William Morder composed on 2018-03-19 23:12 (UTC-0700):
Bios: American Megatrends v: 0407 date: 09/22/2008
William Morder composed on 2018-03-20 00:42 (UTC-0700):
Felix Miata wrote:
Curiouser and curiouser. I feel like I have gone down the rabbit hole.
Sounds like it to me.
Maybe that model motherboard was released with a BIOS too old to properly support the E2200 CPU, and needs a BIOS update. You can find the installed BIOS version via BIOS setup, or from the POST screen, or use dmidecode.
# dmidecode bios-release-date # dmidecode bios-version
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5GCVM/HelpDesk_BIOS/ shows latest is v408 dated 2010-06-08, almost 2 years newer than yours.
Testing for 64-bit support shouldn't be hard or need "techie" help. Fetch and burn a 64-bit network install .iso instead of a DVD, a small fraction of download size and time, and see what happens in clean / install mode.
Verifying 64-bit support would be another use for the Knoppix DVD or CD I previously mentioned that a Gparted CD wouldn't likely be designed to do.
One thing at a time ...
Jumping out of one hole into another isn't an answer. Exactly what were you trying to install when your techie determined it didn't support 64-bit?