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How to Turn a PlayStation 3 Into a Linux PC
MahariBalzitch writes "Popular Mechanics shows step by step guide on how to install Ubuntu Linux on a PlayStation 3 and still keep the PS3 gaming functionality. Now I just need to get my hands on a PS3." Not bad specs for the price, either, since Blu-Ray players still aren't cheap. And though the article calls the procedure "somewhat complicated," it's a lot simpler than was installing Linux from floppies not so many years ago.
This is a documented feature of the system and has been since day one. I installed Linux shortly after the UK launch, and it really isn't anything to write home about - no support for hardware accelerated 3D, and a processor that really isn't designed for general-purpose computing. Novelty value for a couple of minutes, sure, then back to gaming on the PS3 and Linuxing on a real PC.
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
How do you get rootkits for it if it runs Ubuntu?
Let us not become the evil that we deplore.
Select "Install Other OS" from the settings menu.
Take pictures.
Jesus Christ. What a dumb fucking article. It's sad to see that this is what has become of PopMech.
This submission is obviously just an excuse to use a large amount of icons. Which ironically is longer than the TFS.
In some respects, it seems exactly like installing Linux from floppies.
In the olden days, you swapped the boot and root floppies; here you swap the hard drives, which indeed is somewhat complicated, as in "I wouldn't trust my grandmother to do it right" (not grandfather, though!).
As for the rest... OK, I am one of the few people in the universe who actually read documentation, but nevertheless... a page-long manual, illustrations included, makes the procedure somewhat complicated?
Indeed, Linux has come a long way if not being able to simply pop a CD and install on anything, incuding a toaster, makes the install procedure "somewhat complicated".
Ignore this signature. By order.
http://psubuntu.com/wiki/InstallationInstructions/
This is a good Ubuntu installation wiki for PS3.
Now we can finally see the day when they'll have good games running in the Playstation 3!!!
...by playing Playstation 1 games in it via a Linux Playstation Emulator!
http://www.epsxe.com/
http://www.pcsx.net/
:D
*nerdgasm*
...
...
And then to see just how macho the Cell processor is, we can run Virtual Box in the PS3 then run Win Vista within Virtual Box within Ubuntu within the PS3!
let's see how macho you are now, Cell processor!
http://www.object404.com
The PSUbuntu website is a good resource for anyone who wants to run Ubuntu on their PS3:
http://psubuntu.com/
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
Redhat on PS3 at release
/. article on that too).
Exactly what was accomplished here except writing an article about an obvious installation. Sony basically added support to the Linux kernel(their was a
It ain't News for Nerds unless code or a soldering gun was required.
You only have 256mb RAM. The other 256 is video RAM, and Sony prohibits direct access to it. Unfortunately that means no hardware accelerated graphics either. Kindof a shame, but I imagine it's still neat to play around with, and I doubt you'll find a cheaper Cell dev platform.
On the 360 side, hobbyist developers have a different set of trade-offs. You can write games C# using XNA Game Studio, 512mb shared memory, and even get hardware acceleration (some of the demos are quite impressive). On the flipside, there's a $100/year membership and fat chance of ever running linux (in any official capacity at least)
>Sony sell's PS1 games from their store.
>You can download them, play them on your PS3...
What??? Do it the easy way by buying games from the PS1 download store to run them in your PS3 as opposed to running your old PS1 CDs through an emulator in Linux in the PS3? (and thus not buy something you already own twice)
***
*cue nerd police*
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"We're very sorry to inform you sir, but your geek license just got revoked!"
http://www.object404.com
Dude, are you on crack?
1. There is only one sku for the ps3 currently, and it's only 399. There will be a new one soon for 100, but it's basically the same.
2. While you can use a bluray drive for reading bluray discs, you can't actually play movies with it, as per a couple of months ago, or at the very least, not without serious time investment converting the video.
3. Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Pixel Junkies Monsters, Warhawk, Folklore, Gran Turismo, Resistance: Fall of Man. All of these are exclusive to the PS3, all of these are highly rated, and there's most likely at least one game in this set that would appeal to you as a gamer, as this largely covers the spectrum of genres available today. AND I hadn't even mentioned Metal Gear, which comes out this month (IIRC).
It's clear that either you're (a. retarded or (b. simply bashing the PS3 because it's cool to do so. But guess what? It's not really cool to do so anymore because it's starting to become a solid system.
One of my dreams as soon as the PS3 was released was to install Linux on it and turn it into a media center hub without any of the DRM restrictions of pre-packaged solutions.
I currently use an Xbox 1 with Xbox Media Center installed, but it's starting to get long in the tooth since it doesn't support HD resolutions.
Although the GPU is restricted from access when in Linux , the CPU on the PS3 is plenty strong still as I understand it. Is there a way to install Linux easily on a PS3 so that it can be an easy to use media center comparable to XBMC?
I've seen reference to the fact that such a thing is possible, but is there an ISO I can just burn or install and have it work? If not, why not?
It's because the Torque engine is unavailable for PS3 yet
"We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
Must be another CO day here. While we are at it, let me add my totally obvious comments. Instead of spending atleast 400-450$ on a PS3, you can build yourself a proper PC with components from newegg and download Ubuntu and install it for a superior Linux experience. What's that you say? You want a Blu-ray drive? Here's one that's not so expensive.
You don't want a BDROM and you can't be bothered to put together a PC? Say hello to Zonbu and their line of line of cheaper machines.
Zonbu not upto your taste? Perhaps Madtux might help.
That was from 3mins of Googling - you get my drift. Linux on PS3 is almost as old as Linux on PS2 (one with HDD). Anyone remember Linux on xbox?
I am not sure who or what I should be insulting here - the selection of this story or Popular Mechanics. Oh and 129$ from newegg for a BDROM drive is cheap enough for me (HTPC and all) - Give it a couple of months and you will get sub 100$ BDROM drives and as any serious gamer knows, it's not the console price that will get ya - it's the games as they come out but I digress. Back to watching Monty Python on Hulu...
If you follow the instructions at PM's website you should be aware that the command to return to the PS3's native OS is not as the article has it. The correct command is "boot-game-os". Several folks made comments to that effect but for some reason PM is acting as if the error is cast in concrete and can't be corrected.
Secondly, the wireless adapter isn't supported yet so if you want Internet, you'll need to run a cable to your PS3 or plan on doing some compiling to get wireless support. For those of you who are old hands at Linux, this may be no big deal but for someone like myself who hasn't used Linux, it's an opportunity to learn a lot of new things. It reminds me a lot of decades ago when I first read K&R's C.
The PS3 is an absolute power hog...
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=106346&catId=100245&tid=100008&p=5&title=Computers'+energy+costs
"Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far
There is an entire community dedicated to running Ubuntu on a PS3, at PSUbuntu.com. And you don't have to upgrade your HD from whatever size your PS3 came with, although of course it's easy and you can do it. The PS3 HW works right out of the box.
Right now is a good time to join the PSUbuntu.com community, because a new wave of developers on the ubuntu-cell maillist have just joined, and are uniting with the users at PSUbuntu.com to test and smooth out the PS3/Ubuntu distro.
And there is also a fairly new X/MPlayer driver that will render full 1080p HD video on the PS3's Cell CPU, that also needs just a little testing and integration.
What I really want to see is a PS3 running Ubuntu using the PlayTV PVR device that Sony is releasing this year. With Ubuntu running it, the PS3 could be quite the killer platform for all home entertainment.
And I hear it plays games, too.
--
make install -not war
What's "news" is that this isn't the release version of Linux on PS3 that you installed back then, and that now it actually works.
There is indeed now a X/MPlayer video driver that runs full 1080p HD right on the Cell CPU.
