Migrating from i386 to AMD64

[Josh Carroll]

> Now.. Can I just use the same SMP kernel I have currently (assuming the
> correct drivers are loaded) for the X2 processor if I just want to run it in
> 32 bit mode?

Yes, it should work fine. You may need to update /etc/fstab of course,
and any other settings that need to change along with the motherboard
change, but other than that it should just work.

> Or do I need to do a complete re-install/upgrade to the AMD64
> platform version of FreeBSD?

If you want to run the AMD64 version, yes the BKM is a re-install. But
you need not install the AMD64 version, the i386 version will run fine
on the X2.

> I'm not worried about memory usage past 4 GB (that's all we're installing),
> or the slight (possible) increase in speed from using the native 64 bit
> stuff.

Then stick with i386. Your existing installation (assuming you've not
used processor-specific CFLAGS to build world and/or ports) should
work fine.

Regards,
Josh