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Installing Yellow Dog Linux on the PS3
johnnyb writes "A new series of articles is out on IBM DeveloperWorks on programming the PS3. The first article is up, discussing the installation of Yellow Dog Linux and first steps in programming the Cell BE Processor on this platform. From the article: ' It is unusual for gaming consoles to allow foreign operating systems to be installed on them. Since consoles are usually sold at a loss, they are usually locked down to prevent games from running on them without the publisher paying royalties to the console developer. Sony decided to open up the PS3 console a little bit, and allow third-party operating systems to be installed, with the caveat that they do not get accelerated graphics. Because of this, you can now install Linux on the PS3. You have to jump through a few hoops, but it definitely works.'"
No, I have not read TFA all the way through (sorry, I have to work), but just how are the graphics capabilities "locked down"? I have a PS3 and I am waiting for a bigger drive to come in (just ordered) before installing YDL as I don;t want to do it twice. I have not yet heard about the graphics lock down though- just how bad is it?
Repant. Thy end is sheer.
Can I grab a PS3, YDL, an NES emulator, a SuperNES emulator, and a bunch of romz and not have to pay individually to play old games like I would with a Wii? I'd rather get a PS3 anyway, and if I can play my old Nintendo games, that would be awesomer.
Fast CPU, play with the CELL, but slow graphics.... Oh, well....
How much graphics functionality is left out?
Enough to prevent HD videos playing smoothly? Enough to prevent smooth scrolling looking nice?
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
Here's an article at YDL with info on the PS3 video modes with tweaks, recco's, etc... This provides a little more info.
n s/ydl_5.0/video-config.shtml
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/solutio
Repant. Thy end is sheer.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/07/ 211214
Firstly, it dual-boots between PPC Linux and PS3's internal OS Secondly, PowerPC MacOS can be virtualised on PPC Linux using MacOnLinux so this console can be an (dubious legal status) PowerMac too..
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
I remember that a while ago some PS2s with Linux were used in some scientific settings for certain vector calculations, I believe (I only skimmed the linked article...I saw this on The Screen Savers a while back). Would the PS3/Linux combo be an even better replacement? They're expensive as hell, but I would imagine much faster.
Ride the skies
No graphics drivers yet? Ah, well, it can make an awesome BBS or MUD server, anyway.
I love putting Linux on things, especially when it isn't destructive in any way. Even with XBox the only problem was that you can't use XBL anymore...and it required you to find and reload the original dashboard.
If I were ever to buy a PS3 it would be for this...and Guitar Hero III.
Anyone else think the comments just weren't rendering right before they turned off ABP and saw ads?
I don't understand why people would run a distribution like Yellow Dog on hardware supported by a mainstream distribution. Historically, all Yellow Dog brought to the table was support for platforms not supported by RedHat, like PowerMacs. When all the mainstream distributions started to support PPC as well, Yellow Dog remained the Slashdot headliner distribution even though it was always behind the times. Now that Yellow Dog was first on the PS3 but the platform was later supported by Fedora, I have to wonder. Why would you run Yellow Dog when you can go straight to the cow (so to speak)?
Personally, I'll wait for Debian support (and a compelling reason to buy a PS3).
The 3d support might be nice for some widgets and stuff but pretty useless for viewing a video stream unless you want to view in wrapped around a cube.
The 256 megs of ram might be an issue but other than that it could make a great MythTV front end.
Now the big question is will people convert some of the codecs that Myth uses to use the SPEs? If so then you are all set. Frankly if you can get a USB tuner working with it then it might make a GREAT MythTV box for recording and transcoding video.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
So essentially, you're getting better hardware than you pay for.
I would mod you up if I could :)...I'm posting the text from your link.
... from facility design and construction in Jul
Terra Soft to Build World's First Cell-Based Supercomputer
Tomorrow, Terra Soft will officially announce the construction of the world's first Cell-based supercomputing cluster.
In the fall of '05, Terra Soft was contacted by Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI) to develop and manage a supercomputing cluster built upon the IBM Cell Broadband Engine and the Linux OS. This spring, Terra Soft was contracted by Sony and in August completed the construction of a 3000 sq-ft supercomputing facility capable of housing 2400 1U systems. In this remodeled extension to the Loveland, Colorado headquarters, Terra Soft will construct a test cluster and a substantially larger production cluster, dubbed "E.coli" and "Amoeba" respectively.
Terra Soft will use the test cluster "E.coli" to conduct advanced software development, optimization, and testing with emphasis on Y-HPC and Y-Bio applied to the Cell Broadband Engine. The production cluster "Amoeba" will be made available to select University and Department of Energy laboratories to further life sciences research.
The clusters will incorporate, in part, Cell-based PS3 systems. The Cell Broadband Engine provides a "1 + 8" multi-core processing environment, enabling optimized code to function at a superior level of performance over traditional single or dual core CPUs. With all 8 cores on a single chip, the code processes do not lose performance by dropping down to the memory bus as with historic, multiple CPU configurations.
Glen Otero, Director of Life Sciences Research for Terra Soft Solutions explains, "This cluster represents a two-fold opportunity: to optimize a suite of open-source life science applications for the Cell processor; to develop a hands-on community around this world-first cluster whereby researchers and life science studies at all levels may benefit. Once up and running with our first labs engaged, we will expand the community through invitations and referrals, supporting a growing knowledge base and library of Cell optimized code, open and available to life science researchers everywhere."
