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79 Comments
- tripzero, on 04/01/2009, -0/+30I wouldn't say "fully functional". Because of thy hypervisor Sony puts on hardware access to the GPU, etc, using the PS3 as a computer is a painful thing. It's just too slow until Sony/SomeHacker unlocks it.
Great HowTo though. I may have to try the sixaxis bluez package. - bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -0/+22Doesn't the PS3 have just 256MB of RAM too? My shoes have more RAM than that!
- bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -13/+31If there's one thing more pointless than installing Linux it's doing it on a machine that can't even run it properly.
- hogfoot, on 04/01/2009, -3/+18Never trust a howto posted on April Fool's Day.
- CLShortFuse, on 04/01/2009, -1/+15Buried for burying for ImgBurn.
ImgBurn rules! - P5ycHo, on 04/01/2009, -2/+15WRONG!!
A fully functional pc has GPU acceleration. - Snarfy, on 04/01/2009, -2/+14256MB of ram :(
- ileftfark, on 04/01/2009, -0/+10Umm... that's because the PC the guy was using was running Windows (note the "C:\Documents and Settings\"). So unless you want to install Cygwin to be able to install K3B or GnomeBaker to burn an .iso for the point of the tutorial, the only fail here is your own.
- jackflap, on 04/01/2009, -0/+10Very interesting.
But frankly, what I would really like to know is, can I install MythTV (or XBMC) and use the thing as a glorified media centre to watch DVD discs and stream DivXs over my network? - coheedcollapse, on 04/01/2009, -0/+9Has everyone forgotten about Yellow Dog Linux? They have a version specifically for PS3 that they apparently worked alongside with Sony to develop. It is even optimized for the cell processor. Back when I picked up my PS3 I tried it for a while and it ran decently. Would play videos through VLC and emulate all of the game systems that I could throw at it. No idea if they've updated it at all recently because I uninstalled it.
Not because it sucked or anything, I just have my PC connected to my TV via VGA cable anyway, so there's no need for Linux on my PS3. - Zcrubby, on 04/01/2009, -0/+7Nah it's 256MB RAM and 256MB VRAM, it's the Xbox 360 that has shared RAM
- feignNU, on 04/01/2009, -1/+7Because it's a cheap all-in-one media PC. Here's my setup:
Firewall/Gateway (gentoo)
Desktop (gentoo) running an NFS fileserver with all of my music and movies
Laptop (ubuntu)
PS3 (gentoo, so that I can compile any apps I want instead of being limited to only those that have been pre-compiled for the cell).
Phone (android)
Both the PS3 and the laptop automount the NFS shares, so that my media is transparently accessible on all of my machines. On top of this, my desktop and the PS3 are running Gmote servers (http://www.gmote.org/) so that I can remotely start and control music/movies on my TV or on my desktop with my phone. Gmote also lets me stream my media TO my phone, so I also have access to all of it remotely as well (no need to carry around an ipod AND a phone anymore, and I'm also not restricted by the storage capacity of my phone).
of course the NFS shares aren't just for media...I have my whole home directory shared so that I have easy, transparent access to all of my data regardless of what device I'm using. All of my programming projects, for example, live on my RAID array, but if I want to go to a coffee shop to do some work, I can just VPN to my network, and mount my NFS shares and suddenly everything is right there, just like I was at home.
Other fun projects that I have in the works include attaching a webcam to the PS3, the output of which can be streamed to any of my other computers, or to the internet. There's lots of fun to be had with this, from pranks to home-brewed video-conferencing on my 48-inch flat screen TV to a motion-activated "burglar alarm"...they sky's the limit really. Another option is to buy a cheap video capture card and install mythTV and set up a DIY DVR system.
Long story short: The advantage of turning your PS3 into a full-fledged computer is that when you have more than one computer, you can start making them TALK to each other, and that's where all the really fun stuff happens. - ArrakisDune, on 04/01/2009, -0/+6http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=1027 ...
Even though that was in late 2007, little has changed sadly. I just wish Sony would allow RSX access.
"So. Which of the three distributions above would I recommend? None of them. Not a single distro maintained a consistent, high-quality experience from installation to prolonged use. None of them is usable by your grandmother, or in most cases, by you. For the experienced Linux hacker, it's probably possible to beat some sense into these distributions (with Xubuntu probably closest to useful, when combined with the Petitboot boot loader used by openSUSE). But it's not a good choice - simply the least bad. " - bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -0/+5Gotta love how Sony claimed they would support and facilitate the installation of Linux and homebrew on the PS3 and then locked access to the juicy hardware down to the extent is pretty much useless unless you want to play old games on an emulator or some other reasonably boring activity.
