32 or 64 bit Ubuntu Karmic for t400s?

[Louis]

Hey guys,
I'll be getting my t400s tomorrow and was wondering if you guys have the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Koala installed on this laptop?
My current configuration will have only 2GB of RAM so I know i won't see any difference, but I am planing on upgrading. I was wondering if you have noticed any incompatibilities or anything else in 64bit as opposed to 32bit.
I currently run the 32 bit version in my older z60t and works like a charm, just wondering about this new t400s.
Would installing the 64 bit make it crawl due to the relatively low RAM....should I install the 32 bit now and upgrade to the 64 bit after i get more than 2gb of RAM?

Thanks!!

[SafeHarbor]

I have 9.10 on my T61p in the 64-bit version. It's snappy in 2 GB of RAM just fine and I'm not getting into swap with several tabs open in Firefox and a document open in OpenOffice.org. Flash 10 64-bit alpha is not really ready yet, so things like Hulu desktop are power-hogs. Running 64-bit is providing no where near the drama that I thought it would.

[Louis]

Great! thanks for the tips!

[madcow]

I have an X61. I have tried both 32 and 64 bit Ubuntu Karmic. Under 64-bit, it uses twice as much RAM. But it seems a little speedier than 32-bit. Java seems a little slower on 64-bit.

[Louis]

Thanks, I'll be getting my replacement t400s tomorrow and will give it a shot. My first t400s had bad speakers, hopefully 2 times is a charm

[Louis]

Got my replacement t400s and running Ubuntu, so far so good now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[ThinkRob]

If you're running with 3GB or less, I'd recommend sticking with a 32-bit distro so as to reduce RAM pressure. 64-bit has some nice perks, but it (obviously) increases RAM requirements, as well as brings the (minor) risk of incompatibilities (ahem! Adobe!)

One other note: if you ever intend to use grsecurity/PAX, be aware that you run a slightly increased risk of kernel panics if you're running a 64-bit kernel. I've stumbled across a couple of edge cases that seem to induce panics on machines running 64-bit grsecurity-enabled kernels that don't trigger them when running a 32-bit kernel. This is in line with the developer's stance that x86/32 is the only officially-tested/supported platform.

YMMV though.

[Louis]

I have been using the 32 bit version since i got the laptop and it is working like a dream! I don't have more than 3GB of RAM so that was one big factor also in going with the 32 bit version. I also heard about the compatibility issues...all in all I am very happy with the 32 bit version! Recognized everything from the get go.. can't complain.

[emeraldgirl08]

I have a T400 that I ran a Karmic 64-bit LiveCD off of. It seemed to work pretty well! The onscreen displays worked and it displayed the right resolution for my WXGA+ screen. I ended up installing another 64-bit distro (CB #!) that is working fine at the moment. I do have one small hiccup though. Whenever I am copying and pasting something from inside it's own folder the OS will restart. It happens once in a while and I will submit a question to the distro forum soon. It may be an easy fix but I almost never keep my hard drive filled with personal data! That makes it easy to write-over that partition and start with another install. Everything personal goes on removable storage

[ThinkRob]

Whenever I am copying and pasting something from inside it's own folder the OS will restart. It happens once in a while and I will submit a question to the distro forum soon.

The entire OS restart?! Are you sure it's not just the file manager crashing? I have a hard time believing that copy/pasting can cause a kernel panic...

It may be an easy fix but I almost never keep my hard drive filled with personal data! That makes it easy to write-over that partition and start with another install. Everything personal goes on removable storage

I don't use removable storage, but I do keep / and /home on separate logical volumes for a similar reason. I don't tend to re-install my OS frequently, but I do run different filesystems on my root and home partition (or at least I have in the past) as usage requires.