Help: unable to setup 64bit on my mother's MB

[Azathoth]

Finally home for Xmas since (remotely) buying my mother a Macbook 6.1 over Easter. I've set her up with a few utilites (Click to flash, VLC player, Coconut battery), but Im unable to get 64bit kernel to work (as it does on my 6.2 MBP).

The MB appears to meet all the criteria (64bit EFI, right processor, SL) - but neither the apple sudo terminal command, nor the 6+4 key at boot work in setting 64bit kernel. Any other suggestions?

I want 64bit because it provides improved security (NX bit in HW, less chance of exploits due to smaller market share)

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Have you tried the Startup Mode Selector (http://www.ahatfullofsky.comuv.com/English/Programs/SMS/SMS.html) yet? It worked for me.
Btw, common sense and a router with a firewall should prevent personal attacks or hacking via internet.
And the marketshare has nothing to do with Mac OS X being secure: http://seekingalpha.com/article/52722-the-mac-os-x-malware-myth-continues

 

[mike5411]

I heard that the new macbooks don't do 64bit and conspirators say its because apple wants you to buy a MBP if you need 64bit.

 

[Azathoth]

Have you tried the Startup Mode Selector (http://www.ahatfullofsky.comuv.com/English/Programs/SMS/SMS.html) yet? It worked for me.
Btw, common sense and a router with a firewall should prevent personal attacks or hacking via internet.
And the marketshare has nothing to do with Mac OS X being secure: http://seekingalpha.com/article/52722-the-mac-os-x-malware-myth-continues

Hi,
I tried the selector - all seems ok but it doesnt work.

It's my mother's computer. She's nearly 60 => Common sense doesn't stop everything.

Router doesn't help if the exploit is through the browser - http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/news.asp?id=60095

Yes Unix is much better, but vulnerabilities exist in *all* systems. My point was that market share of 64bit is much smaller - exploits via Flash and Java exist on *all* platforms, but the market share of 64bit systems is much smaller, and something like a buffer overflow exploit is much harder to abuse in a 64bit system, that's why Id like to setup 64bit on her computer.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

MacBooks are not capable of running a 64-bit kernel without an EFI hack (which you don't want to do). The rest of the system is still 64-bit.

 

[unixperience]

yeah i second the above post
MB can't load the 64 bit kernel without some serious and dangerous hacking. its a MBP feature to use the kernel switcher
However, MB are able to run 64 bit programs just fine, they even use the 64 bit EFI, the only real diff is they don't use 64 bit kernel. SO as far as I can tell you don't NEED the 64 bit *shrugs*
it still does 64 bit programs just fine so, no big deal as far as i can tell

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

SO as far as I can tell you don't NEED the 64 bit *shrugs*

Exactly. The only reason you'd need a 64-bit kernel (apart from serious server stuff, which I'm assuming is not happening on this MacBook) is if it has to keep track of serious amounts of RAM... far more than the 8 GB the computer maxes out at.

 

[Azathoth]

Ok, thanks, at least it's confirmed.

Now, noone was able to refute whether 64bit kernel would be more secure even if only from a theoretical standpoint... but I'm used to ppl on MR telling me that "you can't do this and therefore there is no merit in wanting to do it"