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Playing with Sony's Linux-Based Networked Media Player

Posted by timothy on from the practical-application dept.

ZorinLynx writes "A while back, Sony released the NSP-1, a 'Network Storage Player.' It is intended to be a source of video for signage, such as plasma displays in banks, airports, and so on. I got a chance to play with one today. It's Red Hat Linux-based, which seems unusual for Sony! Though pricey at $1995, it's an interesting use of Linux, and could probably be hacked into a nice set-top video jukebox. It has a nice small form factor, as well as ethernet, USB, and video output in various formats, and a PCMCIA slot for removable media."

129 comments

  1. Overall, a fun hack. by fembots · · Score: 5, Funny

    So where's the "review" on this NSP?

    The article is more about trying to log into Red Hat without a password ( BTW is it really that easy?).

    Here's my submission

    "Playing with Toyota's Civic"

    This morning when I was about to go to work, I realized I have locked the car key inside my 1989 Civic, everything was locked and I can't remember where I put the spare key.

    Arrgh. After some fiddling with the keyhole, though, I found that I have left the driver side window slightly opened! The gap's big enough to slide a coat hanger in! So I grabbed my trusty coat hanger, made a hook and the opened the door.

    The car has a steering wheel, AM/FM radio, few buttons, pedals and seats. I also have a Knoppix CD and some Open Source documents in the glove box. Now I really don't want to sell it especially I can only fetch less than $200! ARRGH!

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
    1. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Doesn't Honda make the Civic?

    2. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by fireboy1919 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm with you on this being a useless review.

      $2000 AND I have to hack it to do something useful?

      Does it give me super powers or something? Because I can think of roughly a kabillion devices that I don't have to hack in order to actually use them that cost WAY less. And I can MythTV those if I really want a media player that badly.

      --
      Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
    3. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by ZorinLynx · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Heh. I actually wish I had gotten more time to play with it, but it had to go back where it came from as soon as I "fixed" it.

      I was just surprised to find out this thing even existed, and that Sony was using Linux in one of its products. Sony has always come off to me as a company that does everything their own proprietary way, and gives the finger to most open standards. (Memory stick, anyone?)

      -Z

    4. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by jsight · · Score: 1

      The article is more about trying to log into Red Hat without a password ( BTW is it really that easy?).


      Yes, he took advantage of the fact that a person with physical access has essentially unlimited power over the system.

      Short of filesystem encryption of the root FS, there's really no way to avoid this, and all Linux distributions (or any other OS for that matter) are vulnerable to this attack.

      That's why physical security is so important.
      --
      Throw the bums out!
    5. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by William+Robinson · · Score: 5, Informative
      The article is more about trying to log into Red Hat without a password ( BTW is it really that easy?).

      Yes.

      All you need to do is ...
      1. Boot from external device like CD. (If you are using installation CDs, use linux rescue option.)
      2. Mount the appropriate HDD partition.
      3. chroot it.
      4. now use setpass to change the password.

      I prefer to set password for setup, which prevents intruders to change booting options. If the intruder can not boot from an external device then it is almmost impossible for him/her to log in.

      --
      hilarious
    6. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Informative

      No kidding: Memory Stick, ATRAC3, UMD, MiniDisc, Betamax... did I forget any?

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    7. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Sony has used Linux for years - all of their PS2 and PSP devkits are Red Hat based, and they of course released a modified Red Hat for the PS2 as a hobbyist kit. There are rumors that the PS3's actual shipping OS will be Linux as well.

    8. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by rogueuk · · Score: 3, Informative

      Sony using Linux!?, that's completely unheard of.

    9. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by erlenic · · Score: 3, Informative

      Solution to BIOS password:

      1) Carry in my own laptop.
      2) Shutdown target machine.
      3) Remove hard drive.
      4) Place in USB drive enclosure.
      5) Mount from laptop and change password.
      6) Replace the drive in the target computer.

    10. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by chaotixx · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your car is worth way more than $200 dude. Civics made by Toyota are really rare and I bet collectors will pay big bucks for them. If you have an '89 I think it might be one of a kind!

    11. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I prefer to set password for setup, which prevents intruders to change booting options. If the intruder can not boot from an external device then it is almmost impossible for him/her to log in.

      If he has physical access then he can probably remove the cover and short the CMOS reset jumper.

    12. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 4, Interesting

      >I prefer to set password for setup, which prevents intruders to change booting options.

      That does raise the bar, but every motherboard I've looked at had some way to bypass the BIOS password, and in extreme cases someone with unsupervised physical access could pull out the hard disk and copy it. Not to mention that an attacker could read and write arbitrary memory if the machine has a Firewire port (http://pacsec.jp/advisories.html).

    13. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by esconsult1 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Yup. I wish you had gotten some time to play with it too. That way you could have posted a reasonable review instead of a disappointing paragraph or so.

      Next time at least take some pictures.

      --

      Newsfollow.com

    14. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tickets to a beating - $1
      Reply to: joshkaston@gmail.com
      Date: 2005-05-17, 4:42PM EDT

      My son decided not to come home last night. Big mistake. Now I'm going to have to beat his ass. This ass beating is a long time in the making. It is not simply a result of his most recent absence but rather a string of events including but not limited to: Not taking out the trash, talking back to his mother, getting Cs in school, getting a speeding ticket, smoking cigarettes, and chronic masturbation. I'm sure most of you'll agree that this kid needs to get his shit rocked and I can promise that it will be worthy of an audience.

      The plan: I expect him to come home around 8pm, so it would be best if you could get a ride here or walk because I wouldn't want him to get suspicious of all the cars in the driveway. I can probably fit about 15-20 people in my living room, which is most likely where the beating will occur. These seats will be equivalent to front row or behind first base, and will be the most expensive. My kitchen can host another 10 or so people and I'll have a standing area in the dining room and doorway of my bedroom. I would suggest getting here at around 6-7pm, as I will be spending these hours getting piss-faced drunk. I think I speak for everyone when I say it's only right for the father to be shit-hammered while wailing on his son. You are encouraged to drink with me, though I will be overcharging for beer, just like any other sports event.

      My arsenal contains one leather belt, two phone books, my high school ring, a pillowcase filled with beer cans (empty of course, I'm not a monster), a pair of steel toe boots, and my elbows and knees.

      I figure the ass beating will last between 5-10 minutes with a halftime for folks to pee and for my son to think about what he's done. For an additional twenty dollars I will let you kick him while he's down or sucker punch him while his back is turned. But I will not hold him down because that is just plain wrong. Also you may want to bring your own kids to show them what might transpire if they misbehave.

      Living room - $40
      Kitchen - $20
      Standing Room - $10
      Children under 12 - $5

    15. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sony isn't 3 guys in a room. Different divisions of the company solve problems in different ways.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    16. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by jonnykelly · · Score: 1

      I'll trade you my Honda Corolla for your Toyota Civic.

    17. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When the PlayStation2 first came out, Sony had a Linux development available for it within a few months. The equipment consisted of a hard drive, ethernet board, and a software development kit, IIRC.

      The game that sold the PlayStation2 was Gran Turismo 3. I don't know about GT3, but I've put the GT4 DVD into a Linux box and looked around at the content -- it has "linux" scattered all through-out the files: in pathnames embedded in the executables, buried in binary configuration files, and so on.

      (It's actually kind of disappointing, given some of the long-ish delays waiting for GT3 or GT4 to load the next chunk of overlay code into the machine... But I guess there's a memory constraint and you can only do so much with it at one time.)

    18. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by IBeatUpNerds · · Score: 2, Informative

      I was just surprised to find out this thing even existed, and that Sony was using Linux in one of its products.

      Is it really that shocking? Lots of consumer devices are using Linux. Sharp produces something similar to this one which they dub a "Digital Media Adapter." It also runs Linux. IMO, the Sharp toy is cooler anyway. You feed it media over WiFi, and the DMA shoots it to your TV.

    19. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by michrech · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is slashdot. Facts don't matter here. :)

      ---
      telnet://sinep.gotdns.com -- It's a BBS -- Try it! It's nice to not have to deal with spam!

      --
      bork bork bork!
    20. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Minidisc and Atrac have existed for 13 years. Who's giving the finger to who? I had recordable digital media with audio compression while people were still playing on their 286s in 1992.

    21. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by stratjakt · · Score: 1

      And your solution to a password locked drive?

      AH HAH I got you mr hackoo

      Cant log on to my router that way.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    22. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

      Heh. I actually wish I had gotten more time to play with it

      what games did it come with, though?

    23. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Albinofrenchy · · Score: 1

      Nonsense, with logic like this we soon may have to stop generalizing products from certain companies as being inherently evil/good.