- carlosos, on 04/01/2009, -0/+5Installing SuSE Linux is even easier on the PS3. You only need the otheros.bid from here:
http://powerpc.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo ...
and than you can just do a network install that gets all the required files from the Internet. (no need to burn a DVD/CD)
It is also stupid to install Ubuntu on the PS3 since Gnome (and KDE in case of Kbuntu) uses too much RAM. Use Xubuntu if you want a fast OS or use SuSE with XFCE selected. - inactive, on 04/01/2009, -3/+8If only the GPU could be unlocked for the PS3, it would be killer if EPSXE or PCXS2 were ported to PS3 and legitimately took advantage of the PS3 power to smooth out the jaggies and apply some anti-aliasing and trilinear filtering to the textures.
- oMega505, on 04/01/2009, -1/+6You can already do that (xvid, divx streaming) with no modification needed.
http://www.vuze.com/app
this is the torrent app formerly known as Azureus, it recently included streaming to Xbox360 and PS3 - Zoshchenko, on 04/01/2009, -0/+5After the novelty wears off, you'll uninstall it and let the PS3 go back to what it does best.
- strictnein, on 04/01/2009, -0/+4In reply to you:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Reply - jordanlund, on 04/01/2009, -3/+7While generally true, installing Linux on the PS3 has been widely known since the system came out.
I put Gutsy Gibbon on mine and there were two real problems with it:
1) It's slow as crap. Far slower than any PC running Ubuntu.
2) You had to use the PowerPC install files, which means that you can't install any modern apps on the machine. They don't run under the PowerPC code. - Gravey9, on 04/01/2009, -0/+4Whats the advantage of adding a Linux OS to a gaming console?
Honestly, I don't understand the hype, is it just to say you can do it? Or are there features that will make your console so much more than just a console with an OS?
I have a desktop and a laptop why do I want to turn my console into another computer?
Trying not to sound rude, so could someone reply and give me some credible usefulness for installing Linux on my PS3? :) thanks. - feignNU, on 04/01/2009, -1/+4"Sounds fun as a hobby project type thing but adds little value for 99% of users."
Right. I thought everyone realized that putting linux on a PS3 was a fun hobby project type thing that most users are going to have no inclination to do...
I guess the short answer to Gravey's question is, "If you can't think of anything useful to do with Linux on your PS3...you probably shouldn't bother doing it. But if you have some imagination I'm sure you can come up with something." - RoboDonut, on 04/01/2009, -0/+3Digg is filled with tech elitists. Having a newish computer doesn't make you any cooler than people with slightly older hardware. A computer without a dedicated graphics processor is still capable of most everyday tasks.
- adorkable81, on 04/01/2009, -0/+3Vuze is a piece of craps. I would never user Vuze, although Azureus is awesome. They should never combine a torrent apps with a streaming apps and I uninstalled Vuze the first 3 days I got it. Use the older version Azureus and uTorrent now
uhmmm, Windows Media works fine for me for PS3 streaming. Actually it works great after the PS3 firmware update 2 years ago.
Here's my current setup for PS3:
1. Video streaming using Windows Media Player (surprisingly great)
2. PlayOn Streaming for hulu, netflix, etc...
3. Orb for Media (music, photos, etc...)
Oh yeah, I play games occasionally - Azathothh, on 04/01/2009, -3/+6next on Digg:
How-To: Install Ubuntu and Linux Apps on Your Toaster - strictnein, on 04/01/2009, -1/+4I thought all Linux users were super smart? You need someone to hold your hand to turn your machine on, too?
- carlosos, on 04/01/2009, -1/+4Why do you need Boxee on the PS3 if the PS3 already has media center functions build in?
If you want to stream hulu or so than you can install PlayOn on one of your PCs that is supposed to stream the data.
http://www.themediamall.com/playon - bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -1/+4Sounds fun as a hobby project type thing but adds little value for 99% of users. Your electricity bill must be enormous though!
- CoolLinuxGuy, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2Sounds COOL!!
sudo apt-get install bread
sudo apt-get install butter
sudo toast...yum!! (oh wait...yum is for RPM distros) - bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -2/+4Why the hell would you digg this down, idiots?
- CookieCutter, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2last time i tried.. flash doesn't seem to work with Powerpc.. so no hulu. and definitely no silverlight
- vinbob, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2The cell processor is fully supported by the Linux kernel.
It's the PS3 GPU that is unavailable by to any OS other that the PS3 OS, this is by Sony's design.
Also the article is pointless as Ubuntu does not support an official PPC version, so if you do use Ubuntu PPC prepare to be disappointed with missing or out of date packages.
