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Sony Annouces Linux PS2 Port for US
krismon writes "Sony has announced that it is gonna release the Linux port(old Slashdot article) for the Playstation 2 in the US, after selling out SUPER fast in japan." I saw this running, it's pretty impressive.
Sweet, I wonder if i can talk my prof into using t hem for my OS class this winter?
www.cs.uchicago.edu
But do you have to sign over your soul in blood to Sony??? They scare me.
** Disclamer: I am a disgruntled Dreamcast owner.
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
I finally have a reason to buy a PS2... ::waits for external HDD::
I can't swap the OS and just play games using the original PSOS. Besides, TVs don't have the nice resolution that a normal monitor has. Running X at 640x480 on a 50 inch TV does nothing for me.
...they had to go through the code and erase all changelog comments that would infringe on the DMCA.
> Why on Earth would I want to run Linux on my PS2?
Just off the top of my head, I would say there is a lot you can do. eg, many open source linux games can now be ported to the PS much more easily since all the neccesary linux libs etc will be available.
Also off the top of my head: With just linux, a framebuffer driver for the PS, an opendivx codec and a bit of work, it shouldn't be too hard to get a bootable linux based cd whose sole purpose is to play back the divx thats also recorded to the cd. In other words, an alternative to DVD that plays on any PS and is easily copied and distributed. This would be ideal for people wanting to send copies of their summer party video to their friends, none of whom own a pc, but all who have playstations.
When someone says that linux runs on the PS, don't automatically think that they are talking about a complete GNU/Linux system together with all the usual shells and servers etc. That will probably not be the case. I expect a bootable linux CD could be set up to go straight into a game from init. The user may not even know they were running linux at all.
This could be the start of lots of free-software games releases ported to the PS.
What driver support is included for the firewire ports on the ps2? Will it be released for standard distros?
rrdejay
post count != pensu size
Gone but not... ummm
Does this mean that it'll move the OS Wars (Linux vs Windows) to gaming consoles?
Then again, looking at the menu system for the Xbox, I can honestly say I'd prefer windows to what MS is doing on their console system....
Wonder if Sony's Linux port will have wacky interface options?
Beware the Whyte Wolf.
With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels...
Maelstrom on my tv, that's gotta be interesting. Just hope the penguins don't eat my nachos!
-Shade
wait till you see the price of a X-Box with XP in it!!!
NO! I CAN'T imagine a Beowulf cluster of these...
I'm kinda curious what kind of I/O score the PS2 might be able to manage. While the power requirements might be kinda steep, it's a very small and *very* stackable mini server platform.
Of course, don't expect it anytime soon. The HD, modem, and broadband adapter peripherals have all been delayed until Spring.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
This will be a fun and cheap method for learning the MIPS architecture, I can only hope linux is also ported to the Gamecube so I can do the same for PPC ;-)
How the PS2 works - this is an awesome source... very informative, yet easy-to-read.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/ps2.htm
While Sony is really earns its bread in the liscensing market rather than the hardware market, it is still important for them to put units in consumers' homes, because that is the only way to build a userbase for PS2 games.
What is the additional cost for releasing a linux-enabled PS2 machine? Not terribly much. It's the sort of thing linux enthusiasts might release on their own in a few months, given a chance. By putting in this marginal amount of effort, Sony gets both a more valuable commodity and some brownie points among linux enthusiasts.
I honestly can't see a single downside for them. The remarkable point is not that the PS2 is capable of this but rather that Sony actually had the foresight to act upon it. That's the hallmark of a nimble corporation and speaks loads for their future.
Of course, Sony is also in bed with the RIAA and the dvd cca, so anyone who buys a PS2 is going to hell in my book, but that's your choice.
Its a cool hack but does it have a point?
AFIK the thing does not have a net connection shiped with it so you can not get any networking. Is there a printer port? Can you plug in a cdrom drive or a fd0/L120 device?
Sure you can use a spread sheet with it but what do you do with it after its created. Where can you save, print, send it?
I would like to see something like this with a distro amied at newbies. With interactive lessons on how to use all of the apps so that it becomes a "learn linux on your PS2" thing that allows us to capture the newbies before they get hooked on windows.