      --
      "A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes." -Mahatma Gandhi
    24. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by tobiasly · · Score: 1

      The article is more about trying to log into Red Hat without a password ( BTW is it really that easy?).

      Yes, it is. If someone has physical access to your machine, it's not your machine. Doesn't matter whether it's running Linux, Windows, whatever.

    25. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by spacecowboy420 · · Score: 1

      I am missing something - I guess you can get access to a target machine's data by using this method, but can't imagine how this will help with a bios password ~shrugs~ unless you aren't interested in changing the password, and only the data - but you mention changing the password in step 5. Which password would that be?

      --
      ymmv
    26. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by The-Perl-CD-Bookshel · · Score: 0

      Sony uses Symbian OS (linux variant) in the P800 and P900 smartphones.

      --
      I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
    27. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by golgotha007 · · Score: 1

      Why make it so hard on yourself?

      To change root's password in Linux, simply boot up in single user mode and type passwd at the prompt.

    28. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Errtu76 · · Score: 1

      HA!

      I just jank out the entire bios chip and carry it with me. Let them try to break into it now!

      Ofcourse, soldering it back in every time is a small inconvenience ...

    29. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by ives · · Score: 1

      Five years ago when I still worked for Sony we made a data server called MediaCaster http://tinyurl.com/7ud7f that injects metadata into digital tv broadcasts (think EPG, broadcasted Applets, etc.). That server was completely based on open standards and it ran from a Debian based live cd which we created. The product is still being sold to digital TV studios today.

      So yes, Sony does use Linux and open standards in its products.

    30. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ummm, put the drive in another machine?

    31. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not possible, unless you know the grub password.

    32. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Boot up from a gentoo install cd, mount the drive, remove the long part from ::434537575456fhgfy5445w3q:9y9h:root (something like that anyway, the :'s are separators) in /etc/shadow. Reboot and log in to root without a password.

    33. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      root password on the Linux install. The way mentioned by parents parent involved a CD, which BIOS might not allow you to boot from. The way arround it is to not use a CD on the machine you are "rooting."

    34. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sony is central to an Asian effort to replace Windows with Linux. Sony uses Linux a lot internally - all the Japanese engineers have it on their desktop. Remember Linux for PS2?

    35. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by kae_verens · · Score: 1

      Interesting - and as it's a mass produced product, my guess is that the password would be the same on every one.

      So, it might be possible to hack -:
      1. boot from external device
      2. mount appropriate HDD partition
      3. chroot
      4. "more /etc/shadow | grep root"
      5. run a cracker on the resulting string
      6. use newfound master root password to hack every Sony media center in existance
      7. release $evilempire's secret plans simultaneously to all media centres world-wide, ala Johnny Mnemonic or Antitrust

    36. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, wasn't Osama made by US?

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    37. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Nurseman · · Score: 1
      $2000 AND I have to hack it to do something useful?



      But this one goes to ELEVEN !!

      --
      Save a Life. Donate Blood. Please.
    38. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1
      This is slashdot. Facts don't matter here. :)

      If I had mod points, I would have modded that "Informative".

    39. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by michrech · · Score: 1

      Looking at the post now, it got at least one "Informative". I'll forgive you -- this time! :)

      ---
      telnet://sinep.gotdns.com -- It's a BBS! Go play the games!

      --
      bork bork bork!
    40. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Hotswap it just after the drive has been unlocked. :)

    41. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by erlenic · · Score: 1

      I guess you're thinking of requiring a BIOS password to boot the machine, in which case you're right, my trick does nothing for that. Although I would imagine that not many administrators would do that. I for one want my servers to be able to reboot on their own if need be.

    42. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by spacecowboy420 · · Score: 1

      Well, you mentioned

      "My solution to a bios password" No mention of the target machine being a "server that I want to be able to reboot on it's own" -

      Of course if you put it that way ...... it still wouldn't matter because you are talking about a bios password. You can protect boot up or just setting with a bios password, depending on your bios, but by no means can doing anything to the harddrive help you with either....

      --
      ymmv
    43. Re:Overall, a fun hack. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I've never seen a desktop like this, but there are laptops whose BIOS password is stored in EEPROM and can only be reset through a JTAG port that doesn't even have a header attached to it, or similar. I have seen desktops that use EEPROM rather than the CMOS storage (yes I know what CMOS means, I also know how the term is used when you're talking about BIOS settings) but never one without a settings clear jumper.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. firewall? by Bananatree3 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It has a nice small form factor, as well as ethernet, USB, and video output in various formats, and a PCMCIA slot for removable media." Sounds like it would be an excellent, albeit pricy makeshift firewall!

