32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

johnraff · 2026-02-13 02:47:04

Debian - on which BunsenLabs is based - have dropped 32 bit kernels, installers and iso images from the current stable Trixie release.

BunsenLabs will be forced to do likewise, and the upcoming Carbon release will have no 32 bit iso images, or 32bit package repositories.

Users with 32 bit machines can continue to use BunsenLabs Boron for as long as Debian Long Term Support for Bookworm continues, which is expected to be until June 30, 2028:
https://wiki.debian.org/LTS

Previous discussion:
https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic … 48#p140748

ciko2283 · 2026-02-13 20:52:26

BL USB

hhh · 2026-02-14 16:43:57

^ That drive has seen some sh**. Scarred for life by systemd or something.

DeepDayze · 2026-02-14 21:00:33

hhh wrote:

^ That drive has seen some sh**. Scarred for life by systemd or something.

Oh definitely

Nili · 2026-02-14 22:05:04

█▬▬ Master ready

edit:correcting imoji

Last edited by Nili (2026-02-14 22:06:51)

fdg2018 · 2026-02-14 23:04:02

I wonder how many 32-bit processors in personal computers (incl. necessary peripherals like the sockets/mainboards) are still alive today... they stopped producing that stuff around 20 years ago, right?

Last edited by fdg2018 (2026-02-14 23:05:10)

grubernd · 2026-02-19 11:53:08

ciko2283 wrote:

Just make sure to plug that USB drive into a computer every now and then. Even better if you rewrite the image, too. Flash memory needs regular power refreshes. Since you never know the quality or the usage the drive has seen, there is no general number to go by.

grubernd · 2026-02-19 12:54:31

fdg2018 wrote:

I wonder how many 32-bit processors in personal computers (incl. necessary peripherals like the sockets/mainboards) are still alive today... they stopped producing that stuff around 20 years ago, right?

My 2008 netbook with an Atom N270 CPU is still going strong, also thanks to BunsenLabs.
I mostly use it as an interactive mobile data-logger where a powerloss won't be critical since even the replacement battery is long dead.

Funny story: that machine made me a Linux user after the "Windows 7 Compatibility Test" utility by MS ran for an hour in 2011 and then concluded the machine was not fit for W7. Got myself an Ubuntu image, installed it and the rest is history.

Haven't tried to power up my Pentium II 400 board in a while, might be a good idea.

XanII · 2026-03-07 18:48:34

My old Asus EePC is still in use. And it wrecked itself with a firmware update so came looking for 32-bit install media but it's gone now. But yeah, still some limited use left.

PackRat · 2026-03-07 19:42:30

Void is still supporting 32-bit for now if you need to clean install:

https://voidlinux.org/download/#i686

DeepDayze · 2026-03-08 00:18:08

PackRat wrote:

Void is still supporting 32-bit for now if you need to clean install:
https://voidlinux.org/download/#i686

And I think AntiX is also offering 32 bit images for now as well.

PackRat · 2026-03-08 00:33:35

DeepDayze wrote:

PackRat wrote:
Void is still supporting 32-bit for now if you need to clean install:
https://voidlinux.org/download/#i686
And I think AntiX is also offering 32 bit images for now as well.

Good; there are still some options available.

johnraff · 2026-03-08 07:21:28

BunsenLabs Boron is still an option too, for a while yet.

XanII · 2026-03-08 08:56:11

AntiX 23.2 is now in use on the old thing. Not exactly charmed by it but the options are not exactly abundant. If i can get this thing to the ripe age of 20 in 2028 then i think it has been 'test driven' enough.

DeepDayze · 2026-03-08 16:01:55

XanII wrote:

AntiX 23.2 is now in use on the old thing. Not exactly charmed by it but the options are not exactly abundant. If i can get this thing to the ripe age of 20 in 2028 then i think it has been 'test driven' enough.

AntiX 26 is in testing mode and soon that release will become available and there are 32 bit images.

ghorvath · 2026-04-28 22:38:26

By the way, after I installed some packeges with i386 architecrure, as well, apt complained that the bunsen repos do not support i386. I needed to add

Architectures: amd64

to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bunsen.sources for it to quiet down.

Might be worth considering adding it as a permanent change into the bunsen packages, and maybe to the next version of the installer?

johnraff · Yesterday 03:04:43

^Thanks for raising that interesting point.

The packages themselves are not involved in this, it's only the apt repository setting.

Because the Debian Installer and Live Build do not yet handle the DEB822 format, we have to configure repositories with the old format, and then convert in the bl-welcome script, using apt's "modernize-sources" script. Unfortunately the sources conversion script does not migrate any architecture settings, so the only option is to add it by hand. In the future when DEB822 is universally supported we can add an Architecture line.

Usually it's unnecessary, but when adding a foreign architecture apt might "complain". Did it error out for you, or just issue a warning and carry on?

The topic has come up before:
https://www.reddit.com/r/debian/comment … md64_part/
https://wiki.debian.org/SourcesList#deb … ces_format
https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch/HOWTO

ghorvath · Yesterday 21:22:06

It gave me a Notice. I have a Hungarian system, so I'll try to translate, but essentially it gave the following message during a sudo apt update:

Notice: Omitting „main/binary-i386/Packages”, because „https://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian carbon InRelease” does not support „i386” architecture.

As far as I can tell, everything was working fine, it only gave that notice every time I did an apt update, and it bothered me, so I added the relevant line. That suppressed the notice, but I think the behaviour is the same.

johnraff · Today 06:00:45

Yes I think that notice can be ignored.
We won't be able to fix it at our end until the Debian scripts all support the DEB822 format.
Meanwhile, users who plan to install i386 packages should add the 'Architectures: amd64' line to bunsen.sources as you did.

#1 2026-02-13 02:47:04

32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#2 2026-02-13 20:52:26

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#3 2026-02-14 16:43:57

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#4 2026-02-14 21:00:33

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#5 2026-02-14 22:05:04

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#6 2026-02-14 23:04:02

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#7 2026-02-19 11:53:08

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#8 2026-02-19 12:54:31

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#9 2026-03-07 18:48:34

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#10 2026-03-07 19:42:30

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#11 2026-03-08 00:18:08

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#12 2026-03-08 00:33:35

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#13 2026-03-08 07:21:28

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#14 2026-03-08 08:56:11

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#15 2026-03-08 16:01:55

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#16 2026-04-28 22:38:26

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#17 Yesterday 03:04:43

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#18 Yesterday 21:22:06

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

#19 Today 06:00:45

Re: 32 bit support will end with BunsenLabs Boron

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