And I don't know why you think the Cell CPU "really isn't designed for general purpose computing". That Cell includes a 3.2GHz multithreaded PowerPC that runs all PPC distro Linux SW right out of the distro, as apt-get'able binaries. And there are drivers and apps that use the Cell's 200GFLOPS of onboard DSPs for real computing, like that driver to which I just linked. The Cell is being used by IBM as the CPU in its highest end workstations and blade servers, as well as some of the fastest supercomputers on the drawing board - all running Linux compatible with the one on the Cell.
Look, I understand that 2 years ago the PS3's initial Linux support was more of a novelty, when the PS3 itself had been rushed to market before even the HW was really ready. But the past 2 years has seen its Linux support pass the stage where it's just a "dancing poodle" to where it's more like a husky sleighdog or a border collie. And the reason is that interested people have helped upgrade its Linux support. Linux is open-source so that users can improve it. Which people have done. It still needs a lot of help, but mainly because its potential is so huge, with the onboard supercomputer and built-in WiFi/Bluetooth/Blu-Ray/HDMI/7.1-audio/Gb-ethernet, all for $500. And that chance for volunteers to continue to shape the platform is exciting news for a lot of people, many of whom are exactly the kinds of geeks who read Slashdot.
And I hear it plays games, too.
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make install -not war
I don't get it. Ubuntu officially dropped PPC support last year.
So, why would Popular Mechanics recommend Ubuntu when you could download Yellow Dog Linux (for free as well from public mirrors), which is developed by the company hired by Sony to develop linux for the PS3. This sounds somewhat odd.
Disclaimer: I work for Terra Soft Solutions, so I've clearly got a bias here.
I've answered this before, but I'll do it again - I regularly have lunch with a tools programmer at Sony, and to dispel any rumours, Sony aren't against providing an opengl implementation to linux. I can't say too much, but there is work going on on this, but with no urgency and there are technical hurdles. Firstly, the PS3 doesn't come with opengl - the 3D api is called RSX. They won't be releasing this technology, and it wouldn't allow immediate compilation of 3D linux games anyway. An opengl implementation has to be implemented from the ground up, and in a way that protects the bios and copy protection layer from hacking. It might sell one or two more ps3s, but it won't sell any ps3 games, which is where sony make their profit.
In other words, someone is doing it, more as a hobby project, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.
Imagine a Beow.. Oh what, they have er
First Post, yes, no, Ok I'm off then.
Since when is gromacs optimized for the cell? Gromacs sucks pretty bad at scaling as it is, but I don't think it'd even use the SPU's (from what I can tell it hasn't been optimized for the cell) - meaning you're basically running it on the processor of a 5 year old mac. Now if you optimized it for a cell...then this thing would be blazing.
not informative at all. Wireless most certainly does work out of the box. As does bluetooth for both controllers and keyboards. On top of that there's been a bunch of work to port CPU intensive things (like the framebuffer and mplayer/mencoder) to the SPU's. They're in various states, but mplayer at least is able to play most video files of any size seamlessly because it dumps it on the SPU's. In the future, I'd suggest not attempting to write posts being informative on technology when your knowledge of the technology is clearly 18 months to 2 years old.
The SPU's can do integer math very fast, the problem is all software has to have SPU optimization (which is not trivial) written into it in order to utilize the SPU's. The odds of that happening to something like GCC is nonexistent...who cares enough to do that...nobody. But programs that are actually considered necessities to run fast (mplayer/mencoder, X11 driver) have already been ported and will run blazingly fast using the SPU's.
"(especially since gromacs probably has tons of x86 optimizations in it) than a PS3 would."
http://www.gromacs.org/content/view/25/
I wouldn't bank on that, it gets almost Double the processing done on a g5 with a slower clock than a high end p-4. you might have wanted to look into that before you put your foot in your mouth. according to wikipedia the SPE in the ps3 is clocked to 3.2 ghz.
"Linux Pentium 4 1 Intel 8 3000 1024 10176 2280 1353 164 3045 357 0.95"
"Apple G5 PPC 970 1 IBM 2500 512 15309 4177 2213 175 5069 544 1.74"
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html