How to enable 32-bit binary compatibility on Linux Mint 11 x64

I've recently installed x64 Linux Mint 11, basically Ubuntu Natty. Since the install I've found that 32-bit applications which used to run on my Ubuntu system are rejected by my Mint 11 system. When I use the 'file' utility to check the binary, it correctly identifies it as a 32-bit elf, but I can't invoke the application.

I've tried starting it from bash and os.system a la python, to no avail, so I suspect that it must have something to do with 32-bit binary compatibility mode but my knowledge of that sub-system and how to enable it is limited, can anyone assist?

Thanks

Install ia32-libs and make sure the application file is marked as executable, that should do the job! :)

Late Edit:

The lib could possibly be called ia32-libs-multiarch instead of ia32-libs.
apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch

I don't know anything about MINT, but i have some experience with Debian: To run 32bit-binaries you need in almost any case the libraries supporting 32bit-binaries in a 64bit environment. Try

apt-get install ia32-libs

If theres apt-get on your system... (or try aptitude or whatever comes with MINT)

You can check which libraries are needed using ldd:

lofi:~# ldd /bin/ping
linux-vdso.so.1 =>  (0x00007ffff7dff000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00007fd872ed1000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fd87323c000)

If there are any libraries missing, ldd will tell you.