Installation on a x86 (not x64) multi-core CPU

[shroom]

Hi,

I'd like to install and try Sparky on a rather old laptop, which was built around a T2050 processor.
It's a multi-core CPU which doesn't support x64 instructions.

Right now, my only options on the download page are either:
- i686 non-pae, which refuses to install (most certainly due to the fact that it's made for mono-core CPUs only)
- x86-64, which isn't going to be compatible, obviously

I read that I could upgrade to a pae-compatible version upon installation.
Which doesn't help at all as I can't even install it.

How can I install this distro on this laptop?

[pavroo]

Hi
The i686 non-pae iso image should runs on your machine. It only uses 1 core of CPU. Tell me if I am wrong.

which refuses to install

What does it mean?
Can't run the live system at all or runs it but problem with installing?

[shroom]

To be exactly precise, I can't go past the loading screen (SPARKYLINUX with that infinite animation).
After couple minutes, it goes back to BusyBox with an initramfs prompt and this error at the top: "Failed to find cpu0 device node".

I put the ISO with Rufus on an USB key, same way as I did for other distros (Debian8 is running fine on that laptop at the moment).

[pavroo]

Looks like it doesn't run the kernel.
So the i686 kernel can't operate your CPU or the iso image is broken.

[chris4]

1.) As your CPU doesn't understand 64-bit instructions you definitely need the i686 non-pae kernel.

2.) Although (U)EFI firmware is rare on 32-bit machines you may want to clarify whether yours has a conventional BIOS or UEFI firmware.

3.) In the latter case you may need a BOOTIA32.efi file in order to make a working USB stick to boot from.

4.) There are various alternatives to produce such stick, which should be no larger than 32 GB so it can be formatted with FAT32, rather than exFAT (which your machine's firmware might not be able to read).

Good luck !
Chris


Personally, I would recommend RUFUS.exe, which runs under Windows. It allows to experiment with both MBR and GPT disk partitioning as well as conventional BIOS and UEFI firmware on the target platform.