Is my iMac 64 bit?

[tcamposr]

Hi I have a iMac Intel core 2 duo. I tried to install suse (linux) using Parallels and it says I can run a 64 bit system on a 32 bit machine. I thought my iMac was 64 bit... am I missing something?

Thanx

TC

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM51.0090.B03
SMC Version: 1.8f2
Serial Number: W8647943VUX

 

[bmcgrath]

Ya its 64 bit alright

 

[Queso]

It may be something to do with OSX Tiger being a 32/64-bit hybrid OS, so Parallels may not currently allow 64-bit virtualisation. OSX Leopard will be fully 64-bit on that hardware.

 

[dmw007]

All Core 2 Duo processors are 64-bit.

 

[tcamposr]

Is my iMac 64 bit?

Thanks for your response. I made a mistake and said I can run a 64 bit system on a 32. What I meant is that Parallels says I can not run a 64 system on a 32 bit machine. Is there anyway I can fix this? How can Parallels "know" my machine is 64 bit?

TC

 

[flopticalcube]

The problem is Parallels, at the moment is 32-bit. Doesn't matter if you run it on a 32-bit, 64-bit or 128-bit machine. All it knows is 32-bits. SuSe has to go through Parallels to get to your hardware so all it sees is the 32-bitness of Parallels rather than the 64-bitness of the iMac underneath. A future version of Parallels may solve this.

 

[jf8]

Try VMware Fusion.

 

[user13]

The problem is Parallels, at the moment is 32-bit. Doesn't matter if you run it on a 32-bit, 64-bit or 128-bit machine. All it knows is 32-bits. SuSe has to go through Parallels to get to your hardware so all it sees is the 32-bitness of Parallels rather than the 64-bitness of the iMac underneath. A future version of Parallels may solve this.

I'm hoping that Parallels will solve this problem soon - they have been very accurate with updates so far, that's why there's a reason to believe in improvements.

 

[Leon Kowalski]

I'm hoping that Parallels will solve this problem soon - they have been very accurate with updates so far, that's why there's a reason to believe in improvements.

VMware Fusion 1.0 already supports 64 bit versions of Linux and Windoze -- plus, it gives you the choice of running your virtual machines on either one or two CPU cores. VMware has been in the virtualization buisness for years, and have a large customer base running business-critical applications on Windoze and Linux hosts under "VMware Workstation.".

VMware VMs created on any of their three host platforms (Windoze, Linux, OS-X) are interchangable -- you can create a linux virtual machine on your iMac at home and run it on your Windoze XP or Vista machine at work -- and you don't even have to buy a copy of VMware Workstation (see: VMware Player).

Grab the free evaluation copy of Fusion from vmware.com -- it's 100% functional (the downloaded disk image diff's bit-for-bit identical to the retail CD). The ONLY limitation is that the evaluation copy "times out" after 30 days.

The licensed retail version (including media) is only $40 from amazon.com.

...fantastic product!

LK

 

[gnasher729]

Hi I have a iMac Intel core 2 duo. I tried to install suse (linux) using Parallels and it says I can run a 64 bit system on a 32 bit machine. I thought my iMac was 64 bit... am I missing something?

Your Macintosh is a 64 bit computer. But it looks like the virtual computer that Parallels creates is a 32 bit computer. So Linux asks the virtual computer it is running on "are you 32 or 64 bit?" and the virtual computer answers "32 bit".

There are similar effects when Linux checks how many processors there are and how much RAM and which video card; it doesn't see the real processors/RAM/video card, but it can only sees what Parallels shows it.

In practice, this will likely not make much difference.

 

[OldMike]

I use Virtual Box, which is open source and worked on by Sun Microsystems. It is free, and I actually like it better than VMware or Virtual PC (I just got another Mac a day ago so I am talking from experience of having run it on Vista).

They make a version for Mac and it has 64 bit support.

You can find it here:

http://www.virtualbox.org/

 

[Cave Man]

All Core 2 Duo processors are 64-bit.

There's more to it than this. The first Core 2 Duo Macs were all 32 bit machines.

 

[candan9019]

There's more two it than this. The first Core 2 Duo Macs were all 32 bit machines.

The first Intel processors in Macs were Core Duos which were 32-bit, as far as I know all Core 2 Duos are 64-bit hence the "2".

 

[Cave Man]

But the chipsets were 32 bit (Calistoga), so the C2D were handicapped.

 

[candan9019]

But the chipsets were 32 bit (Calistoga), so the C2D were handicapped.

Thanks, I took a trip to Wikipedia and educated myself a bit more

 

[duffer]

I use Virtual Box, which is open source and worked on by Sun Microsystems. It is free, and I actually like it better than VMware or Virtual PC (I just got another Mac a day ago so I am talking from experience of having run it on Vista).

They make a version for Mac and it has 64 bit support.

You can find it here:

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Installing Linux 64 bit now. Looks like a nice product. Thanks.

 

[gnasher729]

There's more two it than this. The first Core 2 Duo Macs were all 32 bit machines.

No, they are all 64 bit machines. They are all perfectly capable of running 64 bit code. You are confusing the RAM limitations of the motherboard (4 GB maximum) with the capabilities of the processor. But all machines have RAM limitations, whether it is 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB. You wouldn't call a computer with a 64 GB RAM limit a "36 bit computer", would you?

 

[Cave Man]

Which is why there's more to it than just the processor. They are partially 64-bit and partially 32-bit, both at the hardware level and software level (e.g., kernel).

 

[TrapOx]

FYI, this thread is a year and a half old.