having i686 rpm's with x86_64

Issues related to applications and software problems
Post Reply
ron7000
Posts: 162
Joined: 2019/01/15 20:00:28

having i686 rpm's with x86_64

Post by ron7000 » 2019/10/28 14:48:48

what is the difference between i686 and x86_64?

is it bad to have a bunch of each installed?

On the computer(s) I have CentOS installed, they are Intel Xeon cpu's, I thought that everything should be x86_64?

I ask because
  • for the most part, 100% of the rpm's listed from rpm -qa show up as x86_64.
  • i am working with some 3rd party software, when I do a yum install /root/thirdparty.rpm it flags some i686 these as dependencies

    Code: Select all

    Installing for dependencies:
     glibc                                                     i686                      2.17-292.el7                          base                                                                              4.3 M
     libX11                                                    i686                      1.6.7-2.el7                           base                                                                              611 k
     libXau                                                    i686                      1.0.8-2.1.el7                         base                                                                               29 k
     libXext                                                   i686                      1.3.3-3.el7                           base                                                                               39 k
     libxcb                                                    i686                      1.13-1.el7                            base                                                                              230 k
     nss-softokn-freebl                                        i686                      3.44.0-5.el7                          base                                                                              214 k
    
  • in the past when I went crazy learning centos, with epel, rpmfusion, nux-dextop repositories and installing anything of interest, I had installed something that also installed i686 stuff and then if memory servers it was related to nss where it broke yum when trying to do a yum update. And my fix there was to backtrack and uninstall the offending nss_i686 guy.
  • So I came to the conclusion that 98% of rpm's were x86_64 and after a few i686 ones were installed problems arose, so don't mix and match?

aks
Posts: 3073
Joined: 2014/09/20 11:22:14

Re: having i686 rpm's with x86_64

Post by aks » 2019/10/28 14:58:17

is it bad to have a bunch of each installed?

Maybe. The issue is that a 32 bit application will need to call 32 bit libraries and a 64 bit application will want the 64 bit libraries. Problem scan occur when the linker's path points to the wrong one - so say a 32 bit game calling out to 64 bit libc.

I think RH and by inheritance, CentOS, really wants to get rid of 32 bit support.

tunk
Posts: 1205
Joined: 2017/02/22 15:08:17

Re: having i686 rpm's with x86_64

Post by tunk » 2019/10/28 14:59:03

i686 = 32 bit
x86_64 = 64 bit
I guess that the software (at least partly) is
32 bit which requires the listed dependencies.

User avatar
TrevorH
Site Admin
Posts: 33202
Joined: 2009/09/24 10:40:56
Location: Brighton, UK

Re: having i686 rpm's with x86_64

Post by TrevorH » 2019/10/28 16:17:28

Unless you run 32 bit apps then you do not need any 32 bit packages installed. If you do run 32 bit apps then you do.
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

Post Reply