But unless this can escape the gravity of a cool novilty or hack that will not happen.
Ascii artist &
In addition, I just can't wait for an MP3 player to be written for this thing. I just wish I could do it myself!
>>>>>> Chewie, take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive.
... and even then, nobody will be able to agree on what distribution is best. :)
A lot of what your paying for is a hard drive, keyboard/mouse, cable to plug into a vga monitor.. but I guess if you dont want to pay shit for anything you wont be using linux on yer ps2..
Zeno
remember everyone complaining about their nvidia cards not being supported under X?
wait, what kind of graphics card the the PS2 use?
well, on the same note, if people are able to get linux running under the X-box (which is to come out pretty soon supposedly) then... well that would mean there's going to be drivers for the nvidia card out there too...
my blog
...Now who is going to write drivers to allow programming via DualShock, or write drivers to allow the DVD-ROM to be accessed. Video drivers would be nice, too.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
It's also nice to see a company do this. While it would be fun to hack the Xbox, this will be a nice solution to those just getting their hands dirty with Linux (myself included...Mac OSX has whetted my appitite. Next stop, YellowDog).
Kudos Sony!
----
Spam subject of the moment: Offshore account secrets -nashville disrupt
How hard would it be to port some emulators to this? I mean really, until FF 10 comes out classics may be the only good games you can find.
(On a side note I think that this is really damn cool. Not that it is on the PS2 but that someone managed to sell LInux)
Secondsun
I can pirate DVD's if it keeps my children off porn sitez.
There is nothing wrong with being gay. It's getting caught where the trouble lies.
You're Just Jealous Because The Voices Are Talking To Me.
Has anyone been able to get the PS2 under linux to talk to a another linux box via USB? Is the USB hardware on the playstation supported in sony's linux port?
A couple of megabits a second is nothing to sneeze at, a lot of things could run full speed under X at 2Mb/s.
The firewire port would give far better speeds, but every recent PC has USB.
Currently I have a box with TV out which gets lugged into the living room occasionally to play movie files in various formats & xgalaga on the TV. Having a PS2 as an X-term would be a far more convenient (and cheaper) idea than a box with a GeForce with TV-out. Things that chew serious amounts of CPU (eg. DivX) could be run on the real box in another room and piped to the local display on the PS2. After a certain point the bandwidth of firewire would be desireable.
I was wondering If I could turn an old PS2 into an internet appinace I could surf the web on? Perhaps something Like a webTV? I don't own any game consoles But I thought the sony had an ethernet port? So it seems like soem of this would be possible?
"I drank what?" - Socrates
Some are of course questioning WHY?
With a keyboard, mouse, Hard Drive, and Ethernet/Modem adapter, SONY may have essentially created the next cheap home computer, and they'll be able to push this onto the market as such with the right marketing.
You see- back in the days of the Commodore 64 a computer didn't have to have a completely dedicated setup for people. It was fine to have a computer just plugged into the TV for occassional gaming, BBS, and type-work.
The Playstation 2 can perform all of the modern equvilants of these roles, and it doesn't even REALLY need Linux to do it, but why complain that it uses Linux?
While I honestly DOUBT that Linux is going to be a major part of the Sony Playstation's acceptance as a general purpose low-cost computing device, I honestly do think it's a "Good Thing" for Linux. Think of the number of budding coders that could print their first "Hello World" on this thing? And while Microsoft may own the PC market right now they don't own EVERY market, at least, not yet, and there is room for a whole new level of personal computers. A market that hasn't been filled since the last of the Amiga 500's began to die off.
Dreamcast could've had that market, but they ignored it. XBox could have that Market, but Microsoft won't play their cards right (I don't think). Nintendo doesn't want that market or they would've had it a long time ago.
Sony. Linux. It bothers me, but I can see it happening.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
I am going to wait for the Linux Hack of the XBox. A 766 Proccessor, 8 GB HDD and NVIDIA video, for $299, can't be beat this side of an E-Machine.
Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power - Benito Mussoli
What I wouldn't give to see the look on my bosses face when I show up with a truckload of PS2s and hand one to each employee as they arrive at work. Give me an X environment and a fast NIC and I'm there. I can see the new employee manual now... "No playing --insert your favorite game here-- during business hours." And yes I would prefer to navigate my spreadsheets with a joystick.
You forgot one thing:
Back in those days you could go to Toys R Us and get the practically complete guide to programming the Commodore 64, including the 6510 assembly language, and the schematic just for the hell of it. Now THAT was cool, unlike these crappy-ass computers of today.
I ain't buying a Linux powered PS2 until they give me the same thing.
Glückwünsche, haben Sie Slashdot ermordet, indem Sie zum korporativen Druck beugten und Subskriptionen einlei
Ive used it, and its SLOW
PS2 doesnt have much memory and its unexpandable anyway, so things like building a kernel take all day while the thing swaps into the stratosphere... if youre going to develop for this thing, you really want to cross compile. You dont want to self-host build at all.
CPU wise, the R5900 @ 294mhz is roughly equivalent to a K6/233. Please, dont argue about what this CPU is "theoretically" capable of. Right now GCC is very unoptimized for this architecture, so a K6/233 IS what this thing is going to perform like, unless you want to hand code MIPS ASM.
Its very cute, but the Mesa HW implementation is rather incomplete and binutils has various bugs preventing lots of stuff from linking properly.
Oh yeah, it's also expensive as hell (compared to what the equivalent $$ would buy you in x86 hardware)
To me, its mainly a curiosity, nothing more. Dreamcast Linux is far more interesting -- and far cheaper.
The main reason everyone I know who has bought PS2 linux is for the VGA adaptor so they can play PS2 games in hires ^_^;
Still, it's nice that Sony did the port.
Why would I want to buy this kit? I don't get it, I mean yay, it has been ported. Now, can we all go home now?
They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to...protect me from the enemy, myself
linux shminux. just wait till Apple releases OS X 10.2 for the PS.
Shouldn't You expect more from your DJ?
SDL has been ported to the PS2.
This will make amateur game development for the PS2 *much* easier.
Why do both MS and Sony want to control the broadband bridgehead into the living room? Because they can then become the toll-booth onto the distribution of electronic services. It may surprise people but Sony has acquired themselves a bank and MS own a controlling stake in a cheque clearing-house. Much like phone companies have to subsidise handsets and stick customers with the long-term contracts, everyone is gunning for a slice of the electronic services that businesses are switching over ... you don't buy airline tickets, you bid for a seat, insurance, superannuation, identity, membership of professional societies, job contracts, even social contacts (rolodex on steroids) ... all these are basically electronic goods that people will be willing to acquire.
The problems is making someone else fork out the capital for infrastructure, the smart people identify the bottlenecks and position themselves where the traffic concentration makes it worthwhile to extract their tax/toll/vig.
Nothing changed from highway robbery days except who gets to collect the loot.
LL
... the VGA connector doesnt work for PS2 games, only Linux :-( :-(
I wanna see a Darwin port to the Gamecube...
$199, no HD, but still... nifty.
GPL Deconstructed
Sony has answered our petitions to bring a Linux port to the PSX2. Many people who singed the petition, myself included, claimed that seeing Linux available on the PSX2 would prompt a purchase. I know I intend to, but in general, are we going to support Sony for supporting us? Are we going to encourage big companies to do what we ask by following through with our claims? Or is the general public going to just drop the ball and show Sony and other large tech corps that what we write in petitions is bullshit?
Why bother.
By jobe...I think you've got yerself an idea there! Shall I take heed to your advice? Sho-nuff I deem your response as: score 0 - redundant
>>>>>> Chewie, take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive.
Okamoto also gave accolades to conference host Rambus Inc., saying that the memory company was one of the most important contributors to the design and manufacture of the PlayStation 2. "We defined the main application on the PlayStation 2 as MPEG-2 (video) decoding," he said. "The solution was dual-channel RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic RAM) because MPEG-2 decoding for high-definition images is very heavy." Each PlayStation 2 uses 32M bytes of RDRAM.
