Update kernel from 32bit to 64bit

General Discussion
1

Hi guys,
i would like to know if it is possible to update a kernel from 32bit to 64bit? I know it would be easier if i do this from begining going to install fresh DietPi 64bit beta version… but i already have my data and configuration… :stuck_out_tongue: and i would also like to learn new stuff about linux :slight_smile:

2

hi,

you can’t update from a 32bit OS to a 64bit OS. If you like to use a 64Bit system, you would need to start with the new image. But pls keep in mind, the underlying Raspberry OS 64bit is in Beta status as well. Might be not all features as available as of now due to missing implementation by Raspberry Pi Foundation.

3

hmmm i like diet pi so much because its light weight but i guess ill have to use Ubuntu…

4

Because of what? What’s the reason for using Ubuntu? I don’t understand this.

5

Probably because of “all features”? This means that e.g. you’re currently not able to install and run WireGuard (without notable manual effort) since the RPi foundation does not ship a kernel headers package yet. This and a few other things, but it does not effect the lightness of the initial image, besides that 64-bit files are always larger compared to 32-bit ones.

You can quite easily switch the RPi kernel to be run in 64-bit mode by adding arm_64bit=1 to /boot/config.txt, the 64-bit kernel is already installed besides the other ones. But that nearly only gives you downsides since all binaries and libraries are Raspbian 32-bit ones. The 64-bit kernel is backwards-compatible but that doesn’t make it better and installers might detect your system version wrong. So to have any advantage, as Joulinar said, you need to switch to the 64-bit Debian repo and upgrade all packages from it. If even possible, its a huge overhead over flashing the 64-bit image directly :wink:.