Mac OS X on x86 Hardware 2008–2024 Technical Archive
InfiniteMac OSx86 › Snow Leopard 10.6 › 64bit or 32bit How do i tell which one i'm using
8,285 reads · 2009-09-20 – 2009-09-24
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64bit or 32bit How do i tell which one i'm using

ugh...this is just freaking weird.. this is what terminal shows: and, this is what system profiler says: System Software Overview: System Version: Mac OS X 10.6 (10A432) Kernel Version: Darwin 10.0.0 Boot Volume: Snow Leopard Boot Mode:…

Primary Author
@vladrxpx Published 2009-09-20
Collection
Snow Leopard 10.6
Archival Footprint
8,285 historical reads · 8 curated field notes (from 14 dispatches) · 2009-09-20 – 2009-09-24
Credited Voices (7)
@vladrxpx (6)@Taisto (2)@InteliMacPro (2)@brlock@framesx2x@x986123@thorazine74

ugh...this is just freaking weird..

this is what terminal shows:

Vlad-Southers-Mac:~ Vlad$ ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi
    | |   "firmware-abi" = <"EFI64">
Vlad-Southers-Mac:~ Vlad$

and, this is what system profiler says:

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.6 (10A432)
Kernel Version: Darwin 10.0.0
Boot Volume: Snow Leopard
Boot Mode: Normal
Computer Name: Vlad Souther’s Mac
User Name: Vlad Souther (Vlad)
Secure Virtual Memory: Not Enabled
64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No <<< WHAT THE HELL ?!
Time since boot: 10:55

what's up with this ?!
Am I using 64bit or 32bit SL ?

Author Updates & Technical Revisions

Follow-up dispatches by @vladrxpx

Author Update #1 @vladrxpx 2009-09-23

i could try that, if someone could just post me the proper code i have to type in the com.apple.Boot
.

Author Update #2 @vladrxpx 2009-09-23

oook... ive edited my com.apple.boot.plist with

<key>Kernel</key>
	<string>mach_kernel</string>
	<key>Kernel Flags</key>
	<string> arch=x86_64 </string>
	<key>device-properties</key> 

nothign happened.. System profiler still says 64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No

any application works faster than on leopard..
Maybe its just showing wrong info

i installed snow leopard and used a dsdt patch.. i still dont know if i have vanilla kernel.. i dont know how to check that..

Author Update #3 @vladrxpx 2009-09-24

I've removed the spaces..
Still no 64bit kernel.. :C

this is how my com.apple.boot.plist looks like..

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>Kernel</key>
	<string>mach_kernel</string>
	<key>Kernel Flags</key>
	<string>arch=x86_64</string>
	<key>device-properties</key>
	<string>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</string>
	<key>Graphics Mode</key>
	<string>1680x1050x32</string>	
	<key>Timeout</key>
	<string>5</string>
	
</dict>
</plist>
Author Update #4 @vladrxpx 2009-09-24

I am using Chameleon..
which boot flag am I suppose to be using?

Last login: Thu Sep 24 16:15:35 on console
Vlad-Southers-Mac:~ Vlad$ uname -a
Darwin Vlad-Southers-Mac.local 10.0.0 Darwin Kernel Version 10.0.0: Fri Jul 31 22:47:34 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1456.1.25~1/RELEASE_I386 i386
Vlad-Southers-Mac:~ Vlad$ 
Author Update #5 @vladrxpx 2009-09-24

ok, i managed to get into x64bit SL with -x64 while booting..

should i put :

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
	<string>arch=-x64</string>

?

Synthesized Community Field Notes

8 technical responses curated from 14 original dispatches

Field Note #1 @brlock 2009-09-20

You are using 32-bit kernel. The first one just indicates which EFI version do you have

Field Note #2 @Taisto 2009-09-20

Is this real Mac or Hack ? SL boots in 32Bit by default - but it means only the kernel itself. All app are running in 64Bit ( well, not every one of them, iTunes is 32bit still... ). So don't worry, even if Your kernel didnt boot in 64Bit, You're still using 64Bit apps and Extensions.

Field Note #3 @framesx2x 2009-09-20

same here.

64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No <<< WHAT THE HELL ?!

i would to no how make my kernal boot in 64bit mode..

i found small appes that tells snow leopard to boot 64-bit mode,
right at boot you will see two kernal booting first this one darwin/x86, then darwin/x86_64.
boot time since boot 30secon..

Field Note #4 @Taisto 2009-09-20

To boot in 64Bit mode :

Real Mac - hold "6" and "4" keys during startup.
Hack - boot with arch=x86_64 flag

Though i didn't try those, so it'd be nice if anyone could confirm that.

Field Note #5 @InteliMacPro 2009-09-23

should you have those spaces around "arch=x86_64"?

Field Note #6 @x986123 2009-09-24

No. You shouldn't.

Mine shows:

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.1 (10B504)
Kernel Version: Darwin 10.0.0
Boot Volume: MacHD
Boot Mode: Normal
Computer Name: Max’s Mac Pro
User Name: Max (max)
Secure Virtual Memory: Not Enabled <<< Real Mac's Have this, what is it for?
64-bit Kernel and Extensions: Yes <<<Yes.
Time since boot: 2:01

Field Note #7 @InteliMacPro 2009-09-24

I should say, mine shows 64-bit Kernel and Extensions: Yes also. I actually did use the button in the app to turn it on initially. I've since added it to the boot.plist in extra. Seems to work just fine.

If you didn't install a separate kernel, then you have the vanilla kernel. I like my vanilla with sprinkles!

Field Note #8 @thorazine74 2009-09-24

Are you using Chameleon or PCEFI boot? The boot flags are different (they cant even agree on boot flags...): x32/x64 or i386/x86_64.

Sources & Contributor Provenance (7 credited usernames · Thread #4159)
UsernameDossier ContributionDispatchesActive Window
@vladrxpxPrimary Author62009-09-20 → 2009-09-24
@TaistoContributor22009-09-20
@InteliMacProContributor22009-09-23 → 2009-09-24
@brlockContributor12009-09-20
@framesx2xContributor12009-09-20
@x986123Contributor12009-09-24
@thorazine74Contributor12009-09-24