Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the stuff-to-poke-at dept.
Yousef writes "GameSpy has an interesting article about a presentation given by Sony's head of R&D for Entertainment. It appears that there are some very interesting things in store for the PS3, plus a complete Red Hat Linux installation for the PS2 and many other toys too. An interesting read."
It sounds more like it emulates linux in a VM rather than actually loading it as the actual machine OS. This allows them to use all kinds of proprietary code without violating the GPL, and to build in all sorts of copy and "ip" "protection."
Fair use quote:
This is how the Runtime Environment (RTE) works. In order to get Linux running on your PS2, you must boot the system using the PS2 Linux DVD. During boot, after all the copy-protection stuff is taken care of, the system lays down the Runtime Environment. This is basically a layer that hides access to the SPU2 (Sound Processing Unit), the input/output processor, the hard drive, the CD/DVD-ROM system, the controllers, memory cards, USB, i.Link and other peripherals. The RTE does supply hardware looking hooks, an educated guess being faux-memory address and registers. Then the Linux kernel is loaded on top of this. There are Linux device drivers that accesses the Runtime Environment that are open source, but it's just a device driver calling in all actuality, another device driver that's closed.
What you can and can't do with the system is limited.
You have no ability to read a normal PSX or PS2 memory card directly. For example you can't open a Final Fantasy X save, edit how much cash you have, and save it again. Through the RTE you can format a whole memory card(!) and mount it like an 8 meg hard drive, but that card would be worthless for saving normal PS2 games. Once you put the Linux formatted card without Linux running (i.e. you are in the browser) it asks to reformat the card.
The RTE also not allow audio CDs to be identified. It also can tell if you have put in a CD-R or not (it can see a wobble track, which all CD-Rs have ) and likewise not allow the disk to be seen. A PS2 can read CD-Rs fine, the RTE is just doing copy protection first to make sure you can't. You will also have no access to the CSS portion of the MPEG decoder, but you can decode raw MPEG-4. Direct access to the Dolby subsystem is also denied. Anything dealing with region locks are also restricted.
The first DVD (The boot disk) has a Linux boot loader and the RTE on it. This disk is not allowed to be copied. It also has the manuals on it too, which I'm sure are also copyrighted and not allowed to be publicly distributed. The Linux kernel is on the second disk and also on the hard drive after it's installed. In order to use a monitor, you must one that is "Sync on Green". This means that the refresh rate is only in the green channel. The monitor must use that sync pulse to sync red and blue channels so they all get painted in the screen at the same time. The reason why you have to use that is because a PS2 can turn it's sync on green ability on and off. If you try and use the monitor adapter for playing PS2 games or watching DVDs, sync on green will be turned off and only the green channel will show up. Direct video output defeats Macrovision. Sony doesn't want you making copies of DVDs to tape. Keep in mind that your network adapter is going to have a MAC address that Sony, no doubt, knows. Also removing the PS2 hard drive and attempting to mount in a PC will also likely not work and possibly damage the drive.
-- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Interesting Concepts, but,,,
by
mgrochmal
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The developer responded that the realistic real-time rendering they wanted to do would require 18,000 times more processing power than what was available with the PSOne.
It's difficult to imagine what sort of rendering in a game would require this much power behind it. Then again, I remember when a 1 Gigabyte server was huge. I also wonder that, if the plan for distributed processing is to be successful with multiple PlayStation consoles, how many users would be willing to leave their PlayStation(#)s running all the time for other people to use. On top of that, how would Sony propose to network the consoles togeher? The networking prospects for the current-generation PS2s have occasional problems running the software it already has for networked gaming beyond a jury-rigged LAN.
In regards to why would Sony want Linux on their PSx consoles... An audience of avid PS2 users experimenting with a robust TCP/IP (Internet communication) protocol. Fans will also receive complete documentation with the kit, which includes all the technical details of the PS2 hardware. Normally this info is only available to game developers. Again, Linux for PSx isn't going to rake in millions for Sony, but there may be different benefits for hobbyist developers. It won't be for everyone, but if you're into trying new things, then feel free.
The "Gestural Interface" seems to be the most interesting out of what the article offered. It might be a step closer to a virtual reality interface without needing an expensive headset. It might change gaming for the console. Then again, it depends on the games that use said hardware. It'll be interesting to see how many of these ideas actually come to fruition, and how many of them become Vaporware.
-- This.sig Intentionally Left Blank.
Not a bad move..
by
garglblaster
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Well folks, looks like the Sony managers are thinking in the right direction: What is the long-term threat to the PS? Of course it's MS's xbox.
And enabling linux on the PS is just a logical step - because: It's MS who is the competior.
And what is MS's only strength today? No, it's not MS windows by itself, its the combination of Windows and MS office. So what is the threat to the PS?
I can tell you: Eventually MS will come out with some sort of "Word for the xbox" or stuff..
Now, would you consider that a possibility?
Just wondering..
And what would be the consequences for the market..
