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Gorgazm
November 12th, 2006, 07:34 PM
http://ps3.qj.net/Kernel-patches-and-documentation-for-PS3-Linux-Boot-any-PPC-linux-distro-on-your-PS3-/pg/49/aid/72608

The day of the Japanese PS3 launch came and went. And with it, it brought along a ton of news. But you still haven't seen the best bit yet! You see, before Sony even released more info about Yellow Dog Linux for the PS3, Power Developer has already released kernel patches and a bootloader so that you can try out Linux on your PS3.

Yes, this is huge news in itself. But that's not all. Apparently, you can install ANY linux distro on your PS3 as long as it has a PowerPC build available - and that includes just about every popular distribution of Linux out there. A quick hop to my favorite distro websites shows that all of them run on PowerPC processors, which means that all of them will probably run on the PS3.

Here's a small list of the Linux distros which run on PowerPC (PPC)
Ubuntu
Fedora Core
SUSE (Paid) / openSUSE (Free)
Gentoo

I'm sorry if I haven't listed your favorite distro here. You can make your way to DistroWatch.com and check out your distro's site to see if they have a build for the PPC. There's a very good chance that it will be supported. Also, some sites might list the PPC builds as "Apple Macintosh" versions. They are built for PowerPC and they should run on the PS3, though don't come after my head if they don't. Now here's some of the info from the PS3 kernel patch documents.

The patch is for kernel 2.6.19. You can download the plain vanilla kernel here and patch it yourself. But that's beside the point, because the documents which are released here, have a small how-to on installing Fedora Core 5 on your PS3. And the only things you need are:

* Other OS installer (otheros.self)
o You can get the binary from http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/
* kboot image compressed by gzip (otheros.bld)
o You can find this in Addon Packages CD.
* Fedora Core 5 PPC install DVD
o You can get Fedora Core 5 PPC install DVD from Fedora Project (http://fedora.redhat.com/)
* Addon Packages CD.

The only thing which we currently don't have is the Other OS installer. A quick check on the mentioned site reveals that Sony hasn't yet put it up there. A few more days, I think. The Addon Packages CD would probably be supplied with the PS3 itself, or so I think.

And finally, for everyone here who's hungry to tinker with the material before the PS3 is released in the US, here's the kernel patches, the bootloader, and a bunch of documents to make it easier for you. I'm so envious of our Japanese friends right now who'll probably be busy tinkering with their PS3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--That should be great

Development Documents : http://dl.qj.net/Documents-for-Linux-on-the-PS3-Linux-Tools-PlayStation-3/pg/12/fid/11259/catid/514

PriceChild
November 12th, 2006, 07:38 PM
Wow.... So sony are actually embracing the ability for you to run your own linux on there?

Gorgazm
November 12th, 2006, 07:47 PM
Thats a good way to get a leg up on competition. MAke it possible to use it as a computer, a good one at that. Maybe Ubuntu will make full use of the cell processor.

PriceChild
November 12th, 2006, 07:48 PM
Well it is ppc... its fine.

Patrick K.
November 12th, 2006, 08:11 PM
It's a nice and all that you can run an OS on it like a regular computer. However... When are Game consoles going to be just game consoles and less like your average home computer?

maniacmusician
November 12th, 2006, 08:32 PM
from now on? probably never. Wii's the only one doing it right...but the future shows game consoles being computers as well.

Polygon
November 12th, 2006, 08:34 PM
i like the wii. Its saving money by not having a hard drive (using flash cards.. which will also means its more quiet and the hard drive wont ever die!), it does not have dvd playback, becuase honestly, who DOSENT have some form of dvd player in their house already

and will you still be able to play games on the ps3 if you install a different linux disto?

Old Pink
November 12th, 2006, 08:35 PM
This will conquer the "I use Windows for my games" attitude that's out there.

A high spec Linux computer, ready to play the latest Blu-Ray Games.

This could completely eradicate Windows, with the right marketing. :D

Polygon
November 12th, 2006, 08:40 PM
so baiscally what the ps3 means is that all the ps3 developers are basically creating games that run on linux and are written for opengl?

if so thats really cool.... could mean more linux ports

engla
November 12th, 2006, 08:44 PM
great news.

will this bring goodies to all of us? I hope for games that work on linux -- not just ppc but all platforms. And I hope for some more action on the ppc side of things, right now some things are going slow with ppc builds -- prop stuff like flash, acroread, google earth are not available, and no builds for the latest beryl. More users, more action is of course welcome!

And yes, making linux a gaming platform is probably the best news I heard in a long while.

.t.
November 12th, 2006, 08:45 PM
This is a very cool concept. But I doubt they be free...

PriceChild
November 12th, 2006, 08:49 PM
btw the ps3 doesn't ship with linux...

maniacmusician
November 12th, 2006, 08:49 PM
What's the betting someone starts developing a PS3-based ubuntu by the end of the year?

not just a PPC arch, but specialised to gaming, modifying the DE to be more oriented toward playing the games.

.t.
November 12th, 2006, 08:52 PM
Very high

Dual Cortex
November 12th, 2006, 08:54 PM
Can't wait until Thursday... to start waiting until Friday.

Gorgazm
November 12th, 2006, 09:09 PM
The linux os will be seperate from the gaming os. You will have a choice on what to boot to. The ps3's shipping os will support homebrew also. http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html

Old Pink
November 12th, 2006, 09:25 PM
PLAYSTATION®3 allows any desired third-party system software to be installed on it besides its system software provided by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Details will be posted on this site soon.If we were to rip the Sony Linux off there, and put it on our computers with Blu-Ray drives, we could have Playstation games running natively in Linux? :)

kuja
November 12th, 2006, 09:30 PM
so baiscally what the ps3 means is that all the ps3 developers are basically creating games that run on linux and are written for opengl?

if so thats really cool.... could mean more linux ports
As far as I know, Sony makes most of their money off of selling (expensive) licenses to use their proprietary API to developers.

In other words, unless something has drastically changed, not OpenGL.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 12th, 2006, 10:17 PM
just for my 5 cents:
In my opinion this won't bring gaming from windows to linux. For sure not.

I think a lot of people misunderstand sonys concepts.

I comprehend it like this:
with the PS3 u get game ALL PS3 games ,
AS a plattform the new Interfaces and periphery of the PS3 make "PC Games" completly obsolete!
Think about that , twice before u start to flame out..

What games u like?
EA sport games -> nice playable on PS3
EA/MS/ whatever strategy games -> nice playable on the PS3?
The big Game Studios have the OPTION to make use of ALL functions of the PS3 that would include Ports of :
Strategy Games, Adventures....just EVERYTHING!

