PS3 Fanboy

Emulating operating systems is never really a good idea. Yet, mopx0 has decided to give it a try with Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista. To say it runs slow would be an understatement, as booting the resource-heavy OS takes 25 minutes on the system. To run Notepad emulated on the PS3 via Linux takes a whopping 12 minutes. It's not really practical, but shows the incredible dedication the hacking community has when tackling the strangest of projects.

If for some crazy reason you want to give it a try, read here.

[Via Engadget]

How much do you value your brain? Hopefully enough to know not to fry it by trying to understand all the research, formulas, and theories behind the project to use 16 PS3's to simulate a collision of two black holes. Headed in part by Guarav Khanna at UMassD, the project ... well ... it's hard to explain. Perhaps its our lack of scientific knowledge. Khanna calls the setup the "gravity grid" and have installed Linux on the PS3's to more accurately compute the "ripples" caused by gravitational waves from black holes.

It's complicated stuff, but we're impressed to see yet another use for the PS3 outside of the general gaming audience. If you want to learn more about the project, knock yourself out. We'll just sit back and nod like we understand the implications of this research. It sounds really cool, though!

[Via reghardware]

Invites to the Warhawk beta were limited, but that is apparently not stopping the most dedicated of fans from stopping in for a visit. The methods certainly scream fanboy, as they involve tweaking the PS3 linux code to such a degree that only those with copious amounts of patience and an undying love to taste the beta phase of Warhawk could withstand such an arduous process. A simple web search showed at least four variants of this method, some without the need for linux tweaking. Something tells us we're not so sure Incog. Inc would be flattered to see an increase in beta participants from unauthorized gamers at the closed beta event.

Without official word from Incog, there is no way to know if such hackers have had any affect on the beta phase of the project. These guys have enough on their hands with working out the kinks in multiplayer, without having to police their invite-only event. Lest any such intrusive action cause a further game delay, we issue a word of advice to all would-be hackers: stay out of the beta if you're not invited. Let those that were lucky enough to receive a beta invite continue to provide the devs feedback they need to make the final Warhawk experience the best it can be for the rest of us. We'll get our fill soon enough.

HELIOS is offering PS3 owners a test server that runs on a simplified version of Yellow Dog Linux. The OS arrives via CD disk image and installs in about six minutes. Terra Soft Solutions, the brains behind Yellow Dog Linux, agreed to allow Helios to distribute this "lite" version, catering specifically to the PS3 crowd through its Cell optimization. HELIOS, being no stranger to server development, says this modified Linux test-drive server will offer full DHCP network settings, support for Java 1.5 and AppleTalk enhanced kernel. Interested parties should head to the HELIOS website here, which provides detailed instructions on how to download the client and set it up. Let the game hosting officially begin!

[Via GamesGalore]

General-purpose code seems to slow down the Cell performance a bit, as it would appear on a recent Geekbench test. Primate Labs ran a few benchmarks under Linux and the results show the PS3 being beat by a Power Mac G5 1.6GHz in all tests except memory performance. We have to keep in mind, the tests only prove the Cell is not a wonderful "general-purpose" CPU. And lest anyone forget, the purpose of the PS3 is to play games!

Cell-specific optimizations are going to be implemented in a future Geekbench test, so once round 2 comes along, we'll get a taste of what's really cooking underneath the hood of our favorite console. Fire when ready!

[Via digg]

Woot! Finally! Terrasoft announced this week that they've released a new version of Yellow Dog Linux for the PS3, and this version includes support for wi-fi and fixes some USB printer issues. I'm pretty stoked about this; the lack of wi-fi support is why I wiped the Linux partition off my PS3. Now that I don't have to string a 40' Cat 5 cable across my apartment, I may have to try YDL out again.

Any other Linux PS3 guys out there?

As my good friend Pat said to me in one of my lesser moments, "Damn it, it's Linux (Lynn-ux), not Linux (Lie-nux). People will think you're talking about that Charlie Brown kid." So true... just so I get my blue blanket. In any case, this news comes from TerraSoft -- those guys behind YDL (Yellow Dog Linux) and all that stuff. They're accepting pre-orders for PlayStation 3's that they've already installed a Linux OS on in addition to the PS3's native OS.

TerraSoft has said their PS3's will ship with "a DVD, installation guide, sticker, and "flippy" -- presumably a dog toy". Hopefully it's yellow, too. That would be greatness. This is a pretty bold maneuver by TerraSoft and one that would've been keen from day one, though we're not altogether disappointed that it wasn't. Now those not hardware-inclined (like yours truly) won't have to look all over the place for very obvious tutorials and can continue to be concerned with knowing about the software of the past, distant past, and future. Right?

What is Debian Live? You've got me there, but what I do know is that it's a highly respected Linux engine... more so than Fedora Core and... that other one. What's more is that this system/engine/thingy is being distributed via .iso, so download it now, stick it onto a CD and load it right onto your PS3 with little to no trouble and/or effort! That's... how it works, right? No? Hmm, I really need to learn how to do this.
Anyway, on the Debian Live for PS3 site, there's a list of all the prompts you can use as well as parameters you can set (login, password, etc). We're linking you directly to their site because it makes a lot more sense than if I tried to describe it. