[SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

alexkemp · 2026-01-06 22:57:12

I have a horrible feeling that the answer will be "No".

I've been running Excalibur on my old machine without problems since it was released.

I've bought a Byte computer from Star-Labs:
https://starlabs.systems/pages/byte-specification

It arrived today & I was going to burn an ISO to a USB & install from there. Then I read the Install-Guide on devuan.org:
https://www.devuan.org/os/documentation … evuan.html

...and saw the dreaded statement:

Supported architectures
amd64

The Byte machine is an Intel Twin Lake N355. Is there no chance under intel? I truly do not want to submit to the systemD plague by reverting to Debian.

Oh bugger. My bad. It never occurred to me when I placed the order.

GlennW · 2026-01-06 23:01:56

I could be wrong, but I think the term amd64 refers to the 64bit architecture as opposed to 32bit for PC's.

When they stopped using the ia64 archi. name...

I think it will work... you'll findout during boot. :-)

greenjeans · 2026-01-06 23:02:35

You're fine bro! The amd64 is not referrring to amd chips specifically, AMD was just the first one to patent 64 bit, thus the architecture itself is referred to as "amd64". You will be fine, Devuan runs great on Intel machines.

alexkemp · 2026-01-06 23:10:17

Oh good lord! Thank you for a fast reply.

blackhole · 2026-01-07 08:43:03

Not about "patents" as such. Intel started out in 64 bit with IA64 architecture (Itanium), which they later phased out in favour of amd64 (AMD's implementation). Search the web for a more detailed history. amd64 was designed to run 32 bit and 64 bit code, Itanium was pure 64 bit.

RedGreen925 · 2026-01-07 13:22:17

Search the web for a more detailed history. amd64 was designed to run 32 bit and 64 bit code, Itanium was pure 64 bit.

And it was incompatible with the existing instruction set the x86 all these computers use, AMD's implementation was an addition of the 64bit computing to the existing instruction set. This is why it got named amd64 because they did it when Intel was out to abandon it users and force them onto the new processors that used the ia64 for the now known as Itanic chip for its colossal failure in the market. This is why you see the x86_64 when looking at the output of the uname command the x86 arch with 64 bit extensions.

zeus@9600k:~$ uname -a
Linux 9600k 6.12.63+deb13-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.63-1 (2025-12-30) x86_64 GNU/Linux

Edit: To answer the OPs question since it says 64bit for the Windows 11 and higher than 6.8 Linus kernel on that product page. The amd64 version is exactly what you need to take full advantage of the processor if the 6.12 kernel is new enough to support a processor released in the first quarter of last year them saying 6.8 seems to support that idea. Though if not you many need the backports or newer kernel to use it. Easy enough though just make an install on supported machine on usb key then install newer kernel boot it on the new machine and clone the install to the new machines internal drive

Last edited by RedGreen925 (2026-01-07 13:40:10)

blackhole · 2026-01-07 14:05:33

Intel was out to abandon it users and force them onto the new processors that used the ia64

Not strictly correct. HP actually designed the Itanium and the main target was actually HP-UX and the wider server market.

Intel was never out to "abandon" any users, as ultimately, with regards to the existing x86 PC market, that was always dictated and controlled by Microsoft. At that time, 32 bit Windows on x86 hardware was still the de facto standard.

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn · 2026-01-07 15:14:12

@alexkemp, please keep us posted on your new machine! very interesting!

https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/byte

greenjeans · 2026-01-07 15:25:56

Not about "patents" as such

.

I'm aware of that and the other info posted afterward, for brevity's sake I didn't post it all because OP just wanted an answer to his question so I made a quick reply.

RedGreen925 · 2026-01-07 17:27:01

Not strictly correct. HP actually designed the Itanium and the main target was actually HP-UX and the wider server market.

Yes I left out the server users phrase in that line. The wackypedia article on the joint HP/Intel effort makes for fascinating reading for those who did not live it like I did...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium

alexkemp · 2026-01-07 21:45:07

I used devuan_excalibur_6.1.0_amd64_netinstall.iso obtained from the devuan excaliber download page. Then dd to setup a 2GB USB stick (wildly oversized; the iso is only 593MB).

sudo dd if=devuan_excalibur_6.1.0_amd64_netinstall.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=1M && sync

My existing screen has a HDMI option, so that was plugged into the Byte, as were an aged Dell keyboard via USB, mouse via USB, a LAN connection to my Virgin Media cable box, the external 18v power via DC jack + the USB stick.