What ever kept "PC Games" away from Console?
U right the input ok, :
U plugin in ur favorite USB mouse+ keyboard.
So the input question is solved!

Now what else? Ah right the Display thing...
ok u want to "play" ur "Games" on a "huge" high resh ( preferably scaleable) Display?
uh thats not a problem -> PS3 has more then enough output option to provide more then suffiecent Output Options.

Now think again, what makes PC "Gaming" "still" affordable..?
For me -> nothing.
I dont like to buy every 1,5 years new components to play "Games" i just like a constant Gaming platform, PS3 offers that.

If u think this sucks a lot try to review the benefits. No patches and even if so just feature
PC Games have come to such low quality, that hardware platform unity could infact change something.

Most people just think of a "console" or the ps3 to be a toy placed inside the living room....
so tatally wrong IMO.
For me its the best, cheapest "home" pc, gaming, media center station that i ever could get.

so IF the PS3.. finally will come to europe, i'm sure to get one!
wbr Shin Gouki

shining
November 12th, 2006, 10:26 PM
I dont like to buy every 1,5 years new components to play "Games" i just like a constant Gaming platform, PS3 offers that.


Why are you going to buy a new one then?

Dual Cortex
November 12th, 2006, 10:42 PM
Why are you going to buy a new one then?

Going with his argument: because he has probably been using the PS2 since 2000.

But I'm sure that 'philosophy' doesn't appeal many people at all. I mean, the good thing about buying new parts is that you don't get left behind during those 6 years you wait until a new console comes out.

pmj
November 12th, 2006, 11:28 PM
Linux on a console is cool and all, but it's not like it's going to be a good desktop computer with only 256MB RAM. And it's not going to be a good media center either since it's PPC and the w32codecs won't work on that. I'm sure we'll get some neat emulators and homebrew games, though.

And what's with fanboy threads/posts with links to ps3.qj.net? There were two other such threads created 4 hours ago (an hour before this thread was created) on another forum I visit.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 12th, 2006, 11:46 PM
256 MB ram is enough, depends on how and WHAT u use..
i doubt that with the w32 codecs... time will tell, but more important when will be the first screenshot of ubuntu running of PS3 ?
I hope it comes fast here ^^
wbr Shin Gouki

engla
November 13th, 2006, 11:25 AM
... And it's not going to be a good media center either since it's PPC and the w32codecs won't work on that. I'm sure we'll get some neat emulators and homebrew games, though.
..

What exactly does w32codecs provide? I don't have access to that on my ubuntu/powerpc, but I can play most media files, especially all the ripped movie formats.

Gorgazm
November 15th, 2006, 06:39 AM
CPU: Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for edundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU: RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound: Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-base processing)

Memory:
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth:
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM: 22.4GB/s
RSX: 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB: 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)





The XDR Ram from what I understand is much better than todays standards so it should be plenty to run linux smoothly. Please correct me if I'm wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDR_RAM

ssam
November 15th, 2006, 09:26 AM
If we were to rip the Sony Linux off there, and put it on our computers with Blu-Ray drives, we could have Playstation games running natively in Linux? :)

the only chance would be if you have a cell processor in your linux computer, and very similar other hardware (graphics card etc). even then it wont 'just work'.

also a lot of video works with out the w32codecs. i think even the most recent wmv has an open source codec now.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 15th, 2006, 12:40 PM
still no screenshots of ubuntu? :(
I heard something that the usual PPC image needs to be patched, anyone tried that?
wbr Shin Gouki

RTB-UK
November 15th, 2006, 12:43 PM
Thats great news, would this mean you could use wine/cidega to run your pc games on a ps3?

Shin_Gouki2501
November 15th, 2006, 01:20 PM
no or at least "only" Cell Power is available, RSX Hardware Acceleration is currently disabled.
Use it as typewriter , media center, InternetBrowser , Small Office. And some Emus(SNES, PSX maybe).
But do not think to play ur PC Games on PS3. The old ones for sure.

But in cases of e.g. WoW or soem current shotters.. just rty getting the PS3 version instead , this might run better ;)
wbr Shin Gouki

Terracotta
November 15th, 2006, 05:02 PM
no or at least "only" Cell Power is available, RSX Hardware Acceleration is currently disabled.
Use it as typewriter , media center, InternetBrowser , Small Office. And some Emus(SNES, PSX maybe).
But do not think to play ur PC Games on PS3. The old ones for sure.

But in cases of e.g. WoW or soem current shotters.. just rty getting the PS3 version instead , this might run better ;)
wbr Shin Gouki
Why would anyone want to play pc games on a ps3, it is a game console...

Gargamella
November 15th, 2006, 05:07 PM
it is quite logical, because a MS operating system would mean give money to XBOX manufacturers and this may have take them in mind this great feature: using a linux OS.

easyease
November 15th, 2006, 07:56 PM
The sony corporation doing linux a favour! damn cool.

ago
November 15th, 2006, 10:24 PM
And it's not going to be a good media center either since it's PPC and the w32codecs won't work on that.

That's a big advantage...

ago
November 15th, 2006, 10:37 PM
IF it will be legal to install Linux to the PS3, it will be a major help for Linux for the following reasons:


Huge deployment base (50+ millions)
The hardware is "standard" so it should be possible to make a distro that "just works", if installation is also easy (=no ISO), the idea of trying Linux will become quite compelling for many millions of new users.
It will probably be possible to do some sort of dual-boot and play Sony games. This should address the concerns of the people that have avoided Linux because of lack of game support
The hardware is generally sold below cost, since the console industry adopts the gilette strategy, so if you are not into games, you should be able to get a nice PC quite cheaply
MS cannot really respond to that, the best they can do is allow the 360 users to activate PC functionality, but in this case Linux will have a second platform that can be used for deployment..
It will enhance development of set-top-boxes (mythtv/freevo/elisa...), which is an important sector for disseminating open codecs and standards and fighting DRM.


The problem is that it might not be legal to install Linux and/or difficult (hardware mod?). Moreover I am not sure what is the situation of fritz-chip & co in the PS3 and what impact might that have...

jc87
November 15th, 2006, 11:05 PM
IF it will be legal to install Linux to the PS3, it will be a major help for Linux for the following reasons:


Huge deployment base (50+ millions)
The hardware is "standard" so it should be possible to make a distro that "just works", if installation is also easy (=no ISO), the idea of trying Linux will become quite compelling for many millions of new users.
It will probably be possible to do some sort of dual-boot and play Sony games. This should address the concerns of the people that have avoided Linux because of lack of game support
The hardware is generally sold below cost, since the console industry adopts the gilette strategy, so if you are not into games, you should be able to get a nice PC quite cheaply
MS cannot really respond to that, the best they can do is allow the 360 users to activate PC functionality, but in this case Linux will have a second platform that can be used for deployment..
It will enhance development of set-top-boxes (mythtv/freevo/elisa...), which is an important sector for disseminating open codecs and standards and fighting DRM.