I must have missed something. RAMBUS actually did something useful other than crank out patents? Somebody illuminate me on this. I was unaware they had anything other than lawyers working for them anymore.
USB sucks for networking. It's designed for one-way data transfer, and bogs down if it gets much more sophisticated. Remember networking with serial cables on the mac, or null modem cables on the PC, that's why USB networking sucks, and hasn't been implemented.
My Karma is so good, I'm the Dalai Lama...or something.
...an Amiga CD32.
Think about it...
VK3TST
-- "People aren't stupid. Usually." -- jd
I ain't buying a Linux powered PS2 until they give me the same thing.
They have something close.
It's called C++ for Dummies.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Rambus has been around for quite some time. I believe they did some work in Nintendo's game consoles as well.
I want to be able to run Playstation 2 games on my Linux box. They have it all backwards. They need to release a Linux port of the Playstation 2. Now THAT would be something, even closed source and commercial, it would be a welcomed addition.
Wow, this is great news.
You see, I bought my Playstation 2 a year ago, and I've had no idea what to do with it till now!
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Er... use the USB ports for a mouse and keyboard. Wire the PS2s together with the iLink/FireWire port.
-_Quinn
Reality Maintenance Group, Silver City Construction Co., Ltd.
I actually hooked it up to my Palm Pilot, and affixed the Palm Pilot to the wall, and lit it with light strips I got from Thinkgeek, and connected one of the controllers to my serial port and hacked together a rudimentary driver and special CD with my own bootstrap code so I could make the Playstation 2 display system information (like my 9 day uptime!) to my wall-mounted Palm Pilot.
But now I can run Linux on it. Hot shit!
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
...a Furbeowulf cluster of these things!
TO BUY A NEW CAR WOULD MAKE YOU SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
It has a PCMIA card slot, so you could put a laptop ethernet card in the machine
Actually it doesn't. The early Japanese versions (SCPH-10000, IIRC) did, but Sony axed this in favor of a proprietary interface of their own. If they hadn'd done this, someone would have probably already ported Linux to the PS2. Kinna makes ya think, doesn't it?
so you could put a laptop ethernet card in the machine.
Not only can't you, you won't need to, if the Japanese PS2 Linux Kit is any indication. The HDD that comes with the kit includes a built-in 10/100 NIC.
Back in the late 1980's Apple was afraid of anti-trust suit because the had hardware, OS, and at that time the most popular "Office" suite for their platform.
They spun off Claris and gave Claris the office suite. It had been called AppleWorks, then ClarisWorks.
Eventually after MS gained dominance in the Word processor market on the Mac, Apple bought Claris back, and rename the product back to Appleworks.
The starting price is MUCH less.. but, and this is funny, most retailers are ONLY offering "bundles" with certain games plus a couple extra controllers, and so on.
Thus the price you will pay is heaps more than the "real" cost of the XBox and HALO.
Department of Homeland Security: Removing the rights real patriots fought and died for since 2001
I've got now idea whether the performance would be adequate in a lot of cases, but I can think of a lot of situations where having high speed in only one direction would not be a big problem. I've used X over a modem a few times - it's usable for a few things, and a couple of orders of magnitude more bandwidth would make an enormous difference.
I also like the idea of putting a "laplink" USB cable between a PC and a PS2, and instantly have read/write storage mounted via NFS to provide everything newer than your boot CD or DVD.
Of course - the USB "laplink" cable only gives you 1:1 connectivity.
Firewire has the same major disadvantages of SCSI - price and scarcity, while USB ports are fairly common. That said, you could probably get a PC firewire card for less than the price of the laptop ethernet card you would need for the PS2.
Speaking of the Amiga CD32, (and it`s predecessor the CDTV) - these consoles were both failures, mostly due to lack of / poor marketting, but both had HUGE amounts of games available for them almost immediately. Because they were compatible with the Amiga range, even had AmigaOS built in just the same. Most of the games were just Amiga games put on CD, it was not uncommon to have a CD with under 1mb used. Sometimes with CD audio or video intro`s added as an afterthought.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
>The starting price is MUCH less.. but, and this is funny, most
>retailers are ONLY offering "bundles" with certain games plus a couple
>extra controllers, and so on.