    1. Re:firewall? by William+Robinson · · Score: 1
      (Flaimbait -1)

      Sounds like it would be an excellent, albeit pricy makeshift firewall!

      Hmm.. if you are suggesting to use this product as a free add-on to your home network, that sounds interesting.

      Otherwise why would you like to go for that kind of expensive device and turn it into firewall when you could make firewall using some junk PCs at far less price.

      --
      hilarious
    2. Re:firewall? by stratjakt · · Score: 1

      Seriously. I have an old Celeron 600 with 256 megs RAM running my firewall/squid proxy/privoxy/traffic shaper/vpn endpoint/samba pdc (just to let windows boxes auth, no fancy roaming profile bullshit) box just fine.

      Hell, it's even overkill, but I don't have any AT power supplies left to wire up anything slower.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    3. Re:firewall? by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

      Yeah! Also you should check out the iPod -- given its form factor, it makes an excellent, albeit pricy makeshift paperweight!

  3. $1995?? by XanC · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For cryin' out loud! Mod an Xbox, people!

    1. Re:$1995?? by MBCook · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Did you bother to read the specs for the thing on Sony's site?

      Ignoring the fact that most businesses would MUCH rather pay for a legal, supported device than a legally quesitonable hack without a warantee, this is not some simple slide show machine.

      The page says that it can show up to five layers of content, dynamically changed if you want, with a soundtrack. It can show video, images, and even Macromedia Flash files.

      Looking at the specs, it looks like if you could just get live video INTO the thing, you could do all the effects for your local nightly news with it and then some. This box is much more than you (or any hobbiest) could make out of a modded XBox.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    2. Re:$1995?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It might even have a dictionary! Then I'd hack it to zap your testicles everytime you type "hobbiest"! So how does that word work? Hobby, hobbier, hobbiest! He's the hobbiest of the hobbyists! Dude, seriously, it's like an ice-pick in the eyes. Learn to spell, please.

    3. Re:$1995?? by saladami · · Score: 1

      All i see on that specs page is that this thing has a pathetic 40 gig hard drive, displays bmp files and plays mp3s, as well as mpeg-2 video, which would cost $200 tops to do with an xbox even buying the 40 gig hard drive separately.

    4. Re:$1995?? by vegaspctech · · Score: 1

      ...which would cost $200 tops to do with an xbox even buying the 40 gig hard drive separately.

      Got the Xbox out. Looking at it. Flipping through the manual. Where are the audio and video inputs? You were saying...???

      --

      Making the world a better place, one psychotic episode at a time.

    5. Re:$1995?? by DingerX · · Score: 1

      The sum of the parts that go into that thing are going to be much less than the overall cost. And any good hacker with a few days could slap together something that works; in a few months you might have something completely stable and capable of being used by non-specialists, i.e., this device's target market.
      Now calculate the costs of that, and the number of signage players you're likely to sell.

      On the other hand, take a console, especially early in the product cycle where the manufacturer subsidizes the hardware, and you've got something worthy of hacking.

    6. Re:$1995?? by saladami · · Score: 1

      audio/video input: the RJ-45 jack on the back. 1. acquire video media in divx format via bittorrent 2. ftp it to your xbox HD or stream it over the network from a samba share onto your tv screen 3. profit?

    7. Re:$1995?? by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1

      The page says that it can show up to five layers of content, dynamically changed if you want, with a soundtrack. It can show video, images, and even Macromedia Flash files.

      You don't think the Xbox, or any low-end x86 machine, is capable of that?

      Anyway, the "mod an Xbox" comment was in response to the submitter's suggestion that you could hack this $2000 commercial-grade device to serve as a $200 consumer-grade set-top box, which obviously would be a poor financial decision to make.

    8. Re:$1995?? by vegaspctech · · Score: 1

      audio/video input: the RJ-45 jack on the back. 1. acquire video media in divx format via bittorrent 2. ftp it to your xbox HD or stream it over the network from a samba share onto your tv screen 3. profit?

      Uh huh. And when your audio and video signals are live and on location, you do what? Whatever your proposed solution, it's versus 'plug it in' for the Sony box. Plus there's no quick mod to duplicate the functionality. After your initial mod you'd have to install, configure and test a number of applications, then create, or install and configure and customize something to tie them all together. Your modified Xbox solution is taking what you saved upfront and spending it on labor to support operation...