The problem is that it might not be legal to install Linux and/or difficult (hardware mod?). Moreover I am not sure what is the situation of fritz-chip & co in the PS3 and what impact might that have...

Actually Sony is encouraging Gnu/Linux in the PS3, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_3#Linux

ago
November 15th, 2006, 11:10 PM
Well this is VERY good news...

Now we have OLPC + PS3 + cheap Chinese PCs in a matchbox...

The next 2-3 years are certainly going to be interesting ones...

Gaweph
November 15th, 2006, 11:37 PM
The hardware is generally sold below cost, since the console industry adopts the gilette strategy, so if you are not into games, you should be able to get a nice PC quite cheaply



This is a very good point. For the price, the hardware you get is amazing, once you install a flavour (ubuntu of course), you have a high spec computer, that can also play the latest console games. Best of both worlds - best of all, MS is not involved at all...

Will make Bill so angry, i love it!!

Velotix
November 16th, 2006, 01:18 AM
If you nose around on gaming websites you'll find most people predicting that the PS3 will be a massive failure, and I was heartily going to agree with them until I saw this announcement. Now I'm not so sure. It seems that Sony are going to try to adopt a brand-new audience at the cost of alienating most of their old one, but this shouldn't adversely affect them.

As to the question of PS3 games being usable on PCs: that's completely impossible right now: Cell's a triple-core CPU. The Core 2 Quad would make it feasible though, it having four cores, were it not for the fact that Cell is based on PowerPC architecture, making its closest PC relative the Mac.

Incidentally, the specifications for PS3 Linux are here (http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/apps.shtml), and the FAQ is here (http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/faq/ps3-general.shtml).

Is Yellow Dog new or is it established already? What's it like compared to Ubuntu?

EDIT: Looks like it uses neither GNOME nor KDE, but E17: info here (http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/e17/).

kuja
November 16th, 2006, 02:17 AM
... As to the question of PS3 games being usable on PCs: that's completely impossible right now: Cell's a triple-core CPU. The Core 2 Quad would make it feasible though, it having four cores, were it not for the fact that Cell is based on PowerPC architecture, making its closest PC relative the Mac. ...

Not quite:


This Cell configuration will have one POWER processing element (PPE) on the core, with eight physical SPEs in silicon: one SPE is locked-out during the manufacturing test process—a practice which helps to improve yields—leaving seven SPEs operational in PS3 software.

bilange
November 16th, 2006, 02:30 AM
The problem is that it might not be legal to install Linux and/or difficult (hardware mod?). Moreover I am not sure what is the situation of fritz-chip & co in the PS3 and what impact might that have...

I'm not sure how Sony is gonna let us boot and use Linux, but I suppose that for now its gonna work from a LiveCD. How can Sony know we booted Linux over a disk? As far as I know most LiveCD environments are mounted read-only (no changes are made to the hard disk), so there's no way to know. My point is: since we dont touch the hardware at all (no voiding the warranty here), this should be quite legal.

And about the Fritz-chip (TPM)... Actually, do we care? Do we have to use these chips? Since it seems possible to boot a Linux CD quite easily (with a smallish patch), I assume we don't really need those protections to go on with our linux world.

How about this: let Sony take care about the media center and gaming part, and we could concentrate on changing the PS3 to surf online like we would do with an ordinary PC. (Then go on about our dreams to crush some Redmond company. ;) )

Velotix
November 16th, 2006, 02:44 AM
Not quite:
This Cell configuration will have one POWER processing element (PPE) on the core, with eight physical SPEs in silicon: one SPE is locked-out during the manufacturing test process—a practice which helps to improve yields—leaving seven SPEs operational in PS3 software.

So, in short, it has one processor dedicated to manage another seven dedicated math processors behind the scenes?!

Yikes.

ago
November 16th, 2006, 10:41 AM
I'm not sure how Sony is gonna let us boot and use Linux

I was being over-cautious, apparently there is even an option in the menu to install an OS, so it is certainly legal

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/osinstall.html


And about the Fritz-chip (TPM)... Actually, do we care?
If they work at Bios level then yes, it might be an issue. But I have no clue how fritz-chips are supposed to work and what is the implementation in the PS3.

That said I think this is a major opportunity. With a huge user base (50M?) of fairly homogeneous systems, the playstation might become the single most important platform for Linux desktops... By far... Yes there are far more PCs around but:

PCs are VERY heterogeneous in terms of hardware, while the PS3 setup is VERY predictable. If you get one PS3 working properly, you can have all the other 50M working without a hitch = zero hardware surprises = "just works" system = let's crack the Linux myths. This is as close as as we can get to OEM pre-installed systems...
it is not easy to install a second OS (you need to repartition, while in the PS3 you have a menu item to do just that)
you already have an OS in your PC therefore installing a new one is not that compelling, you do not have desktop-oriented OS in the PS3, so installing one makes a lot of sense (can you see the kids pulling that to justify the purchase to their parents?)

Therefore, IF installation is easy (ideally without ISO) the percentage of adoption of Linux on the PS3 will be far higher than on PC. This means several millions of users, and Ubuntu could get the lion share with a dedicated distro...

Shin_Gouki2501
November 16th, 2006, 12:32 PM
"Why would anyone want to play pc games on a ps3, it is a game console..."
@Terracotta
With PS3 or more generally the definition of "PC -Games" becomes quite inapropriate.
Example:
Developper X creates a Game now he chooses the platforms to publish his game.
The Port to a "console" might be actually a damn nice idea ,because? The hardware is unique!
If u plug in tio the PS3 a ekyboar + mouse and a DVI TFT Monitor, dont tell me u would ever miss the PC?
U dont need to install, Games runs smooth right of the Media, thats so damn nice!
U dont have to install DX , gfx drivers or what so ever!
just put it in and game!
Man think about that , even strategy and adventure Games no prob!
SO again plz tell me were u would miss the PC in Gaming context?

"Why would anyone want to play pc games on a ps3, it is a game console..."
I Totally a gree with that, now we just need to convice the officals(ubuntu distr) to support PS3 Linux as soon as possible to a maximum extend!
Man im so damn excited!


wbr Shin Gouki

ago
November 16th, 2006, 12:49 PM
Those are the instructions on how to install an OS on the PS3

Insert the disc or storage media that contains the installer in the system.

