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Old 05-26-2020, 05:08 PM   #1
borgward
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32 0r 64 bit Drivers


Is there any difference between a 64bit and 32bit driver. Will a 64bit one work on a 32bit system?
 
Old 05-26-2020, 05:19 PM   #2
beachboy2
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borgward,

A 32 bit system needs a 32 bit driver.
32 bit and 64 bit drivers will work on a 64 bit system.
 
Old 05-26-2020, 05:47 PM   #3
Samsonite2010
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As a general rule, if you have a 64-bit system (not sure if you know, but we can probably find out), you may as well use 64-bit drivers unless you have a specific reason not to.
 
Old 05-26-2020, 06:04 PM   #4
borgward
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what if you have a 32bit system but need to use a device (USB Dongle) that only has 64 bit (or unstated) driver.
 
Old 05-26-2020, 06:31 PM   #5
jefro
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My guess is your usb dongle won't work if all you have is a 32 bit system and 64 bit drivers. (find it a bit hard to believe but it may be a very new device)

If you tell us what this device is we might have better guess.

Last edited by jefro; 05-27-2020 at 03:48 PM.
 
Old 05-26-2020, 09:02 PM   #6
ehartman
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borgward View Post
Is there any difference between a 64bit and 32bit driver.
Will a 64bit one work on a 32bit system?
Yes, a 64-bit driver will need to be called with 64-bits pointers.
And no, a 64-bit one will not work on a 32-bit system.

A driver (cq kernel module) has to be of the same architecture as the kernel itself as it has to be called BY that kernel.
Us 'uname -m' to see what arch your kernel is. If the answer is "x86_64" it is 64-bit and if "ix86" (with x a digit from 3 to 6) it is 32-bit.
Then do "file <driver>" to determine the same thing of the driver itself.
It should have "ELF xx-bit" in the answer, with xx being 32 or 64.
If those don't match the driver cannot be loaded.
 
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Old 05-26-2020, 09:26 PM   #7
sp331yi
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@borgward -- this probably has nothing to do with drivers

BTW -- I like your handle! are you a driver of the car with that name? Haven't seen one in decades! LOL

Last edited by sp331yi; 05-26-2020 at 09:26 PM. Reason: typo
 
Old 05-27-2020, 09:59 AM   #8
lleb
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borgward View Post
what if you have a 32bit system but need to use a device (USB Dongle) that only has 64 bit (or unstated) driver.
then you will need to upgrade the system or the hardware to match the 64bit drivers.

think of it like this:

You are driving down a road that is 32 bits wide and you are trying to force a 64 bit truck down that road. Is it going to fit? Nope is the answer.
 
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Old 06-08-2020, 01:01 PM   #9
martin smith
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32-bit programs can run on a 64-bit system, but 64-bit programs will not run on a 32-bit system. This is because 64-bit applications include 64-bit instructions that will not be recognized by a 32-bit processor. In order to run a 64-bit program, your operating system must be 64-bit
 
Old 06-08-2020, 01:53 PM   #10
borgward
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The laptop has 64bit processor. The chipset is a mix of 32 and 64bit, mostly 32bit. How does that fit into the sceme of things?
 
Old 06-08-2020, 02:51 PM   #11
Timothy Miller
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Quote:
Originally Posted by borgward View Post
The laptop has 64bit processor. The chipset is a mix of 32 and 64bit, mostly 32bit. How does that fit into the sceme of things?

You mean like a core2? The CPU understands 64-bit instructions, so it'll work with 64-bit instructions. Might not be as fast as if everything were 64-bit, but it will indeed run 64-bit.
 
Old 06-08-2020, 06:58 PM   #12
borgward
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It's a single core AMD Sempron 64bit CPU
 
Old 06-08-2020, 07:20 PM   #13
Timothy Miller
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If it is a 64-bit Sempron (and be sure it's 64-bit, since many Semprons has 64-bit disabled) then it'll work with 64-bit OS. Given other limitations (single core, ram limit), I wouldn't expect miracles with most modern OS's, but it should function.
 
Old 06-09-2020, 03:44 PM   #14
business_kid
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It was competition for the Celeron, which was 64/32 bit, = 64bit internals with 32bit bus. So it would read 64 bits in 2 chunks of 32bits each, and 128 bits in 4 chunks of 32 bits each. The idea was a budget system with 32bit memory, peripherals, etc, by using a half-assed 'bargain' motherboard & cpu.

Treat it as 64 bit, and it works.

I believe in 2005, they released their 1st 64/64 bit sempron model, and from 2006 they were all 64/64 bit. So your year and maybe your model matters only if you want to find out how badly it sucks. It IS a 64bit cpu throughout.
 
  


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