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I need to use a large software package (Xojo) that requires the 32-bit architecture to run. Try as I might, I can't seem to install the 32-bit libraries on my 64-bit installation of 15.04.

I don't have a problem running a 32-bit version of Ubuntu (I'm only using this computer for Xojo) but the computer has 8GB of RAM and I'd like to be able to use it all. Is there a way to utilise all 8GB of RAM with a 32-bit Ubuntu install? Does Ubuntu do this out of the box?

muru
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Garry Pettet
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  • Refer here: http://askubuntu.com/a/358937/295286 – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Apr 24 '15 at 07:02
  • Have you already tried the 64-bit installation instructions for Ubuntu on the Xojo website? http://docs.xojo.com/index.php/System_requirements#64-bit_and_Library_Information – Chriki Apr 24 '15 at 07:28
  • See also: [What are the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit, and which should I choose?](http://askubuntu.com/questions/7034/what-are-the-differences-between-32-bit-and-64-bit-and-which-should-i-choose) – Wilf Jun 12 '15 at 10:32

1 Answers1

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Does Ubuntu do this out of the box?

Ubuntu will automatically turn on Physical Address Extension (PAE) if it is available; otherwise it will not even install.

Wikipedia, important parts (see the link for more):

In computing, Physical Address Extension (PAE) is a memory management feature for the IA-32 architecture, first introduced in the Pentium Pro. It defines a page table hierarchy of three levels, with table entries of 64 bits each instead of 32, allowing these CPUs to access a physical address space larger than 4 gigabytes (232 bytes).

Linux

The Linux kernel includes full PAE mode support starting with version 2.3.23,enabling access of up to 64 GB of memory on 32-bit machines. A PAE-enabled Linux kernel requires that the CPU also support PAE. The Linux kernel supports PAE as a build option and major distributions provide a PAE kernel either as the default or as an option.

Linux distributions now commonly use a PAE-enabled kernel as the default, a trend that began in 2009. As of 2012 many, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS, Ubuntu have stopped distributing non-PAE kernels, thus making PAE hardware mandatory.

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Rinzwind
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