Select (System Settings) under (Settings) in the home menu.

Select [Install Other OS].
The system searches for the installer. When the installer is found, its content and location will be displayed.

Check the content of the installer, and then select [OK].
The installer starts. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the operation.

To start the newly installed system software, go to (Settings) > (System Settings) > [Default System], and then select [Other OS] to restart the system.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 17th, 2006, 12:49 PM
i just noticed from todays news that sony is still in the run to make Linux possibl to run it on PS3!
According to here :
http://ps3.qj.net/PS3-Linux-Addon-CD-Released-We-re-almost-there-/pg/49/aid/72987
Now Sony has done quite a lot, but still the "OtherOS" Loader is missing.
IMO Sony did a nice job until now i think that when PS3 starts in the US , Linux support should be a resonable thought.
so i'm waiting for the 18.11, uh thats already tomorrow :O
I hope Sony gets the Other OS installer ready this weekend , that would be so damn nice!
wbr Shin Gouki

Mongoose
November 18th, 2006, 12:02 AM
I see some confusion here, and thought I could help. I'll post some quick facts about development on PS3.

1. I see a lot of people saying Sony uses 'some werid API for this and that' all the time.

In fact the toolchain is based around gcc using a form of ELF executable format. Graphics are mostly done on the RSX with OpenGL ES and the well known Cg language from Nvidia. You can even use pthreads if you wish with your application/game. On the other hand SPURS is provided to help manage the complex task of SPE task/job management. Without SPURS you're just writing directly to the SPE, and doing things which make your software hard to work with other products like Havok. This isn't something that's bad, but you won't see it on other platforms for the reason it's made for Cell specific streaming. =)

2. Can you play PS3 games on a Linux PPC box?

No, you can't. You can't even play the games on a Cell workstation, since the RSX and other devices in the PS3 are only on the PS3. If you want to play PS3 games -- get a PS3. =)

3. Can I do homebrew on PS3 _in Linux_?

Yes, you can write games for you PPC distro w/o hardware acceleration. I hope they make a hobbyist driver to let you at least use OpenGL ES and 'raw' SPUs on the device. I don't know if there are any plans for this. The last time I was in contact with SCE things like this weren't even on the radar as you can imagine with launch coming. Hell I'd be happy to have an SPU in PS3 Linux just to do huge audio sampling demos. ;)

I will say SCEA and SCEE did a good job with PS2Linux RTE, so I'm taking a wait and see. I don't know if people will want to develop games for the Linux OS on PS3 anyway if given a choice to write to the main OS of the consle. However, it'll be fun to make your PS3 into a DVR! =)

ago
November 18th, 2006, 12:17 AM
This guys are serious, the OtherOS installer is out, so it is now possible to install Linux on a PS3.

http://ps3.qj.net/PS3-Linux-The-void-has-been-filled-Full-install-instructions-for-Fedora-Core-5-/pg/49/aid/73144

Here there is an official website dedicated to it

http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html

ago
November 18th, 2006, 12:21 AM
My only rant is that the installation procedure does not seem to be that simple, and that will discourage several million users.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 18th, 2006, 12:51 AM
Still easier then on most PCs i guess :P
wbr Shin Gouki
btw: the link u posted 2 other people posted before ( including me ;) )

kcy29581
November 18th, 2006, 02:39 PM
So, to install Ubuntu on the PS3... Ubuntu devs need to make a kboot file?

Shin_Gouki2501
November 18th, 2006, 03:42 PM
i'm not too sure acording to the source mentionen above u can use the "usual" ubuntu PPC image and just something out of the PS3 Linux Addon CD -> kboot.bld file.
And the rest should beasically work same way as depicted in the source. nice?


hmm btw, does anyone know if theres exist a JDK/JRE for the Cell Platform?

wbr Shin Gouki

compholio
November 20th, 2006, 07:34 AM
<snip> I hope they make a hobbyist driver to let you at least use OpenGL ES and 'raw' SPUs on the device. <snip>

The PS3 uses an nVidia graphics card, while nVidia has superb x86 and x86-64 support for Linux they have yet to make a PPC driver: http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html

Now, this may spur nVidia to support PPC but I'm not holding my breath.

Mongoose
November 20th, 2006, 07:55 AM
It is possible to develop for the SPUs given the IBM SDKs for the CELL workstations, but as I haven't seen the RTE for PS3 I have no idea if you *can. I heard a rumor it looks like you can. I'm unsure how that's supposed to work if you don't have access to SPURS or even a way of know which SPEs 'not to touch'. We'll have to wait and see what yellow dog drums up I guess. =)

I suppose it's also possible to make a driver for the GPU, however it might be outside the RTE provided to do so -- if you remember PS2Linux and the issues involved where some people wanted to 'get out of the box'.

Edit: Dug up some stuff!

Patches and some example PS3Linux code:
http://www.powerdeveloper.org/playstation.php

Articles on CELL development:
http://www.cellperformance.com/articles/

IBM CELL Broadband Engine ( related ):
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/edu/pa-dw-pa-cellide.html?S_TACT=105AGX16?ca=drs-tp4506

LDY Packages:
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/included/

Edit2:

Hypervisor info
http://felter.org/wesley/files/ps3/linux-20061110-docs/LinuxKernelOverview.html

aleska
November 20th, 2006, 08:17 PM
Linux on a console is cool and all, but it's not like it's going to be a good desktop computer with only 256MB RAM. And it's not going to be a good media center either since it's PPC and the w32codecs won't work on that. I'm sure we'll get some neat emulators and homebrew games, though.

Thanks for bringing this up...this was my exact question; could ps3 be a great home media pc. I didn't realize that the PPC version of ubuntu wouldn't enable you to install all the media drivers / codecs you could in standard x86 ubuntu. So, if you are right, this really bums me out, b/c I was really hoping that the ps3 could be a great home media pc, and play all my network stored video, etc. At $600, for a "high-end" media pc, I was thinking yipee! Too bad... :(

daynah
November 20th, 2006, 09:29 PM
If we were to rip the Sony Linux off there, and put it on our computers with Blu-Ray drives, we could have Playstation games running natively in Linux? :)

Would it be so much ripping Sony off to do that? They don't make money off of the system (like Nintendo does), they make money off of the games. So if we some how got blu-ray drives, did some fancy coding work and ran the ps3 cds in our computers... Sony would be getting paid, Blu-Ray would be getting paid, the maker of the contoler would be getting paid, but anyone else wouldn't be.