>
>
Bullshit. You can buy the plain PS2 unbundled package at EB,K-Mart and Wal-mart. It's in a blue box. The PS2 bundled package is in a red box.
a PS2 as a firewall :) I'd like to see the script kiddies root that machine.
When I first started reading your post, I thought you were raising the question I had - if I signed the petition can I get in line earlier than the general public for a pre-order?
I signed the petition and I'm going to get this as soon as I can!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Of course. What you missed, however, is that the previous poster was talking about XBox, not PS2. As well, you can (or more precisely, will be able to) buy the XBox console all by its lonesome. Many stores (Gamestop/Babbages, Software Etc) were offering only the console as a preorder in-store, even though their online preorders were bundle only. Once the XBox is released and all preorders have been filled, you will certainly be able to walk into your favorite store and buy just the console for $299.
Now maybe Sony is really giving him a platform he can play with!
Give a hand, not a hand-out.
Well, the PS2 already has a CD-ROM drive (duh), and it has USB and firewire ports on it, so you should be able to plug just about any modern PC perphrial into it, provided you've got drivers. There's also a Nice drive bay in back for extensions like Hard drives.
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
well I signed the petition. I said i get one and now I will.
-
I'm not the type to go off on a diatribe about how 'bad slashdot has gotten' and how it's 'sold out', but I'm starting to feel like while reading the site, I have to dodge commercials for Sony products. One day I'm reading about a 'call to arms' against the SSSCA and the record industry that's pushing it, the next day I'm passing over "news stories" that scream hooray Sony! Sony being one of the largest parts of the RIAA, and representing a very large amount of political contributions. Feh.
And all this time I've been watching DVD's and playing Grand Tourismo 3, dont I feel like a schmuck.
A release of Linux for the PS2 is planned for us poor europeans also.
:)
Just have a look under the coming soon section of SCEE!
Finally I will be able to replace all the PCs in my room with one single sexy black brick
While the PS2's CPU has only a mere 300MHz clock speed, it is not an Intel architechture CPU -- it is a MIPS Rx000 (sorry, can't remember which model straight off the top of my head) by SGI (originally). It can execute more instructions in parallell than an Intel CPU can, in fact, enough to be faster than the XBox's 733MHz CPU. That's the same reason an AMD AthlonXP 1800 at 1533MHz can beat a Pentium 4 2000 in all tests but Q3A (Q3A seems to be optimized for Intel over AMD). Performance matters, not numbers. The clock speed is really meaningless when comparing CPUs of different architectures. MIPS (millions of instructions per second) is a much more accurate measurement. So, DivX, DVD, or whatever wouldn't be a problem at all for the PS2, since it can handle HDTV resolution DVD decoding/scaling. It would be MUCH slower to send uncompressed video (24bits/pixel*1280columns*720rows*30fps=79MB/s) over a 100mbit/s network (12.5MB/s theoretical maximum without protocol overhead) than it would be for the PS2's CPU to decode it locally, since DivX video is usually around 500KB/s for transparent quality at 1440x720 (I know - I use DivX to compress my high-res 3D animations from Bryce et al when I'm low on hard drive space). Firewire is only 40MB/s, so this would still be insufficient for uncompressed consumer HDTV video.
A solution to the problem with music today
Well, all the PS2 developer SDK's are based on Linux, and gcc is the PS2's default (or only) compiler, so it would make sense for it to be using ELF binaries.
BTW: mod parent +2 informative or interesting
A solution to the problem with music today
AFAIK, Sony has not yet contributed the linux kernel changes they made back to the community.
I'd love to run Linux on my PSX2, tough. But it's not worth it if i can't re-compile my kernel and learn from looking through the source. That's the big point in OpenSource: contribute back to the community, not just take the source and be fond of saved developing time.
I also think that Sony is legally forced to reveal the Source as the Linux Kernel is GPL.
Agreed. MIPS asm is hardly more obfuscated than C (I'll admit that's a slight exaggeration). For example, to load an integer into a register you just li register value (or is it value register ? I'm pretty sure it's register value ). It's so(ooo) simple, especially when compared to x86 ASM. MIPS asm is a dream. Besides, why would Sony make gcc their standard compiler on the $10000 PS2 SDK's if it was entirely useless. FWIW, I'm using a 233MHz CPU to play Quake 3.
