Yellow Dog Linux

billb wrote:

ppietro wrote:One of the projects in the back of my mind is setting up a PowerPC cross-compiler. It would be awesome to be able to compile PowerPC code on my x86_64 system.

I played with that a little and was kinda successful, but only for very simple applications (see my notes here).

I was actually able to do full cross-compiles of Firefox & Mozilla, until the mozilla.org folks messed up some security code and hard coded it to the processor architecture. Then, IIRC, Firefox & Mozilla would build, but you couldn't browse securely. It was something like that anyway.

I also used my cross-compiling chain to create a more modern kernel for PS2 Linux. That worked extremely well.

You can read about it here:
Mozilla for PlayStation 2 Cross Compiling Mini-HOWTO 1.0

and here:
Kernel 2.4.17 for PlayStation 2 Mini-HOWTO 1.0

and just for fun:
PlayStation 2 Mouse Wheel Mini-HOWTO 1.0

NOTE: I just quickly put those up. They originally lived at http://playstation2-linux.com, which has recently been shuttered, and I haven't had a chance to migrate those documents fully.

Cheers,
Paul

Nice -- you make it sound so easy!

Today it has been two years since Sony released firmware 3.21. I still have my cecha01 on firmware 3.15 still back in the box original box (never jaibroken and still fully working). I have not decided on what to do with this. I looked around for powerpc distros that have been continuously updated but it seems that everything has stopped development. I am still on Fedora Core 5 on this PlayStation 3. YellowDog has not really brought out a new version since 6.2 which was in Over the past two years the class action lawsuit is over in favor for Sony. I have their support staff call me a criminal over the phone becasue I refuse to upgrade the firmware. All in all I am still a linux user and this is not going to change. Over the past two years it has been an eye opening experence to see how Sony really feels about their custormers and to see how the majority their customers really simply only want to be entertained.

However to me it seemed to be the only way a hobbyist can learn about the Cell Broadband Engine at truly affordable cost. Which is one of the main reasons I purchased the PS3.

So is there even a future for the Cell B.E. or even the Power PC?

IBM in an article stated that they are stopping development on the Cell B.E. because it is either too advanced and takes too much time to develop application and related stuff, or they also mentioned something about the design of the architecture and how that causes problems forcing them to abandon the idea. http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/20 ... s-cell.ars

The Power # series is still supported by IBM and their operating system AIX, though PowerPC is mainly used in the sever and high end computing industry by many different companies for research, and the gaming industry for gaming console processors.

cward24 wrote:So is there even a future for the Cell B.E. or even the Power PC?

(Standard Disclaimer: The following is my opinion, and in no way represents Fixstars/YellowDog, IBM, Apple, Sony, etc. I am not an employee of any of these companies, nor do I have access to any information except what I've read on-line.)

If you're not into Intel architecture processors (i.e. x86 or x86_64), then I think the most viable alternative processor architecture is ARM right now. We're following this box pretty closely: http://www.raspberrypi.org/

This seems to be closest in spirit to some of the alternative hardware platforms like PS2 Linux, PS3 OtherOS, etc.

But - PowerPC? Pretty much over, IMHO. I'd say, at this point, it's relegated to the history books along with Alpha, MIPS, PA-RISC, SPARC, etc., etc. - except for embedded designs. Even Freescale - keeper of the PowerPC flame - has been releasing a lot of ARM architecture lately.

Cheers,
Paul

(...and yet another thing to add to our list of issues....)

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, I still run YDL on my launch PS3 using OtherOS. To do this, I have never updated it past Firmware 3.15. As time has gone by, I've gradually lost the ability to play new games, view new Blu-ray discs, etc. This was as I expected.

However - I just lost another feature. This time, it's related to the PS2 support and Final Fantasy XI.

Final Fantasy XI - or FFXI for short - is an MMORPG. It's one of the few games that use the PS2 HDD. To install it on a launch PS3, you download a special file that provides PS2 HDD emulation.