Strange... since the official PS2 linux isn't Redhat Linux, but Kondara MNU/Linux... On the RedHat site, they already showed the PS2 in their showcase... as provider of the embedded developement platform: http://www.redhat.com/about/success/showcase/ps2la rge.html
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Today we have Linux distros running from a single CD, without HD install at all. And the processors used in these PS are very fast.
I think it is possible to build nice Beowulf clusters with PS2/3 running Linux, using a server with disk as a file server.
Has anybody tryed it before?
Here's a good link if you're interested in this - http://www.execpc.com/~halkun/PS2/
It sounds more like it emulates linux in a VM rather than actually loading it as the actual machine OS. This allows them to use all kinds of proprietary code without violating the GPL, and to build in all sorts of copy and "ip" "protection."
Fair use quote:
This is how the Runtime Environment (RTE) works. In order to get Linux running
on your PS2, you must boot the system using the PS2 Linux DVD.
During boot, after all the copy-protection stuff is taken care of, the system
lays down the Runtime Environment. This is basically a layer that hides access
to the SPU2 (Sound Processing Unit), the input/output processor, the hard drive,
the CD/DVD-ROM system, the controllers, memory cards, USB, i.Link and other
peripherals. The RTE does supply hardware looking hooks, an educated guess
being faux-memory address and registers. Then the Linux kernel is loaded on top
of this. There are Linux device drivers that accesses the Runtime Environment
that are open source, but it's just a device driver calling in all actuality,
another device driver that's closed.
What you can and can't do with the system is limited.
You have no ability to read a normal PSX or PS2 memory card directly. For
example you can't open a Final Fantasy X save, edit how much cash you have,
and save it again. Through the RTE you can format a whole memory card(!)
and mount it like an 8 meg hard drive, but that card would be worthless
for saving normal PS2 games. Once you put the Linux formatted card
without Linux running (i.e. you are in the browser) it asks to reformat
the card.
The RTE also not allow audio CDs to be identified.
It also can tell if you have put in a CD-R or not (it can see a wobble track,
which all CD-Rs have ) and likewise not allow the disk to be seen. A PS2 can
read CD-Rs fine, the RTE is just doing copy protection first to make sure you
can't. You will also have no access to the CSS portion of the MPEG decoder,
but you can decode raw MPEG-4. Direct access to the Dolby subsystem is also
denied. Anything dealing with region locks are also restricted.
The first DVD (The boot disk) has a Linux boot loader and the RTE on it.
This disk is not allowed to be copied. It also has the manuals on it too,
which I'm sure are also copyrighted and not allowed to be publicly distributed.
The Linux kernel is on the second disk and also on the hard drive after it's
installed.
In order to use a monitor, you must one that is "Sync on Green". This means
that the refresh rate is only in the green channel. The monitor must use that
sync pulse to sync red and blue channels so they all get painted in the screen
at the same time. The reason why you have to use that is because a PS2 can turn
it's sync on green ability on and off. If you try and use the monitor
adapter for playing PS2 games or watching DVDs, sync on green will be turned
off and only the green channel will show up. Direct video output defeats Macrovision.
Sony doesn't want you making copies of DVDs to tape. Keep in mind that your
network adapter is going to have a MAC address that Sony, no doubt, knows.
Also removing the PS2 hard drive and attempting to mount in a PC will also
likely not work and possibly damage the drive.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
It's difficult to imagine what sort of rendering in a game would require this much power behind it. Then again, I remember when a 1 Gigabyte server was huge. I also wonder that, if the plan for distributed processing is to be successful with multiple PlayStation consoles, how many users would be willing to leave their PlayStation(#)s running all the time for other people to use. On top of that, how would Sony propose to network the consoles togeher? The networking prospects for the current-generation PS2s have occasional problems running the software it already has for networked gaming beyond a jury-rigged LAN.
In regards to why would Sony want Linux on their PSx consoles... An audience of avid PS2 users experimenting with a robust TCP/IP (Internet communication) protocol. Fans will also receive complete documentation with the kit, which includes all the technical details of the PS2 hardware. Normally this info is only available to game developers. Again, Linux for PSx isn't going to rake in millions for Sony, but there may be different benefits for hobbyist developers. It won't be for everyone, but if you're into trying new things, then feel free.
The "Gestural Interface" seems to be the most interesting out of what the article offered. It might be a step closer to a virtual reality interface without needing an expensive headset. It might change gaming for the console. Then again, it depends on the games that use said hardware. It'll be interesting to see how many of these ideas actually come to fruition, and how many of them become Vaporware.
This
And enabling linux on the PS is just a logical step - because: It's MS who is the competior.
And what is MS's only strength today? No, it's not MS windows by itself, its the combination of Windows and MS office. So what is the threat to the PS?
I can tell you: Eventually MS will come out with some sort of "Word for the xbox" or stuff..
Now, would you consider that a possibility?
Just wondering..
And what would be the consequences for the market..
perl -e 'printf("%x!\n",49153)'
Strange... since the official PS2 linux isn't Redhat Linux, but Kondara MNU/Linux ... On the RedHat site, they already showed the PS2 in their showcase... as provider of the embedded developement platform: http://www.redhat.com/about/success/showcase/ps2la rge.html
F/OSS & IT Consultant