...I don't have a moral problem with it.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 21st, 2006, 09:31 AM
I think many people strangly get into a bad mood here . For me Linux on the PS3 is a nice thing BUT Ubuntu on PS3 would even more impressive.
All people here complain that 256 RAM is not enough...it is! The hardware will be stable for many years. Projects like FluxBox or XFCE show that little ram is needed to do cool things. I think the PS3 is a great Option/Chance for Linux.
And this would include also ubuntu!
It would be a shame to not support this platform . Imagine the fairly possibilitys!
The Devs at Ubuntu can test exatctly the hardware! Therer will be no diffrence between their and ur home system!
Speed/Simplicity/Accessibility stable Drivers-Apps u get it all!

We just have to think positive i think :D
wbr Shin Gouki

slimdog360
November 21st, 2006, 11:13 AM
they already have fodora core 5 on the ps3

http://dl.qj.net/PS3-Linux-Addon-Disc-PlayStation-3/pg/12/fid/11308/catid/514

steven8
November 21st, 2006, 12:04 PM
Fluxbuntu is beginning to work on a ps3 version:

http://fluxbuntu.org/

Shin_Gouki2501
November 21st, 2006, 12:33 PM
I see... as i said i'm waiting for the first pic to show , running ubuntu on PS3!
wbr Shin Gouki

Yogarine
November 22nd, 2006, 12:14 PM
I submitted a spec about running Ubuntu on the PS3 yesterday: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PS3Compatibility

The wiki page contains everything I have learned so far about running Ubuntu on the PS3.

If anyone discoveres anything, help out!

Shin_Gouki2501
November 22nd, 2006, 01:02 PM
Thats nice we should also make a poll or petition to show the devs how many people , how badly want ubuntu on PS3 :D
wbr Shin Gouki

kcy29581
November 22nd, 2006, 01:40 PM
If we compiled a PS3 compatible kernel and put this in the /install/powerpc64 folder (removing the old vmlinux) would this boot the installation? What is responsible for the installation program to start? initrd.gz?

zcal
November 22nd, 2006, 02:45 PM
I'm speechless. I couldn't have dreamed of this sort of thing coming along so quickly in the PS3's lifespan. Sounds like the hardest thing about turning your console into your home computer at this point is just getting ahold of the damn thing. :rolleyes:

Shin_Gouki2501
November 22nd, 2006, 04:11 PM
I'm noot too sure what still is needed to fullfill this:
http://ps3.qj.net/PS3-Linux-The-void-has-been-filled-Full-install-instructions-for-Fedora-Core-5-/pg/49/aid/73144
sadly i do not have a PS3
so that i can toy arround with the current ubuntu PPC image.. :/
Comon!
There have to be people here on the forums which own a PS3 AND are ubuntu fans? ^^
wbr Shin Gouki

kcy29581
November 22nd, 2006, 04:13 PM
I have a PS3 (test kit) but no idea how to continue...

Kittie Rose
November 22nd, 2006, 10:20 PM
Why is this so impressive? For $600, a decent amount of knowledge and a little luck, you could probably build a gaming PC that's nearly as powerful and run Ubuntu on that.

Ubuntu on Wii, now that would be much better...

Shin_Gouki2501
November 22nd, 2006, 11:57 PM
May be but since nintendo don't intend to do so its off topic ;)

Dual Cortex
November 23rd, 2006, 12:11 AM
Why is this so impressive? For $600, a decent amount of knowledge and a little luck, you could probably build a gaming PC that's nearly as powerful and run Ubuntu on that.

Ubuntu on Wii, now that would be much better...


Unless a little luck is stealing a couple of X6800s and 8800GTXs or something similar, for $600 you cannot build a PC that's even a third as powerful as the PS3.

Although drivers for rsx are still to be developed...

Shin_Gouki2501
November 23rd, 2006, 10:32 AM
sadly i have to disagree with u, its not that "no" drivers are available for the RSX on PS3 Linux. Sonys uses a certain Virtual strategy to build upon Linux ON TOP of the PS3 Firmware, and they decided NOT to grant 3D or even 2D Acceleration Acces to the RSX Chip. Just some Plain FRamebuffer Access for _very_basic_ Display Methodes.

And if u think a bit , u might imagine that Sony will NEVER, ever give Acces to the RSX Hardware. Why should they? Remember PS3 Price is sponsored! Its out of question that they wont hurt themselfs!

Even if somehow someone manges to code RSX Drivers. From the PS3 Linux point of view in terms of Hardware it runs on a cell maschine with an(comparable) GFX card wich uses Shared RAM! GOt that?
It wont change UNLESS u would crack the PS3's Firmware, good luck with that ;)

Ah wait there is a third Option!Sony Allows access to the RSX but u have to pay licence fees.

I stick happy arround with what sony offers me and wait for ubuntu running on the Box.

wbr Shin Gouki

Yogarine
November 23rd, 2006, 12:17 PM
sadly i have to disagree with u, its not that "no" drivers are available for the RSX on PS3 Linux. Sonys uses a certain Virtual strategy to build upon Linux ON TOP of the PS3 Firmware, and they decided NOT to grant 3D or even 2D Acceleration Acces to the RSX Chip. Just some Plain FRamebuffer Access for _very_basic_ Display Methodes.

And if u think a bit , u might imagine that Sony will NEVER, ever give Acces to the RSX Hardware. Why should they? Remember PS3 Price is sponsored! Its out of question that they wont hurt themselfs!

Even if somehow someone manges to code RSX Drivers. From the PS3 Linux point of view in terms of Hardware it runs on a cell maschine with an(comparable) GFX card wich uses Shared RAM! GOt that?
It wont change UNLESS u would crack the PS3's Firmware, good luck with that ;)

Ah wait there is a third Option!Sony Allows access to the RSX but u have to pay licence fees.

I stick happy arround with what sony offers me and wait for ubuntu running on the Box.

wbr Shin Gouki

Although the GPU is connected directly to CBE, no direct access by guest OSes to the GPU is allowed currently.
- http://felter.org/wesley/files/ps3/linux-20061110-docs/LinuxKernelOverview.html

imo they are going to allow GPU access in the future, probably through a firmware update. The problem is possibly that they still need to prepare the hypervisor to properly virtualize the GPU instructions... Then they need to create linux modules / X drivers for the virtualized device, which is quite a lot of work.

I don't think they really worry about hurting themselves by allowing access to the RSX... Windows games wont run through Wine since it isn't i386-based, so that leaves a handfull of good 3D games for Linux like Warsow and Tremulous. Not really a big deal to Sony I think.

btw, those games will run properly even without the RSX through software Mesa OpenGL. They won't look as good but still...

And remember: just to create a good-looking HD model for use in PS3 games takes lots and lots of man-hours, $$$, and decent modelling software.

