One thing to note about that, it will be released "officially" as part of Debian 4.0 "etch" in December, of course it's usable today.

AMD64 on Debian has been official since shortly after Sarge was released last year. It just hasn't been released with a stable release yet.

"The testing and unstable releases of the AMD64 port have now been included in the official Debian archive."

[Chess]

I'd be curious to know how the 64bit version of Archlinux is. I know they have a 64bit install iso. I'll have to browse their forums a bit to see how it's working out.

[Tsuroerusu]

Very nice.

Back to the distro question, there is also an amd64 port of debian:

http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

One thing to note about that, it will be released "officially" as part of Debian 4.0 "etch" in December, of course it's usable today.

AMD64 on Debian has been official since shortly after Sarge was released last year. It just hasn't been released with a stable release yet.

"The testing and unstable releases of the AMD64 port have now been included in the official Debian archive."

Look on the page Chess posted a link to:
"The unofficial stable release of the Debian AMD64 port was released by the porting team on June 8th, 2005."

[Wally Balljacker]

One thing to note about that, it will be released "officially" as part of Debian 4.0 "etch" in December, of course it's usable today.

AMD64 on Debian has been official since shortly after Sarge was released last year. It just hasn't been released with a stable release yet.

"The testing and unstable releases of the AMD64 port have now been included in the official Debian archive."

Look on the page Chess posted a link to:
"The unofficial stable release of the Debian AMD64 port was released by the porting team on June 8th, 2005."

That's stable. Testing and unstable have been official for some time now. Pat had mentioned he was running testing on a machine now, so i was referring to the testing distribution.