/usr/src/linux/tools/objtool//fixdep: Exec format error

/usr/src/linux/tools/objtool/fixdep which was in the kernel tree and had been built for i386 didn't get rebuilt for x86_64, even after a make clean

I had to manually remove the fixdep binary and it was rebuilt for x86_64 on the next kernel build.

For Devuan-specific packages, I used https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/policy-query.html, and in one case had to build the version of avahi packages that I needed from source at https://git.devuan.org/explore/repos searching for the package, then selecting "tags" and downloading the appropriate version of the tar.gz file and apt-get build-dep avahi and debuild -b, also from devscripts to build a package with the same version number.

I had already started the process of cross-grading using the information at https://wiki.debian.org/CrossGrading and was getting bogged down. One of the linked references, https://anarc.at/services/upgrades/cross-architecture/ was more helpful given my situation.

Having installed enough important amd64 architecture packages under i386 architecture and being able to boot into amd64 architecture was a start, but aptitude doesn't have the capability to easily add packages in a new architecture at the same version as in the old architecture, and dpkg, even after obtaining all the amd64 packages and first installing library packages then everything else, took multiple passes of manually installing packages, getting dependencies matched, and running dpkg --configure -a.

I then had a frozen mouse pointer at the desktop manager login screen when running the boot disk I had upgraded from i386 to amd64, whereas an exiting installation of Devuan/amd64 on the same hardware had no such problem.

The cause was a previously commented out autotune script in the powertop package that must have been re-enabled in the i386 to amd64 upgrade process, and I even found my old Debian bug report about it from over three years ago. Removing the powertop package was the simplest fix.

I've been at it for weeks based on a few guides, then someone in irc mentioned the crossgrader package.

I've hit a couple of issues with the crossgrader program and reported them to the maintainer.

I got linux-image, linux-headers and linux-source for 6.10.9-1 696-pae.

The 32-bit kernels in excalibur and ceres have been removed. Did anyone happen to save the last deb packages for 686-pae?

This website is likely to be very useful: https://snapshot.debian.org/

It appears that some very recent packages can be found here:
https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/20250101T021323Z/pool/updates/main/l/linux-6.1/

Meanwhile, I've made an excalibur 32-bit live-iso with the daedalus backports kernel. That's another unsatisfactory solution for the same and other reasons, but it does work.

N.B. When trying to upgrade my i386 excalibur VM, aptitude puked on the t64 versions of packages. 'apt upgrade' and 'apt dist-upgrade' worked ok and all the t64 packages got installed.

so i see no reason not to cross-post(yeti-again, pun intended!):

https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=53863#p53863

https://archive.fosdem.org/2023/schedule/event/rv_selfhosting_all_the_way_down/

we/us users/developers/engineers/etc. are all in this together and as long as there are people willing AND hardware available...and the two have access to each other(physical people AND physical hardware, no qemu please) then we will continue to see some antique architecture software availability.

wonder what architecture and operating system Voyager is using?

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/12/21/0612239/voyager-1-signals-from-interstellar-space-detected-by-amateur-astronomers-on-1950s-telescope

amazing.

... but this is still derailing the topic of this thread (as is the RISC-V glitch), so answers to this please in its own threads.

have been watching risc-v with interest for several years now.

these boards ship with ubuntu pre-installed(i know...ugh)

https://www.sifive.com/boards/hifive-premier-p550

OK: We just switch to RISC-V and forget about i386.

=> SOLVED!

\o/ ___( THANKS! )

these boards ship with ubuntu pre-installed(i know...ugh)

https://www.sifive.com/boards/hifive-premier-p550

The next generation of "old junk" is the 64 bit hardware which is vulnerable to spectre/meltdown which MS intentionally ended support for with Windows 11. Again MS won't have too many problems with Linux and BSDs being installed on that - but they also know that many users will get Windows 11 installed on that "unsupported" hardware regardless. This is the same mindset, as "at least they're running Windows". See "security theatre" for what it is.

Personally, I bought my last 32-bit-x86-computer in 1999 (0.5 GHz Intel Pentium with 0.4 GB RAM). Probably it would still work, but it's gone.