Is running 32-bit MATLAB on a 64-bit platform supported?

I would like to run MATLAB (32-bit) on a platform in which a 64-bit processor is running a 64-bit operating system.

[Petter]

Why would one want to do that? To be able to run 32-bit mex files, or is there another reason?

[Image Analyst]

In my case I have both on my 64 bit Windows computer. The reason for the 32 bit is that I have to compile apps for users on 32 bit Windows 7 and Windows XP and they can only run the apps if I compiled them while running the 32 bit version of MATLAB.

[owr]

Does this work seemlessly for you? Just open the 32 bit version, compile your apps using the same project file as your 64 bit (assuming your using deploytool etc.) and all works well?

Or are you using the -w32 option with mcc?

From the docs for mcc:

"win32 Run in 32-Bit Mode

Use this option to build a 32-bit application on a 64-bit system only when the following are both true:

You use the same MATLAB installation root (install_root) for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of MATLAB.

You are running from a Windows command line (not a MATLAB command line"

Thanks!

Answer 1

[Murugavel Sivagnanam]

For Windows:

This is a supported configuration as-of R2010b. In R2010a and earlier, this configuration is not supported, but is expected to generally work.

There are a handful of known issues with running 32-bit R2010b on 64-bit Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

They are as follows:

1. MATLAB Distributed Compute Server may fail when both 32-bit MATLAB and 64-bit MATLAB are installed on the same computer.

2. Real-Time Windows Target will not run.

3. Data Acquisition Toolbox cannot connect to parallel ports.

4. Embedded IDE Link and Target Support Package may fail to start Code Composer Studio.

Note that platform cross-compilation (for example, attempting to use 64-bit MATLAB to create a 32-bit MEX file) is not supported.

R2010a and earlier releases have more significant limitations, mostly in the area of invoking external C compilers and other third party applications.

For Linux Users:

MathWorks does not support running 32-bit MATLAB binaries on 64-bit Linux.

For Mac Users:

Mac users do not have the same kind of exposure to these concerns and can generally ignore this topic. This is because OS X 10.5 and 10.6 do not have any user-visible distinction between 32-bit and 64-“bit- ness” in the OS (that is, there is a single OS image that supports both 32-bit and 64-bit execution). Further, beginning with R2010b, a 32-bit version of MATLAB is no longer produced for the Mac.

[Daniel Shub]

Accepted by DES

[Jan]

I got problems when I've installed the 32-bit version in "C:\Program Files (x86)\" due to the parenthesis or spaces in the file name. Therefore I've created "C:\ProgramFiles_" also to store all programs which fails in special characters in the file path.