Can I run 32-bit kernel on OS X Yosemite?

No. You can run applications in 32-bit mode, though.

If it is just an application, you can select it, Get Info, and set it to run in 32-bit mode. However, if it depends on a kernel extension that runs in 32-bit mode, that is not possible.

What application from Sony?

gfreiredc wrote:

It is a firmware update for my camera....I go to GetInfo but cannot find the option to run in 32-bit.

You'll have to talk to Sony, then. No way to run that on any Apple OS released in past three years.

Sony is always a day late and a dollar short.

Not sure if you are still having an issue, but I've encountered similar problems with more recent OS'. I am NOT AN EXPERT HERE so I want to make that clear. I may not be 100% correct in my understanding.

To my understanding, OS X Lion was the last OS that you can run 32-bit kernels on, but most people seem to prefer Snow Leopard for this task due to better legacy support and how 10.6.8 Snow Leopard is an extremely reliable OS. For Mountain Lion and later, you more or less run the compatibility mode that is the same context as you can do from Windows 8.1. I've had limited success here. I have a copy of OS X Snow Leopard so I can run at 32-bit installed on my hard drive and run OLD apps that do not like Yosemite. As I am running it through VMWare Fusion 7, I can't tell you if you can run Snow Leopard in 32 bit mode via a secondary install or not (I think it depends on your hardware and if your hardware shipped with Mountain Lion or later, then this is NOT possible even if booting through a 32 bit-capable OS...I COULD BE WRONG!)

One other option is if you have an old copy of Windows XP or something, you can do a 32 bit install through a virtual machine and update the firmware through the VM (obviously you would need drivers to allow it to recognize USB or Firewire or etc. devices to update the FW of a hardware component, which Parallels and Fusion are both capable of and do very well...but they are paid (free trial for both). Oracle has a VM which is free, but I do not know much about its functionality.) There are even certain software apps made to run older programs on OS X reliably...I do not know if they would be of benefit in your case or not.

Obviously that is a little bit of a pain but truth be told, I find that both Apple and Microsoft OS' have limitations when attempting to run older programs on newer OS. Old programs don't tend to run well on Yosemite or Windows 8.1, despite the fact that the operating systems themselves are reasonably reliable. I don't blame them as it seems this is just something that is very difficult to do reliably in a world where new technology is favored over legacy support. So that is why I have a 32-bit capable version of both OS X and Windows in addition to the current respective 8.1 and 10.10.2.

If this is a one-time deal and you do not think you will need to do the same thing down the road, you could skip all of the above and just borrow a computer from a friend with a 32-bit OS, or even go to a Fedex Kinkos or something and see if they will let you run the application from there. A lot of Mac users do have Parallels or Fusion on their Mac so someone local might be able to help you out. As Snow Leopard was the last OS to incorporate certain hardware support, it is still used extensively (some estimate it is used on around 1/4 of all Macs).

I have the same problem, best bet will probably to get a card reader.

I had the same exact problem. I called Sony and they said to run it on an older computer. I did it and updated my camera firmware without any issues.