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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.'"
There are no drivers from nvidia, is uses a VERY new core, so your stuck with a Framebuffer
WulframII - Free Online Mutiplayer 3D Tank Shooting Game
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.
I heard that it is purposely locked down with a hypervisor....whatever that means. You will have no access to the graphics with or without drivers.
Installing YDL doesn't remove your ablility to play games. PS3 uses dual-boot, original proprieraty OS for games, blu-rays and dvds movies and "Other OS" for whatever you feel like.
There's no modding involved. There's even instructions on how to install your 2nd OS of choice on your PS3.
From what I understand, the PS3 hypervisor actually blocks calls to the GPU, outside of framebuffer calls. Sony did this with the PS2 linux kit as well, and said it was to prevent piracy, and to keep people from just running free linux games on the console (because they sell the consoles at a loss, if a bunch of people buy them up and then play free games, it would be a money losing venture for sony)
That said, I think it's kinda dumb, especially since microsoft provides an extremely low cost way to develop Xbox360 games that use all the bells and whistles.
-Bucky
It's mostly for developers right now (hey, it's even in the correct Slashdot category!).
Personally, I think Japan is building a gigantic supercomputer out of PS3s ;) When Linux got onto PS2, the most common usage for them were clusters. Here's a picture. I can only imagine what a rack full of PS3s can do. Of course, like the PS2, the PS3 is subject to restrictions. From the PS3 EULA:
The PS3 system may contain technology that is subject to certain restrictions under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, and may not be exported or re-exported to U.S. embargoed destinations. In addition, the PS3 system may not be exported or re-exported to persons and entities prohibited by the U.S. Export Administration Regulations.Have to make sure those Albanians aren't cracking RSA or some such thing.
mandelbr0t
"Please describe the scientific nature of the 'whammy'" - Agent Scully
The Cell's PowerPC core is massively dumbed down from its Mac namesake. It is not even the Celeron of its family. Running Linux, the PS3 is the equivalent of about a 1.1Ghz PPC Mac with no graphics acceleration. You can buy a Mac Mini that would kill by almost an order of magnitude any Linux benchmark running under Linux on the Cell. "Once they compile YDL for the Cell..." You really don't have a clue. That's like saying "Once the recompile Windows XP for my ATI Radeon, Excel will run much faster". The SPUs are glorified DSPs. They suck at running general purpose code. Heck, they suck at running medium-sized code with any kind of branching. Maybe someone will make a wicked fast SETI@home client or an awesome blur-filter for GIMP, but that's about the extent of the use of the SPUs in a computing environment (simple operations on a large data set that streams in and doesn't change much). And before you say "OpenGL and video decoding", remember the GPU is locked from use. And besides, if the SPUs excelled at handling 3D, why did Sony bother buying such a large, expensive, heat-generating GPU from nVidia?
That's precisely what this YDL distribution is aimed at. (I submitted this story here multiple times back when it happened, figuring that eventually it would take priority over the day's Jack Thompson story, but no dice.)
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
This is actually the cheapest (by far) way to get access to IBM's new Cell BE processor. It also doesn't trash the gameplaying aspect of the PS3 -- PS3s actually come with dual-boot capability built-in.
So, if you're interested in learning to program IBM's new chip design, this is the best way to do it. It not only has a dual-core PowerPC element, but eight independent vector processors attached, with a radical new architecture (because of manufacturing decisions by Sony as well as implementation decisions, you may have access to as few as 6, but in any case, there's lots of processing elements in there).
Then there is always the Geek factor, which can never be underestimated.
Engineering and the Ultimate
As far as I'm aware, while there is an addon CD available for Fedora for the PS3, it is not an officially-supported part of Fedora.
In addition, Sony hired YDL (actually TerraSoft) specifically to do this port, so the YDL developers have better support potential.
I would stick with YDL on the PS3 simply because they actually have a commitment to the platform.
Engineering and the Ultimate
I see a bunch of people have already pointed out that it's a dual-boot arrangement and you don't have to give up your nifty PS3 gaming capability. With that in mind, there are a few really good reasons to have Linux on your PS3.
- Firefox is much better than the PS3 web browser.
- You have many choices of players when you want to play MP3s and videos, or look at pictures with your family.
- When your family loves that one special pic of Junior, but wishes there was no red-eye, you can edit it on the spot.
- You can immediately email that picture to your aunt Betty.
- You can check your email from the couch while waiting for your favorite show to come on..
- It's an extra general computer in the house when you need it. You at least have an option if your boss needs you to send a quick document to your client at the same time you're replacing the video card on your PC.
- You can get data on and off your PS3 from the home LAN, thus making the sharing of those pictures, videos and MP3s much easier (the PS3 doesn't natively have this functionality at this time, and if someone knows better, PLEASE tell me, because this is the feature most important to me that I'm missing at the moment.)
Like a lot of dual boot options, this one isn't quite as smooth as it could be, based upon what I've read. Ideally, I'd never have to leave my couch, but I think this one requires me to hit a button (at least that's what I read, but I hope I'm wrong here too.). But considering all this great functionality is literally free, completely legal and actually encouraged, I feel like I'd be a fool to not take advantage of it.
I'm just getting familiar with my PS3 at the moment, but this is my next step. It's not a perfect solution, but with Linux on board I feel I'll have enough quality functionality that I won't need a separate PC in the living room any more.
TW
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."
Actually you can write video decoding/encoding and even OpenGL on the SPEs. It wouldn't be a "fun" project for the average person, but it's possible. I'm considering doing an SPE implementation of OpenGL ES, but I don't have much free time for anything as it is... FYI we had OpenGL implementations for PS2Linux as well using the VUs. I got my OpenGL TombRaider reimplementation running good enough (29FPS) at the time. As for GLSL, you can port the reference compiler... I doubt it'll be as useful as a 'fixed function' pipeline on SPE however. You can at least get lower end OpenGL functionality on PS3 w/o needing to touch RSX. Hobbyist are always the ones that like retrogaming anyway.
It might be more fun to hack around hypervisor and use the new OSS nvidia driver RE as a basis to roll your own RSX wrapper... however you end up having to reimplement hypervisor to a degree too. Oh the joys of breaking your own toys.
Or most of the bells and whistles, anyway. Graphically, XNA gives you nearly as much power as a full dev kit since the graphical horsepower is harnessed via shaders. However you currently can't do any networking, nor do you have support for some peripherals like the Vision camera. All of that (and a way to properly distribute your games) should come along eventually, but it's a matter of the XNA guys being able to do it in a way that does not jeopardize the current revenue stream of retail and XBLA games while also making sure it's secure so that XNA won't end up as an enabler for Linux or pirated games.
That said, XNA vs. PS3 Linux is just another manifestation of the different strategies Microsoft and Sony have for their consoles. Microsoft has constantly pushed the 360 as a game machine first while Sony likes to claim the PS3 is a full-fledged computer. Thus Microsoft gives users a way to build their own games for the 360 and Sony provides a way for users to harness the generic power of the PS3 with Linux (and other operating systems in the future).
I think the point was that you can legally/ethically purchase games for the Wii as compared to the illegal/unethical methods of stealing games for the PS3 ...
...
If homebrew and emulation is your thing though, you can run homebrew applications on the Wii using the SD card exploit that worked on the Gamecube; I could be wrong, but I believe that all gamecube homebrew works on the Wii meaning that you have access to all of the emulators that would work on the PS3. What this means is that you can spend $500/$600 to do the same thing you can do with a $250 Wii
Note: From my understanding all of the current Wii exploits only give access to the Wii in Gamecube mode, the extra processing power the Wii has is unavailabe and the hackers are looking for new exploits.