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How to Turn a PlayStation 3 Into a Linux PC

Posted by timothy on from the sleek-box-of-ubuntu dept.

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.

16 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. On what planet is this 'news'? by iapetus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.
    1. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by Secret+Rabbit · · Score: 5, Informative

      You're right that this isn't news, but it actually does have a processor that is designed for general-purpose computing; it's called the PPU (64-bit PowerPC processor blah blah blah). There are 7 OTHER SPU's (6 available in Linux) that have been optimized for vector processing. *Those* aren't general-purpose. But, Linux doesn't even need to see those to work. It can just run on the PPU.

    2. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by philipgar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's actually a pretty smart way for Sony to prevent people from hacking the PS3. I'm sure part of this was at IBMs request, as IBM wants the CELL to be useful for other purposes than just gaming. By allowing Linux to easily run in a limited form, it means that people can play with the machine in Linux, but don't really have control over it. However, it also means fewer people are willing to spend the time required to hack the box and make a real linux media center machine out of it. I wouldn't doubt if this would already be available for the PS3, if not for the fact that it is so easy to get Linux installed on the device already.

      As it stands, researchers already have access to play around with the Cell SPEs, and can do enough that there's no need to break it for their own needs. The general hobbyist who wants all the other stuff tend to not have the knowledge and resources to break in, and install linux, and thus no one has done it. Not a bad tradeoff, the research community gets to use the PS3 to play with Cell processors (helping IBMs goal of encouraging Cell development), and the hacking community has far fewer resources available to break the system, and less demand for it.

      Phil

    3. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Informative? You've been modded +4 Informative at this point, but a fair chunk of what you say is outright wrong. To whit:
      1) Wifi access is not only available but works out-of-the-box with Yellow Dog Linux
      2) Bluetooth access works fine and with only a tiny amount of work the Sixaxis controllers work as Bluetooth joysticks, and get picked up and used for stuff like Dosbox (old two-player dos games with Sixaxis joysticks sitting on the couch with your 47" LCD, anyone?)
      3) Full access to the six special coprocessors, only access to the RSX chip is restricted

      It runs fine at 720p and I have had Age of Empires II running just fine via the wireless connection to a Win98 harddrive image loaded up with qemu.

      It's great.

    4. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There is an X/MPlayer video driver that plays 1080p HD video on the Cell's SPUs quite nicely, while the Cell's PPC core runs the Linux kernel without distraction.

      To use PPC apps, you don't have to "compile them yourself". This is Ubuntu. All you do is apt-get install them from a source package.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

    5. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by nawcom · · Score: 5, Funny

      Thank god I'm not the only one who finds spelling errors a complete turn off when fapping to dirty stories. That and un-needed product placement. I'm talking to you, Astroglide!

    6. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by Bootarn · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Here at Uppsala University, Sweden, we have a PS3 that is currently computing molecular dynamics. I'd say the PS3 is not perfect for desktop computing, since most desktop software is poorly written in respect to parallelisation. It is, however, quite good for scientific applications which are designed to run on a cluster. (GROMACS for instance)

    7. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by lord+sibn · · Score: 5, Funny

      The timing of this could not be more perfect. I work in a grocery store, which (unsurprisingly) is where I do all of my grocery shopping. I've been there for 5 years, but just yesterday, for the very first time ever, I got a ride to work (I normally walk).

      Who gave me a ride? The guy driving the truck with all the stuff that I was going to unload and stock. He saw me on the sidewalk and pulled over.

      Technically, I did not use an 18 wheeler for grocery shopping, but I *did* use one to go to the store once.

    8. Re:On what planet is this 'news'? by i_like_yogurt · · Score: 5, Funny

      You can grocery shop with an 18 wheeler just fine. You just have to put the tiny tires on.

      --
      The salmon mousse!
  2. Re:LOLWUT by brindleboar · · Score: 5, Funny

    "It's sad to see that this is what has become of PopMech." Oh come on now. What about that "How to Convert your Vacuum Cleaner into a Fully Automatic Rifle" article? That wasn't so bad was it?

  3. Ubuntu Installation Instructions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://psubuntu.com/wiki/InstallationInstructions/

    This is a good Ubuntu installation wiki for PS3.

  4. PSUbuntu by pegasustonans · · Score: 5, Informative

    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
  5. Not bad specs, with one exception: by nobodyman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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)

  6. It's News That It Works Now by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  7. Why Ubuntu? They dropped PPC support by chriseh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  8. Re:But, but... by rodgerd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Install Ubuntu's openssl build.