If you want to use your PS3 as a desktop computer, use Fedora 10 64bit for PPC instead. It is an officially supported distro and comes with open alternatives enabled by default such as the gnash plugin (as Flash is proprietory and is not available for PPC architectures)
The PS3 also only makes 512MB RAM available to secondary OSs so make sure you use a lightweight desktop environment such as XFCE, Fluxbox, Enlightenment etc. i.e not Gnome or KDE - mickstephenson, on 04/01/2009, -1/+3No the gpu was the deal breaker for me, when I got it I installed gentoo (the ppc ubuntu distro was completely borked for ps3 at the time), only to discover its basically crippled because of the lack of a gpu, but there was a glimmer of hope, the nouveau guys were working on a driver that could work with the hypervisor, sony got wind of it and closed it all up so they couldn't develop the driver. No idea why...
Seriously uncool considering part of the reason I got the PS3 was because of the linux support, could have been a great UPnP media server front end with XBMC, now I just have a lacklustre sony developed UPnP client. - P5ycHo, on 04/01/2009, -2/+4Wrong. It's 512.
The 256MB video ram is also addressable for normal operations. - feignNU, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2@panceman
gentoo + gmote works great for me. YMMV.
As for the iphone...I dunno, I don't have one. I'm sure you can make any smart phone work with the setup you create, but some of them might require more hacking around with than others.
I wish I could tell you more...but it's just something you have to play around and experiment with. Every situation and setup is unique, so there's not a lot I can really say except have fun with it. - carlosos, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2Flash works in the PS3 browser but has no silverlight (never needed silverlight).
- Remelox, on 04/02/2009, -0/+2Last I heard, PS3s are still sold at a rather large loss. But yes, if they could ever pass that barrier, they should start marketing it as a Linux box and remove all barriers to the consumer.
- bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2But the PS3 does this already so what's the point? Also, the GPU would be very useful for many things, not least decoding HD content.
- Philbert, on 04/01/2009, -0/+2Why specify umgumblu or whatever it's called? What if I wanted to install a different one like Red Hat or any of the other thousands of distros?
- bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1You can stream media to your PS3 from any PC/Mac - which, ultimately, would be the only point in mounting an NFS drive wouldn't it? Unless I'm missing something?
- t0ny, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1"The GPU does more than just 3D graphics, Carlos... especially with modern operating systems (ie - not the ones you used with your Voodoo 1 card). Windows, Linux, and OS X all use hardware acceleration to draw their GUI and enhance effects / programs, so video acceleration is important."
Yes a GPU helps but you do not have to have one. Windows you can turn areo off, Linux you can turn compiz off, and Mac would just use the cpu for graphics. - t0ny, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1feignNU he means after you install Linux on it.
- t0ny, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1"2) You had to use the PowerPC install files, which means that you can't install any modern apps on the machine. They don't run under the PowerPC code."
I would say your wrong any modern app can be compiled to PowerPC code. - MWeather, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1No, it runs any OS capable of running on PPC. You could run Windows on it if Microsoft gave you their PPC build.
- feignNU, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1How can I mount an NFS share on my PS3 without putting an operating system on it? I'm legitimately curious.
I mean I'm not denying that having access to the GPU would be waaaaay cooler. But I don't see it as totally useless either. There's still a lot you can do with a computer that (for all practical purposes) doesn't have a fancy GPU. - Panceman, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1Hey feign, I want to install and set up a media server will installing gentoo and gmote be a good starting ground on my PS3. Also I was thinking of getting an Iphone so will I be able to access files on the go also or should a get a phone that is compatible with the Google Android OS?
- Krekko, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1I was all for this until I saw 4.5 hours. Interesting concept, not gonna mess with my PS3 though.
- CookieCutter, on 04/17/2009, -0/+1no, Youtube flv works, not flash.
- bilbohicks, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1Carlosos - I'd run Boxee because the functionality and interface is way beyond the current PS3 interface and I can use my all-in-one remote rather than messing around with a joypad.
- feignNU, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1@bilbohicks
Hm...well, certainly one of the reasons for setting up an NFS partition is to share media, and for this purpose, streaming will work just as well. But I don't know that it's quite the ONLY purpose. The nice thing about NFS is that while you *can* use it for just media, you can also share anything else that you want with it. The difference is that with streaming, you're basically broadcasting some particular type(s) of media to your PS3 and that's all you can do, whereas with the Linux/NFS set up, you can literally share your main harddrive, and anything on it, with your PS3. Combine this with the fact that a PS3 running Linux is capable of running an SSH server (or like I said in another post, a gmote server), and suddenly you have the ability to remotely interface with the PS3 with a much greater degree of control than is possible with just the game controller and the PS3 menus. What you do with this greater degree of control is entirely up to you.
It's not for everyone, obviously, but with a little bit of the hacking spirit, I think you can do some legitimately neat things with Linux on a PS3. Obviously you could do the same things with Linux on any other cheap PC that can be plugged into a TV...but the PS3 is nice because it's not too expensive at this point, and it's also a pretty cool game console. You're right though, I wish they didn't lock out access to the really good stuff. -
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