A solution to the problem with music today
One more step closer to having an importbooter for PS2 that doesn't require soldering.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
MIPS asm is hardly more obfuscated than C (I'll admit that's a slight exaggeration). For example, to load an integer into a register you just li register value
But you have to worry about manual register allocation and a hard-coded register allocation can stifle reuse and maintainability. Tuning your C compiler is far better in the long term.
why would Sony make gcc their standard compiler on the $10000 PS2 SDK's if it was entirely useless
Because it does a reasonably good job and because it's free. There does appear to be a good market in third party PS2 compilers though (Codeplay et al.)
I thought that gcc's inline asm features were capable of register selection on MIPS, but even if not, MIPS has many registers, and registers can be reused if done carefully. However, I must agree that making a better C compiler will make a better overall system increase, especially on Linux where like 90%+ of the system is C code.
A solution to the problem with music today
actually, li is "load immediate", used in specifying a constant. No matter how straightforward the assembly, I'd rather be programming in C, because a lot of the bookkeeping is simply tedious, without really adding much to the process. A good compiler should be able to do as well as all but the really good programmers, but humans'll still run the risk of getting tired. The compiler won't.
Although the article linked to doesn't say if the US kit will, the Japanese Linux kit included the HD and ethernet port. Difference here is that the Japanese kit used the external (PCMCIA) version of the HD ONLY, and U.S. PS2s never came in a PCMCIA flavor. I guess we'll be seeing that HD sooner rather than later.
Will this make game production for the playstation possible by end users who know c/cpp? And can we use console
br. Patrick
I just hope Sony bring out the hard drive, I can imagine some extremely cool new games coming out as a result of this initiative.
I was just thinking. The PS2 will have an Ethernet and V.90 modem adaptor. Running Linux, this box could do double duty as a firewall/internet gateway for your other PCs on a LAN!
In fact last weekend I put SmoothWall (http://www.smoothwall.org) on a 486 DX4-100, 20MB RAM machine ? even that was a little over specced. The machine runs without a monitor, keyboard, or mice a secure web server runs so that an admin can go in and dial up to the Internet.
Using a Playstation 2 as a web-based internet gateway/firewall - that would be useful. I may well do an article on my site on that if its possible.
It is just a(nother) gimmick guys. Another brilliant plan from the Sony hype machine to appear to be "the cool" guys. Sony is evil.. stay away from them! They are just using the Linux community.
Ok, lets break down the cost of this cheap computer...
Playstation 2 - 299.99
Hard Drive -199.99 (I am assuming, considering the shark drive is 119.99)
Ethernet Adaptor - 59.99 (Also assuming, using retail price for a Dramcast One)
Linux - 29.99 (??? No clue ???)
Total Cost - 590
So, for 590 you can get a computer that runs about the speed of a k62-233 doing anything but play games, when I could go to my locaL pc store and get a 700 or 800 MHZ machine (that can also play games) for less???? Yeah, thats a new definition of cheap alright.
hey SONY there is also live in europe...
i want my PS2 Linux worstation now!
... drivers for memory sticks? Ok, so the Play Station doesn't have them, but Sony put them in almost everything else. Vaio + Linux + Memory sticks...?
USB networking works fine for me, at least at 10Mb. Off-the-shelf PC that I can't open to install a network card without voiding the warranty (yes, that's lame, yes, there were reasons for buying it), so I grabbed a USB 10Mb adaptor, and apart from some teething difficulties with drivers, it's up and running.
Remote X is as usuable is remote X ever is on 10Mb, likewise file sharing, MP3 streaming, mail, etc.
No, I probably wouldn't want to use it as the backbone of a high-performance beowulf cluster, but it's not the total non-starter you're implying, at least IME.
Data point: I can stream MP3s across the network reliably enough to burn audio CDs from them live at 8x. That's good enough networking for me.
Regards,
Tim.
