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I want to turn my 64-bit installation into a 32-bit one.

So far, I've tried to install a 32-bit kernel using this command:

sudo apt-get install linux-image:i386 linux-image-generic:i386 linux-image-generic-pae:i386 linux-firmware:i386

That command returns the following error:

Package linux-firmware:i386 is a virtual package provided by:
  linux-firmware 1.95 [Not candidate version]
E: Package 'linux-firmware:i386' has no installation candidate

I don't understand this as linux-firmware is available in all architectures, not just i386:

$ apt-cache show linux-firmware | grep Filename
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware_1.95_all.deb
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware_1.34.10_all.deb
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware_1.34.7_all.deb
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware_1.34.4_all.deb
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware_1.34_all.deb
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Hi and thanks for using this site. Do you want to completely switch to the 32-bit architecture or just want to install the kernel? Having a 32-bit kernel is not enough to have a fully 32-bit installation (the kernel is the last step). – Andrea Corbellini Dec 28 '12 at 12:47
2  
Why do you want this? Because all 32-bit software works in 64-bit! – Alvar Dec 28 '12 at 13:25
2  
Keep in mind that 64bit packages will not run well (if at all) in a 32 bit environment. If you need 32bit for a specific program, you can either re-install 32bit Ubuntu or dual boot 32 and 64. If you have more than 3GB RAM, only 3GB will be addressed in 32bit OS'. – Andrew Heath Dec 28 '12 at 13:34
@Andrea, i want full installation without installing from scratch ^^ – Kiswono Prayogo Dec 28 '12 at 13:37
1  
@KiswonoPrayogo you can't have full installation without installing from scratch. impossible. And programs don't use more memory if they are designed for 64-bit... – Alvar Dec 28 '12 at 15:05
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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

If it is for using 32 bit ELFs, then install multilib support. Or else its easier and less error prone to reinstall ubuntu in 32 bit mode, then installing hundreds of new packages.

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up vote 1 down vote

Very similar to How can I switch a 32-bit installation to a 64-bit one? .

The answer is that multi-arch crossgrading isn't supported yet. So just do a clean install. You can do a clean install that keeps all your files, but it's highly recommended to back up first.

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