installing a kernel 64 bit on mint 32 bit

[lellowindhover]

Hello!
i was wandering if is possible to install a kernel for amd64 on a distribution for 32bit or i have to reinstall everything
thanks

[Silent Warrior]

Any sane package manager would complain about the foreign architecture, though there is always the option of forcing the install. The ever so big catch is that a 64-bit kernel would likely go looking for /lib64, or 64-bit versions of various other things that you just wouldn't have if you install only a 64-bit kernel. I REALLY don't recommend that you do this - I'm fairly adventurous, and I'd NEVER try it myself. I mean, you'll still have the other kernels to boot from if the 64-bit one won't work, but the best-case scenario results in a bit of a schizoid build. Best by far to install a 64-bit version from the ground up.

[Aging Technogeek]

A big +1 to Silent Warrior's advice.

A 64 bit system must be built from the ground up to use 64 bits. Putting a 64 bit kernel in a 32 bit system will not do you much good. The system external to the kernel will still be 32 bit so the 64 bit kernel will not have the 64 bit data and instruction inputs it needs to function properly. I doubt that such a kludged system would even run.

[JinzoDefiler]

+2 here as well. If your looking to use more then 4gb of ram you can go ahead and install the debian big mem kernel. just do a search in synaptic for big mem