Setup was a doddle:

The first issue was to spot the console warning to access the BIOS at startup. It was "F2", but that was on-screen for a very brief time.

Inside the BIOS it was easy to spot 'choose boot disk', with the internal 2TB SSD or the USB as options after that choice. Choosing 'USB' and 'reboot', everything occurred at astonishing speed afterwards.

My existing box is 10 years old, and one of the main reasons for getting a replacement is the gigabit LAN in the new one. Virgin have upgraded their Cable to an astonishing speed, but the old box was 10/100 LAN & that was the max it could handle. The new box is tiny outside but has 10 x the speed & capacity of the old one.

I was impressed by the intelligence of the setup in the ISO. It spotted my GB location & all the options for LAN setup (lan, wlan + bluetooth). The defaults for disk setup were also intelligent.

Finally, if you have not yet spotted it, only the intelligence of me & the Devuan page is lacking. I'm an ex-internet professional + server admin and yet was flummoxed by "amd64" as the supported architecture.

The Star-Labs Byte3 is working fine with Devuan. My main problem now is the amount of time that it is going to take me to set it up to my liking, so that I can drag myself away from the old box.

Matlib · 2026-01-07 23:15:30

This is why it got named amd64...

Unnamed processor architectures typically get called after their inventor, so “i” in i386/i686 stands for Intel, “m” in m68k for Motorola, “a” in aarch64 for Acorn, “m” in m32r for Mitsubishi, so when AMD presented their first 64-bit Athlon running some 3D demo on SUSE it got coined as “amd64”, with all letters probably because AMD is already an acronym.

Devarch · 2026-01-07 23:26:14

Intel runs everything. The problems starts when some AMDs are in use on Linux.

alexkemp · Yesterday 14:13:35

Devarch wrote:

The problems starts when some AMDs are in use on Linux.

As stated above: my old box was AMD64 (a processor actually made by AMD) and was first booted in May 2016 into Devuan. No problems of any kind then nor ever since. What on earth are you talking about? AMD v's intel is a non-starter here, so I'm marking this SOLVED.

RedGreen925 · Yesterday 15:08:40

No problems of any kind then nor ever since. What on earth are you talking about? AMD v's intel is a non-starter here,

Especially since the instruction set contained in both chips are virtually identical due to the cross licensing agreements they both have with each other for that technology. And have had since the beginning of AMD as required by the Department of Defense in the US for Intel to get the contracts to sell to them, they required backup source of supply for their chips they were buying.

blackhole · Yesterday 15:32:28

I'm an ex-internet professional + server admin and yet was flummoxed by "amd64" as the supported architecture.

I guarantee that if I asked 10 random "IT professionals" what "amd64" meant, most wouldn't know, so you're not alone.

AMD actually called it "x86-64 (tm)" :

https://web.archive.org/web/20120308025 … e_715.aspx

Intel implemented their version of x86-64 ("amd64") as "Intel 64".

I'm not 100% sure where the "amd64" terminology originated from, but it may not have been ADM themselves. I only ever see that used by Linux distributions or FreeBSD for example. I seem to recall that the Linux kernel sources had the options to build a kernel type of "hammer", which refers to the original x86-64/amd64 CPU.

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#1 2026-01-06 22:57:12

[SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#2 2026-01-06 23:01:56

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#3 2026-01-06 23:02:35

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#4 2026-01-06 23:10:17

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#5 2026-01-07 08:43:03

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#6 2026-01-07 13:22:17

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#7 2026-01-07 14:05:33

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#8 2026-01-07 15:14:12

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#9 2026-01-07 15:25:56

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#10 2026-01-07 17:27:01

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#11 2026-01-07 21:45:07

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#12 2026-01-07 23:15:30

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#13 2026-01-07 23:26:14

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#14 Yesterday 14:13:35

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#15 Yesterday 15:08:40

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

#16 Yesterday 15:32:28

Re: [SOLVED] Is it Possible to Run Devuan on an intel architecture?

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