Installing Ubuntu Linux 7.04 Feisty Fawn on the PS3

[tauheedul]

This is a very simple guide that will teach you how to Install Ubuntu linux on the PS3 and to get more out of your powerful system .

Getting Started



Firstly, Download the Official PS3 Ubuntu Linux 7.04 Feisty Fawn ISO file and burn it to CD (It is recommended you use a download manager).

NOTE: You will have to manually setup the partitions during the setup, else the entire system will lock up during the setup wizard. When manually setting up the partitions, select 10GB for the main partition and setup the rest to be used for the swap area (i.e. filesystem type SWAP). You may well find that the Other OS partition (which appears as sda in the installer) has no partition table, in which case you will need to let the installer create one. This is fine and doesn't overwrite the real partition table on the PS3 disk (sda is a virtual disk created by the PS3 for Other OSes)

Prepare the PlayStation 3

WARNING: These next operations WILL ERASE EVERYTHING on your PlayStation 3. Be sure to back up the data that you want to restore later once you've formatted the PlayStation 3 hard drive (i.e. your game save data, configuration data, etc.).

1. In the XMB of the PlayStation 3, go to [Settings] > [System Settings] > [Format Utility] > [Format Hard Disk].
   
2. In the following prompt, choose "Yes".
   
3. Next choose "Custom" to choose a custom partition setting.
   
4. At the following prompt, choose "Allot 10GB to the Other OS" to choose 10GB of hard drive space for use with the other OS. (NOTE: You may also choose to "Allot 10GB to the PS3" however it is not necessary as 10GB is enough to run Ubuntu.)
   
5. At the next prompt, choose "Quick Format". (Choosing "Full Format" will take longer to complete than a "Quick Format.")
   
6. Once you choose a partition setting from the previous step, the PlayStation 3 will format the entire drive and create two partitions, one for the XMB and the other for use with the other OS. Once formatting is completed, the PlayStation 3 will prompt you to restart the system. Press "X" on the controller and your system will reboot.

Install kboot and Boot into the Live CD

1. Insert the CD you burned the Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu image into the PlayStation 3.
   
2. In the XMB, go to [Settings] > [System Settings] > [Install Other OS].
   
3. The "otheros.bld" file will be detected on the CD by the PlayStation 3. Press "X" on the controller to select "OK" which is automatically highlighted at this prompt. After selecting "OK", the kboot boot loader will be installed.
   
4. In the XMB, go to [Settings] > [System Settings] > [Default System].
   
5. Choose "Other OS" as the default.
   
6. At the following prompt you will be asked if you want to boot into the Other OS now. Choose "Yes."
   
7. The PlayStation 3 will restart and boot into a command line prompt. The prompt will look like this.

" kboot: "

• At this prompt just hit enter. A live session of either Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu will run (depending on what Ubuntu derivative you burned onto the CD).

At this point you will have a complete desktop session of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu running off the CD on your PlayStation 3. From here you may choose to do a hard drive installation. Just double-click on the "Install" icon and a wizard will guide you through the setup process.

Booting Back to the XMB

To boot back into the PlayStation 3 XMB, you must be at the kboot prompt. At the prompt, type "boot-game-os".

e.g. kboot: boot-game-os

An alternative in case the above doesn't work is to turn off the PlayStation 3. Then hold down the power button on the PS3 until the PS3 beeps twice. The PS3 will boot into the XMB and prompt you to choose the default video setting.

Playing Blu-Ray Films



It should be possible to play Blu Ray film under Linux in a manner similar to HD DVD (which shares the same ineffective DRM restrictions). See Blu-Ray and HD DVD.

And Thats All Folks!!! Enjoy :P

Source: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3

Date: 25/08/2007

For more instructions and user support visit:
http://psubuntu.com/
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=316047
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/512082
http://manuals.playstation.net/docum...osinstall.html

[Popher]

So, with this you can still play films and games as you could normally?
Mind if I ask why you would do this?

[tauheedul]

Originally Posted by Popher

So, with this you can still play films and games as you could normally?
Mind if I ask why you would do this?

Yes, once you have installed Ubuntu you can switch over to the PS3 operating system "XMB" and continue playing games etc. When you switch it on you have the choice of choosing which operating system you want to load.

Sony originally intended on selling the PS3 with Linux pre-installed. However they did not do this, but they have allowed a feature in the PS3 to "Install Other OS".

An advantage of running Ubuntu on the PS3 is that it can perform exactly the same as it would on a PC. It is good for viewing multi-regional DVDs (with proper codecs installed) and you can make the most of the processing power the PS3 has to offer. You can use the firefox browser to view web pages that may not otherwise properly load on the PS3 built in browser.

The current version of Ubuntu allows you to view Blu-ray discs that have no DRM restrictions etc. There are many other advantages, You have to try it to see what I mean.

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2006/07...s-x-and-linux/

[Lightnix]

most of the processing power the PS3

Bar the RSX, therefore severely limiting any potential homebrew until there's a more programmer-friendly way to render graphics on the Cell SPE's. Silly hypervisor.

(somebody correct me if I'm behind on this, I'm not exactly 'in' on the PS3 scene.)

[tauheedul]

Originally Posted by Lightnix

Bar the RSX, therefore severely limiting any potential homebrew until there's a more programmer-friendly way to render graphics on the Cell SPE's. Silly hypervisor.

(somebody correct me if I'm behind on this, I'm not exactly 'in' on the PS3 scene.)

