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PS3 Linux Now Installable

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the yes-because-it's-a-supercomputer dept.

Quinton writes "Around midnight Pacific time on the 17th, Sony updated their Open Platform website needed to install PPC Linux on the PS3. The FTP Site contains the CELL Linux ADDON CD image, which has the bootloader (kboot/otheros.bld) and instructions needed to install Fedora Core 5, PPC. A full install from DVD takes about two hours. Most all hardware is supported except for graphics accelerator support (framebuffer only, up to 1920x1200)."

5 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. PowerPC? by Constantine+XVI · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Did they say they were running standard PowerPC Linux on the PS3? In theory, what would stop us (besides Apple's legal dept.) putting the PowerPC Mac OSX on it?

    --
    "I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
  2. Almost by androvsky · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There's a hypervisor running between the kernel and the hardware, so I don't think it's going to be an easy task to hack the nvidia ppc macintosh drivers to run on this thing. I got the impression from the documentation that the accelerator was pretty much locked off, but even if it wasn't, we're pretty much stuck waiting for nvidia to cough up a binary driver blob. Unless someone wants to port opengl to the cell spus. It couldn't be nearly as fast as the nvidia chip, geforce3 territory at best, but it could support any kind of shaders you throw at it.

    1. Re:Almost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sony won't boot a non-approved OS so don't hold out hope for a Linux that uses the RSX. Besides, you're not missing much. The RSX is a severely cut down nv40-based chip. As people are just now finding out, it has no scaler and no video acceleration (as in "PureVideo"). It is just a vertex shading pipeline and a very simplified pixel shading pipeline. Sony expected people to do all their pixel effects on the Cell, but that isn't working out too well which is why people are noticing fullscreen effects looking worse on PS3 versions of games like NFS:Carbon. Sigh. It's the PS2 all over again. Lots of raw processing power that is wasted because it is crippled by an underpowered, feature-poor rasterizer. It's like Sony couldn't create a balanced hardware design to save its life.

  3. Re:Graphics Chip will never work by LWATCDR · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's simple, without a graphic chips it impossible to use Linux to play pirated games.

    With out the graphics chip it is impossible to run any good games in Linux.

    If Sony opened up the graphics chip then people could create games without Sony's okay.

    On a bright note it opens up the critter to emulators :)
    MAME PS/3 anyone?
    When it calms down and the price drops I might get one.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  4. How long for MythTV, MAME etc.? by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Install Linux, install Myth, plugin a Haupage WinTV USB device - the PS3 becomes a PVR, plays DiVX etc. Or install MAME, UAE, Virtual Boy, SheepShaver, QEMU, Bochs and you have a pretty decent console / arcade gaming rig. Might even be able to play those SNES / N64 titles before they turn up on the Wii...