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab is working with Terra Soft to optimize a suite of life science applications. Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Labs are also engaged, with select universities coming on-board early in 2007. Terra Soft is working to optimize the entire Y-Bio bioinformatics suite.
Thomas Swidler, Sr. Director of Research & Development at SCEI states, "This cluster is for Sony a means of demonstrating the diversity of the PS3, taking it well beyond the traditional role of a game box. While we are not in the business of competing for the Top500.org nor building cluster components, this creative use of the PS3 beta systems enables Sony to support a level of real world research that may produce very positive, beneficial results."
Regarding Terra Soft's contribution to the project, Swidler continued, "In working with Terra Soft, we found a single source for the operating system, cluster construction tools, and bioinformatics software suite. Again, their dedication to detail and professional results has surpassed our expectations. We are very eager for the completion of this initial phase in order that the research may begin."
Both clusters will run the new Yellow Dog Linux v5.0 operating system; a beta version of Y-HPC v2.0, the first commercial, cross-architecture Linux cluster construction suite; the Moab cluster management suite by Cluster Resources; and Y-Bio v1.1, a suite of gene sequence analysis tools soon to be optimized for the Cell processor.
Kai Staats, CEO of Terra Soft offers, "Working to complete the cluster facility has been the highlight of my time in this industry, a truly gratifying experience. What we have accomplished this spring and summer showcases the peak of our design, coordination, and engineering effort
"Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
I have done this and it's pretty cool. It works great and it's just as easy as installing OS X and must simpler then installing Winblows. The only thing that's annoying is that since this is PPC64, everything is out of date. Only Firefox 1.5 works on it, etc. But I assume this will get better as time goes on.
Ok, here is what you get with both on the PS3 (I've installed both on separate occaisions). YDL installs EXTREMELY fast (in relation to other operating systems). I can't remember what the screen resolution is but it's decent and looks very good on an HDTV. As far as their new gui....I give it a big MEH. It looks pretty and it sparkles when you click on a window but I prefer gnome over it any day. Internet browsing, office apps, and other basic stuff you expect to see on linux are there. The thing that interested me is that, yup, you can get the PS3 to lag a bit when using YDL. I imagine this is due in part to the system only having 512mb ram and the graphics restricted to framebuffer (or whatever). I got a bootlegged copy and so I was unable to update my software via the YDL account system (way to go sony, you made it so people have to BUY linux to use it to it's full potential), but for the most part I'd say YDL looks good, operates ok, but I didn't see a WHOLE lot of the usual linux extras you'll usually find on Ubuntu, Suse or Fedora. Now Fedora Core 5 is a bit of a different story. First of all, the max install takes about 4 hours to complete from start to finish, it's pretty grueling. The biggest dissappointment I had was the MINISCULE screen resolution. 534x300 or something god awful like that. The good news is all the little linux extras are there, internet works fine, office stuff is good, video players will work (but who wants to watch video at 534x300). Fedora Core 5 has the same problem as YDL tho as I can't get the friggin software updater to work. So far I'd say that I'm going to have to break down and actually buy YDL because I really want to see how well they can work with the PS3 unless other distros of linux start bringing up the slack. Damn you Sony, you are a harsh mistress.
Disclaimer: I haven't read-up on Cell BE systems, nor the PS3, so I have no clue at all as to how their computing power compares to desktop PC's.
Would PS3's be useful as a "low power" platform to run distributed computing apps like SETI@home (or insert your favorite)? Is there ever likely to be a BOINC client available to run under Yellow Dog on the PS3?
If I remember right, PS3 Linux (or any other OS) runs in a hypervisor. That means virtualization -- it means that they actually can prevent Linux from gaining access to the hardware, just as I can run Windows safely inside qemu on my Linux and deny it access to my hardware.
So, it's not just that there are no drivers, and that you can hope someday someone will reverse-engineer it enough -- no. They'd have to crack it and reverse-engineer it -- basically like any kind of Xbox Linux.
As far as whether HD video works, I haven't gotten a straight answer from anyone. We know 3D acceleration doesn't work, and we know you get a framebuffer. What I don't know is whether the framebuffer is accelerated enough to play HD video or 2D games. But keep in mind -- even if it can play HD video, it seems doubtful that you'd actually be able to play a Blu-Ray disc.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=5 75582&st=0
Oh is it possible.
Why is slash not covering the 23C3
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Each cell is quite powerfull, its not a dumb DSP. Its actually as good as a Pent Pro.
With heaps of movs/adds/mults and 30+ branch types, the assembly is quite powerfull enough that even the most demanding C++ wouldnt use 10% of it.
Any way, download the specs and cpu docs
http://cell.scei.co.jp/e_download.html
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
I still maintain that the primary reason Sony is allowing Linux to be installed on the PS3 is to get the unit classified as a Computer and not a game console to dodge the higher European import tax imposed on gaming consoles. Having had there status as a computer for the PS2 revoked, they're making headway to assure that Europe will see it as a computer (protein folding, etc.). This is still good for us, as we get linux on a powerful machine with a high MIPS/$$$ ratio. I just don't think sonys motives are really that benevolent. --Zims
Speaking of Yellow Dog, does anyone have a copy of that hilarious Yellow Dog ad video that came out a few years back, with the young attractive college girl lounging around on the lawn of her campus talking about why she uses Yellow Dog Linux? That cracked me up....
I wonder if something like xbox media center would be practical under linux ? If it is I would buy a ps3 just for this
does it run Linux?