I not give a rats ass about a VIDEO GAME console. The fact that it runs linux is no more interesting at all. The sole purpose [the only purpose] of a video game console is to distract you from reality by letting you blow up **fake** people instead of real people.
-- Slashdots new motto "Thought, not just a good idea!"
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
Right, let's get this straight, from what I've heard it is a fairly complete linux system. It's basically a port of an oldish redhat distro. It installs on the hard disk that comes with the kit (40GB) so has a reasonable /tmp, which it needs, don't forget that this is a machine with only 32mb or ram. Swap city. Having said that it apparently runs pretty well and is more than capable of running your browser (also included in the kit is a broadband adaptor), word processor etc. Resolution is limited to 800x600 though.
Sony have a page with a couple of screenshots and a features list here
Which brings us to why Sony are doing it. Yes they have got a touch of microsoft envy, they like the idea of having one unit which does DVD, games, web, interactive content and office stuff sat under your telly that is made by them. But, this is open source not m$ so don't get too upset. More than that though Sony most likely want to encourage the return of the bedroom game coder.
Think about it, they've done this before with the netYarouze project (ps one that you could connect to your pc and download code to) and they're providing the system manuals with the linux kit. Forget porting linux games, this is a games console! There's no way you'll get decent performance through mesa et al on ps2, the drivers won't be optimised for it, don't forget, it's not a PC (remember 32mb main ram, 4mb VRAM!). You're supposed to be adventurous, learn how the ps2 works, see if all those developers are right about it being hard to code for, take up the challenge.
If you do it right ps2 is an awesome machine, you just have to remember what your target platform is (hint dynamic texture management). Sony are giving people the opportunity to get back to the good old days and make games at home, go on, you know you want to!
What an exciting opportunity for Sun to achieve a large market for its StarOffice suite.
ermmm...it has a hard drive kit.....that is where Linux will be.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
I unpacked my PS2, set it up, put in the demo disk & found it includes a kool ybasic programming environment... i grabbed my G3's USB keyboard, whacked it in... To my suprise, fully functional keyboard & mouse!! Gotta respect that.
when's someone going to port linux to my gameboy advance?
update comments set karma=-1, reason='offtopic' where sid=26315
http://www.technology.scee.net/cgi-bin/sceeweb1/sc ee.pl?ps2linuxint
...that you aren't going to back that up. I mean, right now you're basically in the realm of supposition.
Was the 'HomeStation' rumor announced before the original PS2 Linux kit? I'm pretty sure it wasn't.
Vermifax
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My Linux box already has 2 PS2 ports! I have my mouse and keyboard plugged into them.
m00.
I wonder, has anyone tested Java on a Japanese PS2 kit yet??? How about the Java 3D API along with the default Java 2D and Java Sound APIs??? (BTW, these are all part of the Java Media APIs).
Any PS2 extensions to support game controllers in Java???
--tif
Ohhhh... ok, that is cool. If I could get all that I might actually use it for something instead of letting it collect dust while I wait for FFX.
The home PC market has just about reached saturation. Everyone who doesn't have a PC now is very unlikely to have one in the near future. This is not good for Microsoft who can't hope to shove a new version of Windows down everyone's throat every year. I'm perfectly happy with Windows 2000, and probably will be for some time to come. Their only hope is to create the NEED for a new Windows. The only way to create a need for a new Windows is to create new hardware which has a compatibility requirement of Windows.
More specifically, what hardware is upgraded or replaced most frequently by avid home computer owners? Other than the petty RAM upgrade, probably the most frequent hardware change is the video card. You need the latest greatest video card to play the latest greatest games. People who use Windows to make spreadsheets aren't going to need to upgrade for a long long time, if ever. Gamers upgrade every year, or sometimes more frequently than that.
Microsoft hopes that by urging hardcore console game developers to develop under a Windows platform with Windows libraries and standard PC hardware, they will drum up a better group of ported PC games which will, naturally, cause the PC gamers to upgrade their hardware more frequently, producing a market for Microsoft on the desktop. The XBox may seem like a way for Microsoft to get into your living room, and this is also one of their goals, but the main thrust of the XBox is to save Microsoft's proverbial ass in the PC market.