Trust me, Sony isn't worried by homebrew game developers having access to the RSX. Perhaps they're underestimating Open Source game development, but nevertheless, they're not worried. So I believe they will allow access to the RSX in the future.

kcy29581
November 23rd, 2006, 02:51 PM
Guys, I have a plan, but not sure how to complete all the steps.

The Gentoo folk may have found out how to install Gentoo on the PS3 http://whitesanjuro.googlepages.com/home
But this works because Gentoo, by design, has a filesystem (os) compressed into stages (stage 3 in this case), and they uncompress this into a chroot and simply work from there.

I'm currently burning the ppc64 gentoo cd, so I can install gentoo on a partition. Then from there, use debootstrap to install Ubuntu on another partition.

So the proposed steps are:
1) Make the following partitions on the PS3:
/dev/sda1 (swap)
/dev/sda2 (Gentoo)
/dev/sda3 (Ubuntu)
2) Install Gentoo using the above website as a guideline.
3) install debootstrap and use this to install Ubuntu on /dev/sda3.
4) configure the Linux bootloader so that it loads Ubuntu.

This would all be a lot simpler if 1 could:
1) Either use debootstrap from kboot, without having to install Gentoo first,
2) or if there is a way to uncompress an existing distribution (Ubuntu) on a chroot-ed partition, life would be easier.

Any ideas or help would be great

Shin_Gouki2501
November 23rd, 2006, 04:16 PM
what is this : chroot-ed partition?
DO u think u could copy the ubuntu install just onto the PS3 formated harddrive?

Sadly i'm not too good at this low level stuff. But also i think this is some kind of inapropriate place to discuss! In facts this should go right to the PPC forums?
I bet there are plenty of people in these forums who know how to solve this problem we just have to find them ^^
wbr Shin Gouki

Zachstar
November 24th, 2006, 03:48 AM
Any new progress on Ubuntu for PS3?

If someone does get the unoptimized 6.10 on PS3 please post photos and youtube/google video.

tworkemon
November 28th, 2006, 06:13 AM
Lets get this going ;) *bump*

Yogarine
November 28th, 2006, 12:54 PM
I think the problem currently is that there are too few Ubuntu users that have a PS3... And those that do are probably too busy playing Resistence: Fall of Man. ;)

Anyway, I'm getting my PS3 in June next year. (100% sure - I'll have the money by then, and my friend in Holland is going to take it with him when he comes to visit me here in Brazil.) I hope someone will allready have Ubuntu running on the PS3 by then... ;-)

Anyway, remember, if anyone find out anything, share it with us:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PS3Compatibility

Ciego
November 28th, 2006, 04:24 PM
I just received my PS3 last night and will be attempting to install Ubuntu as soon as I can figure out the whole bootloader issue. It seems like that is the only piece of the puzzle that is missing.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 28th, 2006, 06:03 PM
Now That sounds good! :)
wbr Shin Gouki

civilian
November 28th, 2006, 06:10 PM
Haha! Take that Microsoft, its a good move from the sony side, but you have to consider that they will be getting something out of this, they wouldn't do it otherwise. Do you see how many more people would want a ps3 simply because it can operate on opensource software, its convincing to me so I would think I wouldn't be the only one that would consider one just because of this.

Mongoose
November 29th, 2006, 04:04 AM
http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/pipermail/yellowdog-announce/2006-November/000135.html

YDL for PS3 came out yesterday offically. Haven't seen anyone talk about it. =)

Mongoose
November 29th, 2006, 04:06 AM
I wonder why no one has started an OpenGL ES 1.1 implementation on SPE yet. That's sure to be a killer feature for the kids. ;)

Shin_Gouki2501
November 29th, 2006, 09:17 AM
hm right that would be a nice example i guess. I have a friend which is quite good in OpenGL/Dx but he dont have a PS3 and it will take some time(March) till there is PS3 here available.
so :/
So which one of u of u with a PS3 gives NX/SSH access to their PS3 to try it out ;) j/k
wbr Shin Gouki

Yogarine
November 29th, 2006, 03:36 PM
I've done some researching and this is what I found out so far:

You need to install the kboot bootloader with the OtherOS installer that you can download at http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/. I first figured that you would need a modified kboot image especially built for Ubuntu, but it seems the one that comes on the PS3 Linux Addon CD will also work. (Though it isn't preconfigured to run the kernel from the Ubuntu CD and so you'll have to enter some boot commands manually.)

We need to compile the Linux kernel for PS3 and modify an Ubuntu Alternate CD ISO to add this kernel. (Else, the installer won't even be able to run.) Then burn this ISO to a CD.

So then, once you have installed kboot on your PS3, you can use it to boot the kernel directly from the modified Ubuntu CD, with the boot options that will make it run the Ubuntu installer... I hope you people got the idea, if not, feel free to ask.

kcy29581
November 29th, 2006, 05:50 PM
I've done some researching and this is what I found out so far:

You need to install the kboot bootloader with the OtherOS installer that you can download at http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/. I first figured that you would need a modified kboot image especially built for Ubuntu, but it seems the one that comes on the PS3 Linux Addon CD will also work. (Though it isn't preconfigured to run the kernel from the Ubuntu CD and so you'll have to enter some boot commands manually.)

We need to compile the Linux kernel for PS3 and modify an Ubuntu Alternate CD ISO to add this kernel. (Else, the installer won't even be able to run.) Then burn this ISO to a CD.

So then, once you have installed kboot on your PS3, you can use it to boot the kernel directly from the modified Ubuntu CD, with the boot options that will make it run the Ubuntu installer... I hope you people got the idea, if not, feel free to ask.
Yogarine,

I figured this out as well, but what is the best way to remaster the Alternate CD? I had a quick look at UCK and Reconstructor, but have no idea how to carry on...

Yogarine
November 29th, 2006, 09:14 PM
Yogarine,

I figured this out as well, but what is the best way to remaster the Alternate CD? I had a quick look at UCK and Reconstructor, but have no idea how to carry on...
Here's a nice guide at how to customize an Ubuntu CD:
http://www.atworkonline.it/~bibe/ubuntu/custom-livecd.htm

Though this is for live CD... On the Alternate CD you don't need to mess with any SquasFS filesystem. Keep that in mind.

Here's the deal: you need to prepare a cross compiling environment, then compile the kernel on your PC using make-kpkg, then overwrite the vmlinuz and initrd.gz in the /install dir on the CD image with the ones you compiled.
A more profesional way is to add the kernel package to the pool on the CD and modifying the manifest and package files... But forget that for now. ;-P

After remastering the ISO, you boot up in kboot, and from the kboot prompt type:

<device>:/install/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-server.seed initrd=/install/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=16384 root=/dev/ram rw quiet --
Where <device> is the devicename of your Blu-ray drive. This seems to be 'cdrom', but I'm not sure. You might have to do a 'mount' to find out the proper device.

