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Old 11-05-2002, 01:10 AM   #1
greg32
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Talking i386, i686, kernels....


Hi, very new to linux. So far like it, but don't understand it too well.
Have searched the achives, but came up with nothing so here it is:
Wanted to know, what is the difference between a kernel built around i386 or i686 architechture? I am using RH8, it came with kernel 2.4.18-14, using i386, and when I use the up2date feature to upgrade any software, it has the 2.4.18-17.8.0 kernel which has i686 next to it as an option to update.

Also, are all kernels standard amongst all linux systems, or do they each have their own versions. When an update becomes available, is that applicable to all makes of linux, or just one.

Also, linux is linux yeah, so what is the difference between say Red Hat, and Mandrake as an example??

any info would be good,

thanks Greg
 
Old 11-05-2002, 01:45 AM   #2
GT I.N.C
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i386 and i686 are different architectures of your processor say pentium 3 and 4...someone can give a more in depth explanation....

No kernels can be used among any distrobution, well any kernel you download....but some distrobutions have there own kernel

And the difference between mandrake red hat etc. is just that you could say there different 'flavours'

#Garry

p.s. Welcome to LQ and the world of Linux!
 
Old 11-05-2002, 02:11 AM   #3
greg32
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Garry,
thanks for your reply. I thought it might have been the difference between type of machine. I would have thought that my machine having a pentium 4 processor, the software would have installed the more powerful kernel. From default it installed as i386, but this might be just the standard build that RH8 comes with.

Also, when I downloaded the new kernel (2.4.18-17.8.0 i686) through the up2date program in RH8, it installed allright, and told me that I should re-boot my machine as soon as possible to test the new kernel, but when it re-boots, it is still using the old one. When I go into the boot manager (lilo) configuration, it has the new kernel listed, but still uses the old one as default, and when I set the new one as default, it won't let me. How do I go about setting the new kenel to work?

thanks for the welcome.

regards Greg
 
Old 11-05-2002, 02:43 AM   #4
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Hmmm sorry i'm not very good at kernels, but i'm sure if you searched around on the forums you will definetly find something, or if someone is willing enough to guide you through i'm sure they would.

Cheers

#Garry
 
Old 11-05-2002, 03:30 AM   #5
Azrael
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Did you change your lilo.conf and then run lilo (not as me, who tends towards forgetting it)?
 
Old 11-05-2002, 04:10 AM   #6
greg32
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I didn't bother running it. All I have to do is click somewhere else on the screen, and the (Default) moves from the new kernel to the old one again. It doesn't hold my setting at all. I am probably doing something wrong, but buggered if I know what. As I said, very new to linux.

regards Greg
 
Old 11-05-2002, 06:28 AM   #7
Azrael
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I suppose you use a config tool from redhat. Are you running it as root?
Or try editing the file /etc/lilo.conf by hand. If there is a line starting with default=someimage change it to your new kernel image. If this line does not exists add it somewhere above the first image=... line and then run lilo.
 
Old 11-05-2002, 06:59 AM   #8
acid_kewpie
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386 = 386 of course
686 = pentium 2 and equivalents
 
Old 11-05-2002, 09:25 AM   #9
Thymox
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But anything compiled to work on an i386 machine should also work without a hitch on anything above that, so it would also work in an i686.
 
Old 11-05-2002, 09:32 AM   #10
Bert
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Intel have been sluts when it comes to incrementing architecture numbers. It used to be a useful combination measure of the bus and processor speeds, now it's just a marketing wheeze.
If a pentium machine is an i586, why is a Pentium III called an i686? Think Sun's Java 2 vs Java 1.3.

Bert
 
Old 11-05-2002, 09:37 AM   #11
Thymox
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Hehe! So, if the P is an i586, a PII is a i686, the PIII should be, by all reasoning, an i786, and the PIV should be an i886. Presumably then, their next incarnation, the PV would be an i986, and the PVI would be an... i1086? Would that be a 'ten eight six' or what?
 
Old 11-13-2002, 01:25 AM   #12
sbrown
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Just to be compleatly irritating, the correct number is 80386, 80486, 80586, and 80686

Now it makes sence that a P Pro, P2, P3 and P4 are still i686 arch because the numbers are incremented on a major revision, the core of a P3 is still a P2, it just runs faster and includes an additional instruction set to the enhanced ia-32, and MMX, called SSE. But MMX and SSE and the other addons to the core instruction set did not change the core. Thats also why when you build a kernel, and choose P4 it still says i686, but it will run optimised on a P4, and possibly not on any other processor because its also using the SSE2, SSE, MMX, and what ever other instruction set optimixations and system calls, which processors previous to it wont understand.
 
Old 11-13-2002, 08:07 AM   #13
peeples
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After doing a bit of research on the 'net, I think the compiler optimizations should be set as stated on my webpage here (and follow the optimizations link). Yeah, the PPro, PII and PIII are all 686, but from what I read the PIV is a 786. And the Athlon is a whole 'nuther story...

I could be wrong, and just qouting inaccurate info, so feel free to correct me...
 
Old 11-13-2002, 09:35 AM   #14
Thymox
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Quote:
Originally posted by sbrown
A P-Pro, PII, PIII and PIV are still i686 arch because the numbers are incremented on a major revision, the core of a P3 is still a P2, it just runs faster and includes an additional instruction set to the enhanced ia-32, and MMX, called SSE.
OK, so a PIII is the same core as a PII but with more instructions. What's the difference, then, between a P and a PII? I thought that adding more instructions was changing the core?
 
Old 11-13-2002, 01:36 PM   #15
Edward78
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SuSE needs a kernel update util
 
  


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