      --

      Making the world a better place, one psychotic episode at a time.

    9. Re:$1995?? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I'm absolutely certain that trying to play five layers of flash movie at once on an Xbox will bring the thing to a complete crawl. No idea if the sony box will do THAT, however.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Linux... by Devil's+BSD · · Score: 3, Funny

    Because it runs Linux, it must be worth the $2000. Welcome to /.!

    --
    I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
    1. Re:Linux... by PsychicX · · Score: 1

      Seriously. $2000? I built an Athlon64 computer with a GeForce 6, 200GB SATA hard drive, WinXP, gigabit ethernet, Wifi-g, sound card, and speakers for less than that, and I can guarantee you, it plays all sorts of media.

    2. Re:Linux... by Xzzy · · Score: 1

      > Because it runs Linux, it must be worth the $2000. Welcome to /.!

      Right, because as we all know Windows doesn't edge in until the price tag exceeds $3000. ;)

    3. Re:Linux... by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I doubt it is marketed towards you or any hard core Linux user. I don't think it is only about hardware. Actually, the hardware is kind of irrelevant, though it needs some to do its job. From the description, it looks to be already set up for easy web-based remote administration. Then there's the support.

      A Linux geek could set up remote administration and remote scripting, but if this thing is set up like I think it is, said geek probably wouldn't get it done under that cost and still have it be easy for a non-Linux person to use.

      The weblog entry does look like they didn't get a manual or didn't bother to read it.

    4. Re:Linux... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But does it run Linux?

      (Also, why would you need wifi in a desktop with gigabit ethernet?)

    5. Re:Linux... by PsychicX · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, I have a 64 bit Gentoo Linux install on there that I use every so often. Yes, I said "unfortunately".

  5. I'll just wait for the $2005 XP version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    since the 1995$ version should have a lot of security holes.

  6. Sony and Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sony Playstation runs Linux. So this isn't something extemely new for Sony.

    $1995 is a little expensive.

    1. Re:Sony and Linux by eggsome · · Score: 1

      Also, before the PS2 hardware was a reality they used software emulators running on Linux.

      --
      If they made a movie of your life, would anybody buy a ticket?
  7. How far has Sony Fallen? by mpapet · · Score: 1

    I'm disappointed to even hear of a device like this coming from Sony.

    I could source a standalone box from Taiwan and put redhat on it too.

    It's a clever application of commodity parts, which I expect from smaller companies with less history of innnovation.

    Where did I leave that old walkman????

    --
    http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
  8. Not the first Sony-Redhat collaboration by mo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    FYI, the t10000 (Playstation 2 Development Tool) runs a version of redhat. Something ancient like RH4.2 if I'm not mistaken. You don't ssh into it or anything though, but it's web admin allows you to upload rpms to upgrade various subsystems on it.

    1. Re:Not the first Sony-Redhat collaboration by swansmt · · Score: 0

      any sony device that runs linux probably runs red hat

    2. Re:Not the first Sony-Redhat collaboration by xbmodder · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, My friend worked on it. They are redhat 7.2.

  9. not suprising... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sony has used Red Hat Linux before. I work in the broadcast industry and I find it interesting that they use linux in a lot of their products. (both Red Hat and Debian) The thing that surprises me though is the price...

  10. When I saw the headline... by slapout · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..."Playing with Sony's Linux-Based Networked Media Player"...

    my first thought was, "Someone's already ported Linux to the Playstation 3!" :-)

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
    1. Re:When I saw the headline... by adam31 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Yeah... Sony has.

      Sony loves linux. Why? Because Microsoft hates linux, and Sony loves to support anything that Microsoft hates.

      Even before the XBox. When PS2 dev tools were released it was all Linux-based. If you wanted to develop for the PS2 on Windows, you had to either go with 3rd party tools or according to Sony "If you're a big dumb idiot, then you can use Cygwin. But you shouldn't." Then, just for kicks, they released PS2 Linux.

      Unfortunately, Sony's linux dev tools weren't up to snuff, but I doubt they'll make the same mistake with the PS3. Remember that IBM has a hand in this now, and a vested interest in making this Cell fly with more than just game developers.

      Cell is a good place for Linux. Don't get me wrong, they're definitely going to milk the Us vs Them theme against Microsoft for all the money it's worth.

