[CentOS] OT: Google Earth, v.4.3.7284.3916 (beta) on CentOS 5.2 (32 bit)

[Lanny Marcus]

On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 9:46 AM, William L. Maltby
<CentOS4Bill at triad.rr.com> wrote:
>
> On Sat, 2008-08-23 at 14:05 -0500, Lanny Marcus wrote:
>> On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 6:46 AM, William L. Maltby
>> <snip>
>
>> >> Then, I did some reading on the Google site. Question: How do I
>> >> determine whether or not the CPU in this box (I think it's an Intel
>> >> Celeron 2.6 GHz) supports SSE2 or not? I suspect the CPU does *not*
>> >> support SSE2.   Posting some information below:
>>
>> > cat /proc/cpuinfo
>>
>> Bill: The data are below. There is a flag for sse2. Does that mean
>> this CPU supports SSE2 or not? If it does support SSE2, that gives me
>
> What the flag is *supposed* to mean is that SSE2 is supported.
> However ...
>
>> a mystery, about why the latest version of Google Earth wouldn't run
>> properly.   Lanny
>>
>> [lanny at dell2400 ~]$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
>> processor       : 0
>> vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
>> cpu family      : 15
>> model           : 2
>> model name      : Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.60GHz
>> stepping        : 9
>> cpu MHz         : 2591.741
>> cache size      : 128 KB
>> fdiv_bug        : no
>> hlt_bug         : no
>> f00f_bug        : no
>> coma_bug        : no
>> fpu             : yes
>> fpu_exception   : yes
>> cpuid level     : 2
>> wp              : yes
>> flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca
>> cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe up cid
>> xtpr
>> bogomips        : 5185.86
>
> Let us not forget how many moving parts there are here. And let us not
> overlook past history, like math co-processors that didn't (correctly).
>
> It's not certain that the SSE2 is the issue is it? Regardless, chips go
> through revisions to fix/enhance things. It is entirely possible that
> the SSE2 implementation on that chip is flawed. The application software
> can also be the cause. Use the stepping number of the chip to google
> around and see if there's any record of problems.
>
> I would also google for any little utils that test the SSE2 instruction
> set. Not because I think there's a problem, but because it would be a
> preemptive strike when the support folks say the problem is that your
> CPU doesn't properly support SSE2. It'll probably be DOS based.
>
> Most good software includes tests and "emulators" for some missing
> "features". I would suspect either the software is not properly
> detecting that you have SSE2 of it has some other fundamental problem,
> like library versions, kernel features not enabled, etc.
>
> A good handle might be obtained by running it with strace and see where
> the problem occurs, if possible.
>
> Then folks having greater expertise than I might be able to help
> pinpoint the problem.
>
>>
>> [lanny at dell2400 ~]$

Bill: Thank you for all of the above information. I googled for the
CPU and stepping number and looking quickly at the results, I don't
think it is a problematic CPU. Will look into the other things you
suggested. I'm curious as to why the latest Google Earth for Linux
won't run on it, but, as you pointed out, it could easily be that the
Application software is flawed and if that is the cause, it won't fly.
We have one Google Application that comes with a small version of
WINE, to run on Linux, but I think that is Google Picasa and not
Google Earth.   Lanny