Well - the latest update to the game apparently exceeds the original file's pseudo-partition allocation. According to the FFXI forums:

PlayOnline:

We have an important message for people who play the PlayStation 2 version of FFXI on PlayStation 3 models CECHA00 (60GB model) and CECHB00 (20GB model).
Thank you for continuing to play Final Fantasy XI.
After discussing things with Sony Computer Entertainment, it’s been decided that in order to continue operation of Final Fantasy XI, the hard disc requirements for the PlayStation 2 version will increase from the current 12GB to 21GB.
Sony Computer Entertainment plans on making this change to the PlayStation 3 system software with an update sometime after February 1st.

Swell. Just swell.

I'll poke around a bit more, but I'm guessing that I just won't be able to play FFXI on my PS3 anymore.

Cheers,
Paul

Okay - there's a little more info here. Apparently, the original article was in Japanese ><

http://gamerescape.com/2012/01/24/plays ... tasy-xi-2/

Cheers,
Paul

I was always interested in having a PS3 with linux, and last month, I left some money for the purchase.

However, after research on google and this post is leading me to believe that it is not possible.


But I tell you, that probably are following the process longer.

is possible to buy a ps3 today and install a new version of linux like Yellow Dog?

gargwlas wrote:I was always interested in having a PS3 with linux, and last month, I left some money for the purchase.
However, after research on google and this post is leading me to believe that it is not possible.
But I tell you, that probably are following the process longer.
is possible to buy a ps3 today and install a new version of linux like Yellow Dog?

Officially? No.

The only official way - and due to the U.S. DMCA law that's all we can discuss here - is by finding an original PS3 "phat" that is running Firmware 3.15 or earlier. None of the currently available slim models can run it, nor can a "phat" that has been updated to current firmware.

Also - due to Sony officially removing Linux from the PS3, most of the major distributions - such as Fedora - have dropped PS3 Linux support. So "new" versions of Linux are harder to come by for PS3.

In addition, Yellow Dog is an Enterprise Linux - like Red Hat Enterprise or CentOS. Software releases for Enterprise Linuxes are purposefully held back about three years behind current Linux distros. So - I wouldn't call Yellow Dog particularly "new" - although we as a community do support it with modern builds of Firefox, etc.

Cheers,
Paul

but there are other means? only answer yes or no to not commit you


is quite satisfying to use the ps3 to surf the internet and watch movies in rmvb/mkv/mp4/avi etc?

gargwlas wrote:but there are other means? only answer yes or no to not commit you

Again - I refer you to my post above. That is all I can legally say.

gargwlas wrote:is quite satisfying to use the ps3 to surf the internet and watch movies in rmvb/mkv/mp4/avi etc?

Is it satisfying to surf the internet on a PS3? Kinda - but that's not its fault.

Adobe does not have an official version of Flash for PowerPC Linux - which is the main processor core of the PS3. So - most websites that use Flash - like YouTube, etc - don't work. Similar to life on an iPhone, if you will.

Also - because Sony has abstracted the nVidia RSX GPU behind the hypervisor, the only display option is a processor-driven framebuffer display. This means no 3D or 2D video acceleration. In the real world, this means that videos that are larger than DVD resolution - approx. 720x480 - have framerate issues since the processor has to decode the video and draw the pixels simultaneously.

But is it satisfying? To me yes - but my yardstick is different than most folks. I like running Linux on weird, obscure hardware. And - as far as weird, obscure hardware goes, the PS3 is much more satisfying than my PS2 Linux Kit, or my Dreamcast Linux installation. It actually has enough RAM and processor speed to make Linux reasonable, if not at the performance level of a standard PC.

So - you're probably asking "Is it satisfying compared to a dedicated, modern Linux x86 PC?" Most people would say "No", myself excluded.

Cheers,
Paul

ouch - lv0 decryption keys leaked for the ps3 - http://news.softpedia.com/news/PlayStat ... 1825.shtml

It sounds the OtherOS might come back after a long waiting
http://www.ps3hax.net/category/ps3-hacks/ps3-linux/
Thanks.

Thanks for posting that - it's interesting news.

My gut reaction? I've learned to not get my hopes up where Sony is concerned. (Yes - I'm a Vita owner - don't ask. )

However - if there's any truth to this at all, that's good news. Especially if it opens up Linux on the slims.

We'll have to see though - I've been burned too many times before on this type of thing.

Cheers,
Paul