      That's just business.

  11. This is /. Front page material? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wow, This is more of a page from someones personal diary.

    'Dear Diary, I saw NSP-1 today in the halls today. I'm so in love.' XXOOXX

    So why not replace the Headline with...

    "Sony's NSP-1 Device runs Redhat Linux"
    Would be so much simpler and straight to the point. It isnt even for normal use, its to run large plasma screen billboards. (Think Statium's big screen, only higher quaility). I could see something like this to say, run a home entertainment system.. but this? Eh, intersting one liner at best.

    How did /this/ get on the front page anyways..

    1. Re:This is /. Front page material? by fat+man+with+a+monke · · Score: 1

      How did /this/ get on the front page anyways..

      Because that's where new stories go. I'd like to see how much you bitched if they put new stories on the back page.

  12. NOT UNUSUAL by atcdevil · · Score: 3, Informative

    The PS2Linux is RedHat based and came out years ago.

  13. Sony TV by poppageek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I bought a Sony 34" widescreen CRT TV. In the documentation was a copy of the GPL. Seems the menu runs Linux. They list the kernel, busybox and about 6 libs. I submitted it as a story but was rejected.

    I thought it was interesting as it takes awhile for it to display anything when you first turn it on. I thought the CRT needed to warm up. Maybe it is just Linux booting.

    1. Re:Sony TV by ZorinLynx · · Score: 4, Funny

      My 32" CRT TV stays dark for a few seconds and then suddenly turns on. Not sure if it's linux booting, or just a circuit that suppresses the picture until the tube warms up so you never see a dim, blurry image before it's optimally warmed up...

      -Z

    2. Re:Sony TV by PornMaster · · Score: 1

      They hide the boot messages so you don't get all confused. It's like MS Bob for Linux. Don't want you all confused.

      --
      500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
    3. Re:Sony TV by hvatum · · Score: 0

      What, a Slashdotter who actually reads the manual and documentation!

      You must have landed at the wrong website or something. :P

      --
      Netbooks, they come with Linux or a $3 copy of Windows. Either way, Microsoft loses.
  14. Video streaming... by jay-be-em · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I could definitely see some uses for streaming video off a linux device, in particular http://www.dejenerate.net/ruxpin/pub/BLACKPPL.avi

    --
    "Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
    1. Re:Video streaming... by planetoid · · Score: 2, Funny

      Phil Collins fellating a Pringles chip. Now I've seen it all.

      --
      Slashdot requires you to wait longer between hitting 'reply' and submitting a comment.
    2. Re:Video streaming... by C0llegeSTUDent · · Score: 1

      Holy hell...I hope you are stabbed with a thousand knives for posting that URL.

      I also feel very bad for those pringles.

  15. How times have changed.... by mister_jpeg · · Score: 3, Funny
    Years ago I spoke to a company in Chicago who were just breaking into, even creating this market. They were using plasma displays and whatnot in retail environments. The kicker was they were running Macintoshes and all of the artwork was in Director. They ran ISDN lines to each and every location, and when there was an update, they'd have to dial each machine and upload the new artwork.


    I don't think that company still exists ;)


    Yay for Linux, yay for broadband.

    --
    -jpeg
    1. Re:How times have changed.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I worked on that project in Chicago you referred to...

      I was intrigued by the slashdot article because I still have some of the business cards that I got from the *SONY engineers* that came by for a visit.

      Incidentally, they *are* still around as a division of a division of a company purchased by the French firm Publicis about 4 yrs ago...

      http://www.marketforward.com/high_bandwidth/englis h/sirentech.html/

    2. Re:How times have changed.... by mister_jpeg · · Score: 1
      Siren Tech.. yes, that's them. Sorry about violating that NDA in my post, guys. Woops ;)



      At the time, I thought intelligent signage was a wicked clever idea. The implementation was clunky, but that was 1999. I'm not sure what would have been a reasonable alternative then.


      I wonder if they've gone to Linux and rendered video now. Seems the way to go, no? Sony seems to think so, and apparently they're making money at that game.

      --
      -jpeg
    3. Re:How times have changed.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There were [and probably still are] some very creative and intelligent people there...

      There were plenty of alternative ideas being floated around there internally and several spinoffs were spawned as a result...

      Seems like you need to be higher on the hardware food chain tho' to make any real money in the "dynamic signage" game.

