Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Snow Leopard 32bit vs 64bit - FAQ
- Thread starter Consultant
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
To boot into the 64 bit kernel, hold down the 6 and 4 keys from the startup chime until you see the cog under the apple logo.
Just boot normally.
OS X 10.6 will by default boot into 32-bit mode. You have to hold down the 6 + 4 keys to force it to boot into 64-bit mode.
I upgraded a 2007 Mac Mini, but several apps don't work.
I noticed that the apps that did not work did not have a 64 next to them in the activity monitor window.
I can no longer upload pictures, and when I add text to existing pictures, the picture darkens.
I was on Tiger 10.41 and everything worked perfectly. Now that I am on Snow Leopard, not so perfect, lol, but faster.
Do I have a workaround?
thanks in advnance.
I noticed that the apps that did not work did not have a 64 next to them in the activity monitor window.
I can no longer upload pictures, and when I add text to existing pictures, the picture darkens.
I was on Tiger 10.41 and everything worked perfectly. Now that I am on Snow Leopard, not so perfect, lol, but faster.
Do I have a workaround?
thanks in advnance.
Besides not being able to import photos from my canon camera, it also appears I cannot access Epson printer utilities.
I am not sure if I can change inks if Epson utilities is not working since the ink cartridges have to be "charged" before they are functional.
I am not sure if I can change inks if Epson utilities is not working since the ink cartridges have to be "charged" before they are functional.
I have enabled my Macbook to default boot 64bit kernel
Put the the following in com.apple.boot.plist
However when you go into system profiler it's saying:
But I know I am running 64bit as Activity Monitor is displaying.
Anybody else with this?
Put the the following in com.apple.boot.plist
Code:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>arch=x86_64</string>However when you go into system profiler it's saying:
But I know I am running 64bit as Activity Monitor is displaying.
Anybody else with this?
Sorry you are still booting the 32 bit kernel if the 64 bit extensions are not loaded
apps will still run in 64 evan when you have the 32 bit kernel loaded
it was the same in leopard eg the chess program was always 64 bit
apps will still run in 64 evan when you have the 32 bit kernel loaded
it was the same in leopard eg the chess program was always 64 bit
yep in your case it is doing nothing AFAIK your mb is a efi32 not the efi 64 required for 64 bit kernel boot
You should leave out references to other operating systems in a 32-Bit/64-Bit Snow Leopard FAQ. It's unnecessary and besides that, the facts are not completely correct.
Certain members of the 32-Bit Windows Servers can use more than just the 32-Bit address space: They have a 36-Bit-address space.
Also, the memory limitation of desktop Windows is in part driver- and chipset related and not a limitation of the OS itself. Especially on a Mac it is rather "interesting" to observe that 32-Bit Windows can only use a maximum of 2 GB RAM while other operating systems can use the full amount. Apple has done a poor job with their Windows drivers, it seems.
Microsoft's approach towards the 32-Bit and 64-Bit architectures is also much cleaner than Apple's half-hearted "migration" approach. Connect a non-Apple keyboard to Snow Leopard on a 64-Bit capable Intel CPU and see the drivers problems unfold. Apple created a huge mess here that doesn't help anyone.
It is also a rather academic comment that Microsoft's 32-Bit OS doesn't do anything with 64-Bit apps: Why should it? A Windows license covers -both- hardware architectures (and if your OEM only gave you one installation DVD, you can request the DVD for the other architecture from Microsoft), and the 64-Bit version of the OS knows how to handle 32-Bit apps just fine. This backwards compatibility from the 64-Bit version with 32-Bit software makes much more sense than trying to let a 32-Bit kernel run 64-Bit apps. What is the purpose of that anyway? Especially when it's done by a company like Apple that has full control of their little choice of different hardware components and that only has a tiny third party ecosystem? If Microsoft with such a huge ecosystem of OEMs and third party suppliers could push 64-Bit technology (which is already the standard for Windows 7 installations, by the way), then certainly there was no political reason for Apple to use a different approach.