By running Linux on the Playstation 2, Sony is not going to defeat Microsoft's main goal of proliferating new, hardware demanding games. However, they may succeed where Microsoft has failed, and that will be in allowing people to use things for (*gasp*) free. A concept that is completely foreign to Microsoft.
Hopefully, by creating the ability to run Linux apps on the PS2, Sony will drum up a new subculture of PS2 hackers that will release new and interesting products and applications which will outshine Microsoft's XBox merely by being innovative.
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The Bailiwick - DESIGNHUB2005
The Linux kit comes with the full set of developer's manuals. It includes specs of all the hardware
(GS/V0/V1/EE), registers, machine code, memory map etc.
Sony and TiVo have entered into a deal that will allow Sony to integrate (and even modify) TiVo's software and services into their entertainment products.
Anyone thought the work to port Linux onto US and European region PS2s could be in preparation to run Tivo Software on your PS2? Supposedly, FireWire is emerging as the defacto standard for sending digital video signals from digital tuners (terrestrial, cable or satelite) to other h/w (Your new TV set, or D-VHS, or in future DVD-RAM). PS2 is ready to take an MPEG feed, and the Hard Disk is on the way....
Any Thoughts? Andy.
The company that makes Game Shark (most likely Game Shark Inc. or something) has a kit with a USB cable and some software for windows. It will let you backup portions of the memory cards for the PS2 and restore the original back at any time, or I think even rename it. It allows you to copy another profile from another card too.
Who wants Pork Chops?
the nice thing would be to have a PS/2, so that it can be used both a cheap home computer (even tho w/ not very good specs), and when yuo want to use it for the purpose it was DESIGNED for....use wine! hehe, that would funny if didnt start swapping to hell...nice thought anyway...
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
great comment, i just hope you're wrong on one aspect:
I hope that despite M$'s objections, we get linux on the XBOX anyway, because as cool as the PS2 is, the XB is cooler...
Check my Go-related blog for beginners: DGD
Now I have to remember that "PS2" stands for at least three things that I can think of right off the bat and that "port" stands for a bunch of things. Maybe we'll go ahead and replace common technical jargon with just 50 key words that mean at least 10 things a piece. That way, NO ONE will understand us and we'll totally be 31337.
"There are linux ps2 ports? ps2 mice and keyboards specifically made for linux boxen? huh?"
I can't see how this is true. The 802.11b USB devices (they aren't cards, and not quite dongles. what the hell are they?) are getting to be much better than their PCMCIA counterparts. I would imagine networking directly would be even better.
-no broken link
Hmmmm....
A supercomputer game machine...
For all the flack Rambus got for their (idiotic) patent-flinging, RDRAM actually does have a few advantages over DDRRAM, namely, higher throughput, but at the cost of higher latency. So, it takes its time to get going, but once it's started, it GOES. Which means, for applications needing to stream through a huge, contiguous chunk of data very quickly (such as, oh, full motion video decompression) RAMBUS actually has a superior product. (Although, IMO, still doesn't break even on the cost-per-performance mark.) I remember reading some specs on ArsTechnica a while back. (I think that's the article I'm thinking of...)
Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.
You fuck up your PS2, then, cowboy. If I want expandability, I'll stick with my PC...
That's a good consumer. Good boy. Don't act like a hacker. Just consume the devices you're spoon fed and don't question what else they may be capable of doing or how to improve them. Good boy.
Speaking of sticking with your PC, you should probably just re-install Windows on it, since that's what they intended it to be used for. Everything on an Intel box after Windows 3.1 is a dangerous hack...
I'll have to lug the thing around until I can find out where blind guys buy their long range wireless keyboards that work through walls, and have the spare $ to get one.
Either that or I could get something cheap enough to leave in place with the TV (PS2 with X! Who cares if it's 640x480), or ditch my girlfriend and keep her PC in the lounge full time (that would be the sign of a truly hopeless geek).
Does this mean I need to subscribe to a mailing list now to make sure my PS2 doesn't get out of date, and some bastard hacks into my PS2 making it unplayable?! I couldn't live without it! Oh wait yeah I can it got stolen =(
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