      Simply developing slick content [Siren's is among the nicest I've seen] isn't quite enough to support a business.

      I think they do Flash on Windows now, but I havent talked to anyone internally there for a couple of years now so maybe that's changed...

  16. No kidding... by nighthawk127127 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Did anyone else notice that this guy submitted something that he had written from *his own personal blog* to Slashdot, only a few hours ago? It's only a freakin' paragraph long, for crying out loud! Not only that, but the same guy makes 5th post AND gets a +4 "Interesting" mod. Someone's a mod point whore...

    --
    10100111001
    1. Re:No kidding... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      quit your crying.

  17. How very American... by m4c+north · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just when I was about to ask how Sony could charge nearly 2 grand for a device that uses an open-source OS, you had to go and pre-emptively answer my question. That's some hard-core video processing going on, tho I don't suppose it's all hardware... Mayhaps Sony has written a (closed) app for the video/audio mixing?

    --
    Who's your user, program?
  18. Linux Media Player? by querencia · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If they're using Red Hat Linux, anyone have any idea what player they're using? I doubt they wrote their own from scratch for this thing, and because Sony isn't a Linux house, I'd guess that they are licensing 3rd party or using open source. (I'd love it if it used ffmpeg so I could get my hands on that cool video scheduling interface, and in any case, I'd like to know what Sony chose for their "high bit rate" mpeg2.)

    Can someone with access to one of these things take a look at the video libraries and tell us where they come from?

    1. Re:Linux Media Player? by Klowner · · Score: 1

      I've been using them at my new job (digital signage place, surprise). The NSP-1's seem rather finicky about the format, 720x480 MPEG2 specifically, and they claim they can also handle streaming MPEG4, but we haven't tried that yet.

      But then again, I just started fiddling with these things about 2 weeks ago so I'm sure there's a lot I don't know about it.. Although it runs apache and includes some great Engrish phrases on the web-based control thingy.

      "System is now the restarting"
      "Please wait to the close of your browser"

    2. Re:Linux Media Player? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm actually at Digital Retailing Expo today, and a rep says the NSP-1 uses a hardware MPEG2 decoder.

  19. Pioneer Plasmas Too by asv108 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    On the same note, I recently purchased a Pioneer Plasma TV and found notices for the linux kernel and openssl. Apparently the media box that comes with the display runs on Linux and uses openssl.

  20. THIS JUST IN / WAS IN / FROM DEPT OF IN-NESS by CloudDrakken · · Score: 0

    I'm curious why I haven't seen this before as the ps3 mock-designs. What a shocker! No game discs! Would probably top sales until people realized there really aren't any games for it. But now it is officially true: You CAN be too poor for open source.

  21. Well, this is a new low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Terrible submission.

  22. imagine if it came with windows by updatelee · · Score: 3, Funny

    $1995 and it comes with linux, Imagine how much it would cost if it came with XP, $2995 ?

  23. Make your claims by has2k1 · · Score: 1
    I got a chance to play with one today.

    Ok Mr poster, I admit I have not RYFA. But if you played with it and it still does what sony intended it to do, then you don't know how to play.

  24. There:-) by khrtt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Delta Song Airline has an onboard satellite TV in each seat back, and they all run linux. Yay!

    How do I know? Well, one time I was flying Song, and the system hung up, and the stewardess rebooted it, and the linux boot screen came up on all the seatback displays, complete with the Tux logo. It's sooo coool!! I'm soo coool!!

    1. Re:There:-) by ScreamingSlave · · Score: 1

      I can confirm this. I saw the seatback displays all reboot and watched Linux boot up. I thought it was pretty neat and myy wife thought I was a dork :)

    2. Re:There:-) by MostlyHarmless · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yay Linux sightings, but: what does it mean if two random slashdot users both saw those seats needing a reboot? Tell them you saw a BSOD instead, and we'll just not take credit for that particular system...

      --
      Friends don't let friends misuse the subjunctive.
    3. Re:There:-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      If they're rebooting, though, there's something wrong.

      I spotted the same thing at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. There were some P3 Linux boxes(hidden inside a counter) that had encountered some problem, as they kept rebooting...

  25. Linux on public sign display by pfriedma · · Score: 1

    So, it's not all that surprising to use !Windows for a public information display. In fact I would say it's a better idea... not because linux is really better or anything (well I guess in a way) but more so that when a linux video terminal dies, it usually just goes black, as opposed to throwing up a BSOD. If I were waiting in line at a bank or something, and one of their displays bluescreened, I would loose a bit of respect for them. Maybe that's just me.