Ubuntu recognises the different cores, it displays it as a Dual Core, but it only uses the first core and not the remaining 7 SPEs. I'm not entirely sure how the cell processor works. But it is very powerful. The PS3 has more than enough power to easily run Ubuntu. It is true there are many restrictions on developing programs for linux.

(I've been trying to figure a way to install Mac OSX on the PS3, Ken Kutaragi said a year or so back that it may be possible to (before Apple switched to Intel CPUs).

[Popher]

The Cell normally has 8 cores, but as you know, 8 cores are tricky to make, so the ones which only have 7 working cores have the eigth disabled, and are shipped in PS3s.
One of these 7 remaining cores is for the system to use, leaving 6 for the game/internet/movie.

I wouldnt try this, because if I had spent £400~ on a PS3, the last thing I would do is tinker with it. But thats just me

[tomcage9]

Originally Posted by Popher

I wouldnt try this, because if I had spent £400~ on a PS3, the last thing I would do is tinker with it. But thats just me

And me also

[tauheedul]

Originally Posted by Popher

The Cell normally has 8 cores, but as you know, 8 cores are tricky to make, so the ones which only have 7 working cores have the eigth disabled, and are shipped in PS3s.
One of these 7 remaining cores is for the system to use, leaving 6 for the game/internet/movie.

I wouldnt try this, because if I had spent £400~ on a PS3, the last thing I would do is tinker with it. But thats just me

It is ok to Install different OSs on the PS3. Because the hard drives can be easily reformatted and restored to its original state if you do not like it. It does not affect the actual Playstation Operating system. Linux does not allow you to tinker with the cores. It's set to use only one core (like you have said).

It is different from dual booting linux with windows.

[Popher]

Dual booting a PC is something that I also would never bother with

[tauheedul]

Here are some images I "borrowed" from another website of Ubuntu running on the PS3. .



(this one is Xubuntu)



If anyone else here has installed Ubuntu or any other version of Linux on their PS3, please feel free to post images on this thread .

[tauheedul]

Good News Folks!

The Latest Version of Ubuntu Linux (v7.10-Gutsy Gibbon) has been released for the PS3 and can be downloaded from the following website...

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/daily-live/current/

Or use the Direct Link - Full ISO

The installation instructions are the same as before unless you are upgrading from version 7.04 to 7.10. If upgrading refer to this first.

PlayStation 3 changes

• The kernel flavor for PlayStation 3 systems has changed from powerpc64-smp to cell. Users upgrading their PlayStation 3 from Ubuntu 7.04 to 7.10 should run this before or after the upgrade:

$ sudo apt-get remove linux-image-powerpc64-smp linux-powerpc64-smp linux-restricted-modules-powerpc64-smp

$ sudo apt-get install linux-cell

• In addition, the block device names have changed from the normal /dev/sdX naming to /dev/ps3dX (e.g. /dev/sda1 will now be known as /dev/ps3da1). Standard installs should not be affected by this, since they use UUID naming. However, if you changed /etc/fstab to refer to hardcoded device names, you will need to adjust these for the new kernel.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/710

[tauheedul]

Read the Ubuntu 7.10 Installation walkthrough here... http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=869&tag=nl.e622

[tauheedul]

I created a DVD cover for the Playstation 3 Gutsy Gibbon as there are non for it. I borrowed some examples from previous versions.

It is the first time I've used Macromedia Fireworks, so I don't think it is too bad. This is what I made.







If you think you can improve the cover, this is the original PNG file that you can edit. Feel free to do so. Download the file below.

http://www.4shared.com/file/33533282...ntu_COVER.html

[timmyGCSE]

thats really nice mate!
I keep meaning to boot that Gentoo livecd (yep you can do livecd's on a PS3 too!) and see how that is, coz lets face it..gentoo rocks and Ubuntu smells

[tauheedul]

Originally Posted by timmygcsc2308

thats really nice mate!
I keep meaning to boot that Gentoo livecd (yep you can do livecd's on a PS3 too!) and see how that is, coz lets face it..gentoo rocks and Ubuntu smells

I haven't tried Gentoo, so I will have to take your word for it .

[Leapmanster]

I used Gutsy Gibbon, It works, but how do I change the res? I'm on my 19" 1280x1024 monitor which should give a decent res from HDMI to DVI...

[timmyGCSE]

Originally Posted by tauheedul

I haven't tried Gentoo, so I will have to take your word for it .

lmao, well I'll tell you a story, I tried Xubuntu today and I'm rather impressed (I would like to rewrite my original statement...GNOME smells! lol), KDE ftw but the Xfce4 window manager is actually really quite nice and clean! Tried it in vmware which sucks for graphics support so gonna try it on my apre home PC and try and get compiz fusion working

Originally Posted by Leapmanster

I used Gutsy Gibbon, It works, but how do I change the res? I'm on my 19" 1280x1024 monitor which should give a decent res from HDMI to DVI...

edit your xorg.conf file
(open up a terminal and type 'sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf' (minus quotes) (I was gonna leave the sudo out but thats me picking up bad habits from an OS (gentoo) that allows you to login as root easily lol). Note the /etc/X11/xorg.conf is case sensitive

[Leapmanster]

btw, Im on a PS3 using "PSUbuntu" in case I forgot to mention *embarrassed*

[timmyGCSE]

Originally Posted by Leapmanster

btw, Im on a PS3 using "PSUbuntu" in case I forgot to mention *embarressed*

yep...no difference mate, there should still be an xorg.conf file...

edit: ok this thread is gonna help you alot:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=678703

[Leapmanster]

I tried something like that, I didnt know what to do because I wasnt sure on the manufacturer etc of the PS3 graphics
but thanks anyway, i'll try tommorow, cba now