This should start the Ubuntu installation.

You'll also need to figure out how to install the PS3 Linux kernel package to the installed system after installation. I figure you can use the Alternate CD to enter the system through rescue mode and then just copy the package and install it through dpkg.

I'm going to build the kernel tonight, when I'm done I'll upload the package on my site for you people to download and experiment. I'll also try to write some proper instructions on how to modify the ISO.

I hope you're still with me, I'm not good at explaining these things. Just ask if you don't get it. :p

Ciego
November 29th, 2006, 09:26 PM
Here's the deal: you need to prepare a cross compiling environment, then compile the kernel on your PC using make-kpkg, then overwrite the vmlinuz and initrd.gz in the /install dir on the CD image with the ones you compiled.
A more profesional way is to add the kernel package to the pool on the CD and modifying the manifest and package files... But forget that for now. ;-P

I am not sure that I understand the part below ... it seems to me like that is what was already accomplished in the part above. What am I missing here?



You'll also need to figure out how to install the PS3 Linux kernel package to the installed system after installation. I figure you can use the Alternate CD to enter the system through rescue mode and then just copy the package and install it through dpkg.



Here's a nice guide at how to customize an Ubuntu CD:
http://www.atworkonline.it/~bibe/ubu...tom-livecd.htm

Though this is for live CD... On the Alternate CD you don't need to mess with any SquasFS filesystem. Keep that in mind.

Does that mean that we can skip steps 2-5 and 7-8 of the instructions that you linked?

tworkemon
November 29th, 2006, 09:44 PM
Doesnt the PPC kernel already support the ps3 ?? Why not use that ?? I am a strong supporter of Ubuntu on the PS3 !!!!

Johnsie
November 29th, 2006, 09:53 PM
Looking forward to seeing this in action. Tomorrow I'm going to be fixing my dreamcast resisitor and trying out dreamcast linux.

PapaWiskas
November 29th, 2006, 10:04 PM
Yeah....well I am going to be loading DSL on my Atari 2600. So there!

Yogarine
November 29th, 2006, 11:12 PM
I am not sure that I understand the part below ... it seems to me like that is what was already accomplished in the part above. What am I missing here?
Just forget all about that. :p Don't worry, I'll write a really nice and clear howto tomorrow, when I have everything worked out.


Does that mean that we can skip steps 2-5 and 7-8 of the instructions that you linked?
You can skip steps 3 to 8.


Doesnt the PPC kernel already support the ps3 ?? Why not use that ?? I am a strong supporter of Ubuntu on the PS3 !!!!
Well the PPC kernel would perhaps almost support the PS3 if the PS3 wouldn't run Linux virtualized. Even if the Linux kernel had direct acess then it still wouldn't be 100% compatible. The Cell is just a little too different from a usual PowerPC.

tworkemon
November 29th, 2006, 11:29 PM
Cant wait !!!!

Shin_Gouki2501
November 30th, 2006, 01:33 PM
me too!
there exsist some utube Videos from ydl running on PS3, quite impressive!!
wbr Shin Gouki

JackandJohn
November 30th, 2006, 05:23 PM
I can't wait to see some nice, beefy, 1080p XGL action... MMMMMMM


Now if on y the ps3 was cheap enough and plentiful enough for all the good devs to get one ;)

Dual Cortex
November 30th, 2006, 05:33 PM
I still wonder how the graphics compare against a PC vid card with proper drivers on Fedora/etc., since the PS3 is currently only able to run on the VESA driver.

Ciego
November 30th, 2006, 05:37 PM
It will be very nice if we ever get the nvidia drivers to work ... without them, I don't think that all the 3D eye candy type stuff will work.

Shin_Gouki2501
November 30th, 2006, 07:10 PM
why u want eye candy like XGL? XMB is better :P and build in ^^
I always argue:
All i say is that people should not expect that this Ps3 Linux was made for "PC" gaming on PS3.

If u want to play a Game get the PS3 Version, If u want to play emu games and do some Office Itnernet coding what ever use Linux on PS3. IMO


IMO i want to use the PS3 for certain things like, email when my gfs want to use my PC but i wont let her :P
Also E17 didn't look too bad IMO :)
wbr Shin Gouki

tworkemon
December 3rd, 2006, 06:02 AM
If anyone does manage to do this... Please have SDTV support for some of us less fortunate people who are not able to buy a HDTV yet. Some of the others OS that works with PS3 have very limited Resolutions/Aspect Ratios support for SDTV.

zs9
December 3rd, 2006, 03:16 PM
I heard that there is some plan to drop PPC support.
It would make PS3 support also gone....

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SavePPC

tworkemon
December 5th, 2006, 05:25 PM
Here's a nice guide at how to customize an Ubuntu CD:
http://www.atworkonline.it/~bibe/ubuntu/custom-livecd.htm

Though this is for live CD... On the Alternate CD you don't need to mess with any SquasFS filesystem. Keep that in mind.

Here's the deal: you need to prepare a cross compiling environment, then compile the kernel on your PC using make-kpkg, then overwrite the vmlinuz and initrd.gz in the /install dir on the CD image with the ones you compiled.
A more profesional way is to add the kernel package to the pool on the CD and modifying the manifest and package files... But forget that for now. ;-P

After remastering the ISO, you boot up in kboot, and from the kboot prompt type:

<device>:/install/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu-server.seed initrd=/install/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=16384 root=/dev/ram rw quiet --
Where <device> is the devicename of your Blu-ray drive. This seems to be 'cdrom', but I'm not sure. You might have to do a 'mount' to find out the proper device.

This should start the Ubuntu installation.

You'll also need to figure out how to install the PS3 Linux kernel package to the installed system after installation. I figure you can use the Alternate CD to enter the system through rescue mode and then just copy the package and install it through dpkg.

I'm going to build the kernel tonight, when I'm done I'll upload the package on my site for you people to download and experiment. I'll also try to write some proper instructions on how to modify the ISO.

I hope you're still with me, I'm not good at explaining these things. Just ask if you don't get it. :p

Yogarine, any updates on this ?? Cant wait to try it out :D

dbbolton
December 5th, 2006, 06:55 PM
Wow.... So sony are actually embracing the ability for you to run your own linux on there?
'bout time

tworkemon
December 5th, 2006, 09:45 PM
You were able to have linux on the PS2 also. It just wasn't as popular/supported/embraced at the time.

