CHOST variable

[diloo]

Hi everybody,

Gentoo 2007.0 has been installed on my computer for a few weeks and I just realized that my CHOST variable was set to i486-pc-linux-gnu, this is quite strange since I've got an Intel Core 2 Duo processor ...
I think that it's because during the installation I downloaded a stage3-x86 archive instead of a stage3-i686.
So, my question is to know if this little error will have any impact on my system and if I have to change something, by the way I would like to know what is the precise role of the CHOST variable.
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DiloO
Gentoo Linux 2007.0

[Rob1n]

The CHOST variable shouldn't have much of an impact (for i486 to i686 anyway) - I think it's used by some configure scripts to decide what features your system supports. The various USE flags (mmx, 3dnow, sse, etc.) will usually force these anyway (and the CHOST can only be used as a general guide - it's not very specific).

If you do want to change it then be sure to read http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/change-chost.xml which details the procedure.

[drwook]

hmm, IIRC the latest glibc's won't work with i386 at least, poss i486 too.

I'd look at http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/change-chost.xml in your position (well, actually I'd wing it as I've done it a few times before, but the advice stands!)

One thing it specifically doesn't do is enable 3dnow, sse2, etc, etc.

[edit]Ok so maybe I shouldn't answer forum posts while working [/edit]

[Daytona]

The CHOST is set to that because it's the "lowest common denominator" that will run on all x86 that gentoo supports. Used to be i386, but as Rob1n pointed out, that won't work anymore due to use of nptl (this changed about a year ago). Using the lowest common denominator is common practice- just with gentoo it's a little more visible. If you want to change it, do as drwook suggests and follow the guide. Done right, it's not too big a deal, but you can really get yourself stuck doing it.

I would suggest masking anything greater than the current version of gcc you have in /etc/package.mask for the time being, to prevent that getting upgraded, too. Do one thing at a time.

After going through all that, make sure you have the correct -march specified in /etc/make.conf.
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.1.2/gcc/i386-and-x86_002d64-Options.html#i386-and-x86_002d64-Options
As long as all is working, now would be a good time to emerge --sync, unmask gcc, and update world with your new config. At least that's how I've gone about it.

[diloo]

Thank you all for your replies,

So, if I understand this little error won't be a problem for me, that's quite good

Once again, thank you all.
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DiloO
Gentoo Linux 2007.0

[Clete2]

You are looking at a 32-bit system rather than 64-bit?
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