Also, it is simply not true that gamers would benefit the most from 64-Bit Windows. Games are typical applications that do not even benefit from multi-core systems, because games traditionally do not use threading. Games usually require fast graphics card and high-clocked CPUs, the latter because of their single-threaded nature. The typical "game loop" simply iterates through all objects of the game world, then renders the image and starts all over again. A couple of games have begun using threads for calculating the game world's physics, which is a job that is in part also handled by graphics cards nowadays.
My MacBook is the mid 2009 5,2 model.
Running
Code:
ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abiReturns
after adding arch=x86_64 to the plist file I noticed that alot of doument and media icons were not displaying in finder, just the file name. After removing the line and rebooting they were visible again.
try this then as you have efi 64
open terminal
type sudo nvram boot-args="arch=x86_64"
note include the ""
enter your password
reboot
it will be a slow reboot
to revert to 32bit just reset PRAM
BTW we are not more than 20 miles apart LOL goggle my location
open terminal
type sudo nvram boot-args="arch=x86_64"
note include the ""
enter your password
reboot
it will be a slow reboot
to revert to 32bit just reset PRAM
BTW we are not more than 20 miles apart LOL goggle my location
I agree that not all of your information is accurate or complete. For instance, the term "Universal Binary" refers to an executable binary that has both PowerPC and x86 (Intel) compiled binaries in one file. I am not sure if this also holds true for the bitness of the binaries (32-bit/64-bit), but the term was originally coined for the latter.
Tilchestune, is that Derby way?
I will try the above probably tomorrow, I forgot to bring my damn macbook home with me.
Simply having a 64bit EFI does not automatically seem to allow a 64bit Kernel.
At first I figured it was due to my CUDA Kext being 32bit (I'm developing a CUDA enabled app), but after updating to the latest drivers from nVidia which support 64bit in Beta, still I cannot boot the 64bit Kernel.
/sigh
At first I figured it was due to my CUDA Kext being 32bit (I'm developing a CUDA enabled app), but after updating to the latest drivers from nVidia which support 64bit in Beta, still I cannot boot the 64bit Kernel.
/sigh
He has already edited his Boot.plist, doesn't this command do the exact same thing, in effect?
I don't use the 64-bit kernel anymore (since kept all my Macs at 32-bit kernel). I found this application that made switching between kernels simple:
http://timesoftware.free.fr/k64enabler/
http://timesoftware.free.fr/k64enabler/
Hi there,
I'm used to work with windows servers (32bits & 64bits) and virtualisation. Since under windows, performance are better when you go for 64bits and when using more than 3gb ram, should I enable 64 bits in SL?
I'm planning on using Parrallels and several Windows 7 & 2008 virtual machines (and add 4gb).
Will enabling 64bits in SL improve performance?
I'm used to work with windows servers (32bits & 64bits) and virtualisation. Since under windows, performance are better when you go for 64bits and when using more than 3gb ram, should I enable 64 bits in SL?
I'm planning on using Parrallels and several Windows 7 & 2008 virtual machines (and add 4gb).
Will enabling 64bits in SL improve performance?
Hmm, interesting point: When I first installed Snow Leopard, I used this App to switch over to 64 bit.
Then, I pulled the drive and put a SSD in, and installed a fresh copy of SL. It booted 64 bit by default. Odd, I thought it just edited a file in OS X?
This utility is probably just a glorified wrapper around the command nvram boot-args="arch=x86_64". That will set the option in your PRAM, which will persist regardless of the boot disk.
I expect not until 10.7 as there is very little reason to do it. Lots to lose, very little to gain.
I also expect 10.7 to be 64bit only. Minimum hardware requirements will be a Core2Duo and it will only contain a 64bit kernel. No 32bit kernel or drivers, just like they dropped PPC for 10.6. I expect the older Core2Duo machines that currently can't boot into a 64bit kernel to receive some EFI and driver updates over the course of Snow Leopard's developments to make that possible. No rush though, 10.7 is still some time away.
Just my personal speculation though...