Yogarine
December 5th, 2006, 11:35 PM
Just a quick status update:

I'm kinda trying to get cross-compilation to work properly ](*,), but I think I figured it out now. (Just waiting for GCC to compile once again. :-\")

As soon as I have compiled GCC I'll compile the kernel and then prepare a custom Alternate CD... Don't ask me when I'll be done though. ;)

tomei
December 5th, 2006, 11:39 PM
Nice, I can't wait to have Ubuntu on my PS3. Keep us updated.

tworkemon
December 6th, 2006, 05:34 AM
This persons claims to have done it. They installed xubuntu not sure how different it was to regular ubuntu.... I've also requested a HOWTO.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=313369

Ciego
December 7th, 2006, 04:32 AM
.

kcy29581
December 7th, 2006, 01:03 PM
It looks like Sony have merged their PS3-specific patches in the development release of the 2.6.20 kernel.

Hopefully this kernel will somehow be ready and released with Feisty. Time to look at Feisty's roadmap, and see when they freeze package changes!

Shin_Gouki2501
December 7th, 2006, 01:21 PM
yeah kernel 2.6.20
and lets hope they dont break support for PPC on ubuntu.. :/
wbr Shin Gouki

Shin_Gouki2501
December 10th, 2006, 01:47 PM
this is all we need i think: http://www.louiscandell.com/ps3/

When some guys of u got it going i , have some questions :D
wbr Shin Gouki

Ciego
December 10th, 2006, 09:19 PM
Can you please let us know how you can delete the Fedora installation after you have Ubuntu installed?


Sorry ....wrong thread.

ebryn
December 11th, 2006, 08:12 AM
To run Ubuntu off the PS3 hard drive just debootstrap back onto the hard drive after installing Ubuntu on a USB device/other partition.

Rather than reformat I left /etc/kboot.conf, /boot, and /lib/modules on the drive and deleted everything else. I'm still using the FC5 kernel.

I just finished bootstrapping feisty and now I'm installing the desktop packages.

Ciego
December 16th, 2006, 02:49 AM
For those interested, I created a thread for sharing PS3 aliases for the Playstation network.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=319528

inee
January 8th, 2007, 09:45 PM
hi,

its been maybe ten years since i've gone on a red hat terminal, so treat me as a noob.

im trying to install ubuntu onto the ps3. i got fedora and yellow dog running; but my ultimate goal is to get ubuntu and darwin on the machine. im running into several roadblocks and hope the more experienced members here can lead the way.

a guide for ubuntu on ps3 was written here:

http://louiscandell.com/ps3/

but it goes through several steps and requirements that i think we can skip. it requires that you install ubuntu on a usb hdd where you can partition it, PLUS, it also requires fedora as a base install, then cross-installing onto debian and then upgrading to ubuntu.

i want a simpler way where i can install ubuntu from kboot prompt with a dvd-rom installer ready.

keep in mind there are a few things that make the ps3 installation different:

1. the ps3 boots into kboot only. cannot boot from hdd and cannot boot from cdrom or usbdrive.

2. only 1 partition available: /dev/sda (i imagine parted can fix this)

3. ppc architecture



okay, some issues i want cleared.

1. can i modify kboot to load the cdrom such that i can install from the cdrom? if this is possible then i can just plug in the installer cd (whether ubuntu, osx, or darwin) and let it run its course.

2. can i do without partitioning the hdd? id imagine just making a /ubuntu folder and installing everything there. the guide above requires partitioning of the hdd which the ps3 does not allow by default (although yellow dog's druid was able to do it).

3. can kboot boot ubuntu instead of yaboot? in that case, can kboot boot darwin/osx too (darwin/osx requires bootx)?

4. i get this error:

w: failure trying to run: chroot /mnt/ubuntu mount -t proc proc /proc

after typing this:

/usr/sbin/debootstrap --arch powerpc edgy /mnt/ubuntu http://archive.ubuntulinux.org/ubuntu

specifically after "i: validating libatu1" step. what does that mean and how do i fix it?


this error happens after i chose "minimal fedora install". i dont get it when i choose the full install (2.5hrs wait); but the guide above states to use the minimal install.



all the help is greatly appreciated. hope i can get ubuntu running NATIVELY on the ps3 without an external usb hdd.

ceros
April 8th, 2007, 03:59 AM
I created a guide to installing Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu on the PS3 at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3. This installs feisty on the PS3 using current live CD builds from cdimage.ubuntu.com as of April 7th. The current CD builds have the kboot "otheros.bld" file located in the images as "/PS3/otheros/otheros.bld" making the use of external mediums to install kboot unnecessary.

Look at the guide for more details. I think this will make installing Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu on the PS3 newbie-proof.

Ciego
April 8th, 2007, 04:07 AM
I created a guide to installing Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu on the PS3 at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3. This installs feisty on the PS3 using current live CD builds from cdimage.ubuntu.com as of April 7th. The current CD builds have the kboot "otheros.bld" file located in the images as "/PS3/otheros/otheros.bld" making the use of external mediums to install kboot unnecessary.

Look at the guide for more details. I think this will make installing Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu on the PS3 newbie-proof.

Nice job. I will update this guide with the new instructions after the official release date.

Bobaf1
April 24th, 2007, 11:12 AM
I have heard that the wireless network in the ps3 will not work with linux, anyone that can verify/discredit this?

Ciego
April 24th, 2007, 01:27 PM
I have heard that the wireless network in the ps3 will not work with linux, anyone that can verify/discredit this?

This is correct. The wireless is not functioning yet on the Linux side of things.

zs9
May 21st, 2007, 03:32 AM
I heard WiFi is now supported.

For 2.6.16 kernel, user space and general info could be found
- ftp://ftp.infradead.org/pub/Sony-PS3/
- ftp://ftp.uk.linux.org/pub/linux/Sony-PS3

Latest kerenl could be get from.

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/geoff/ps3-linux.git;a=summary

Enjoy.

Bobaf1
May 22nd, 2007, 01:54 PM
I heard WiFi is now supported.

For 2.6.16 kernel, user space and general info could be found
- ftp://ftp.infradead.org/pub/Sony-PS3/
- ftp://ftp.uk.linux.org/pub/linux/Sony-PS3

Latest kerenl could be get from.

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/geoff/ps3-linux.git;a=summary

Enjoy.

How do I install this new kernel?
Are there any instructions available? and vill it work with Ubuntu?

stovenator
May 22nd, 2007, 02:12 PM
I just finished uploading instructions for the latest PS3 kernel to the Psubuntu Forums (http://psubuntu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342).

I compiled a kernel against the latest git repository, and created a deb package. It's a little complicated, but not too bad. Caveat emptor, as I know it's working for me, but it may not work for you.