    --
    Mak'tal shree lok'tak mek'ta sa'tak Oz! - Daniel Jackson
  26. Overall, a fun hack-Linux sees green. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Short of filesystem encryption of the root FS, there's really no way to avoid this, and all Linux distributions (or any other OS for that matter) are vulnerable to this attack."

    A green felt tip marker will get around this.

  27. not suprising...OSS Dog Paddle. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The thing that surprises me though is the price..."

    Well, considering how you all go on so much about how OSS isn't sending the software industry down the river without a paddle, and our jobs with it. The price shouldn't be a surprise at all.

  28. Easy. by commodoresloat · · Score: 2, Informative
    And your solution to a password locked drive?

    Just type in the password at the prompt.

  29. Beavis, Butthead and Stuart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Sony isn't 3 guys in a room. Different divisions of the company solve problems in different ways."

    Nonsense, with logic like this we soon may have to stop generalizing products from certain companies as being inherently evil/good.

    Nah. We'd just have to wait until the right three guys are in a room.

  30. Price depends on target clientile by Neelay+H+Thaker · · Score: 1

    The target clientile seems to be institutions such as banks and airports. In that case, the price seems to be justified. If Sony wants to target the low end consumers, they will certainly have to bring down the price.

    1. Re:Price depends on target clientile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > If Sony wants to target the low end consumers, they will certainly have to bring down the price.

      don't know to much about this company across the pacific, do you?

  31. $1995 by commodoresloat · · Score: 1
    $1995 is a little expensive.

    Yes. And Steve Ballmer is a little bald.

  32. Symbian in NOT based on Linux. by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 2, Informative

    Your statement is incorrect on many counts.

    - Symbian is NOT a Linux Variant. The Symbian company was originally spun off from the Software division of PSION, and formed as a joint venture between PSION, Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola. The Symbian OS is the evolution of the PSION EPOC32 Operating System originally for that platform. It is an "Open" system, but not Open Source/Free Software (Liscenses have to be paid to implement it). It is "Open" in the way UNIX was.

    - Sony and Sony Ericsson are totally different Companies. Sony Ericsson is a Joint Venture between Sony and Ericsson, that is headquartered in London, UK, with labs throughout the world, inluding Sweden, Japan, UK.

    - The P800/P900/P910 are at heart originally Ericsson Devices. Sony provided the MemoryStick Duo technology, Jogdial, and the Screen Technology, but the internal is pretty much Ericsson. And the product is made by SonyEricsson.

    --
    Have a nice day!
  33. Anti-Sony trolls by team99 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MS' astroturfers, team99 and others on the payroll probably put up most of those xbox trolls. MS has started another heavy-duty marketing campaign. Pushing Xbox and XP are probably key items along with delaying or discouraging evaluation of other products. Delay of a competitor is almost as good as a sale.

  34. so he hacked the device because.. by Keruo · · Score: 1

    he didn't know the passwords to the web interface?
    *cough*RTFM*cough*

    --
    There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
  35. Wrong Mod by itchy92 · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up insightful.

    The last time I tried to buy a copy of Windows XP it was $1000.

    --
    Slashdot: News for nerds. Stuff tha-- MICRO$OFT IS THE DEVIL!!1
  36. Re:Sony and Linux - not as strange as you'd think! by andyr0ck · · Score: 1

    anyone wanting to see how much linux is in Sony's game plan, should check http://www.sony.net/Products/Linux/Download/search .html there's a few interesting tid bits in there, including the source for the PS2 kernel.

  37. good by suezz · · Score: 1

    now that they are using linux maybe the will sell their fucking notebooks with linux on them.

    I am sick of these companies using linux the way they see fit and not their customers. I want to be able to buy a vaio notebook with linux on it and not windows.

  38. that's the hard way. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You really don't need to waste that much effort. Hit 'e' when booting to edit the grub entry that's being booted. Edit the kernel line and append 'single'. Go team single user mode.

    Some systems will still ask for the root password via single user mode. For those, append 'init=/bin/sh' instead to bypass init and drop right to a root shell, after which you can remount / as read/write with 'mount / -o remount,rw'.

    1. Re:that's the hard way. by William+Robinson · · Score: 1

      you cannot do this if grub password is set.

      --
      hilarious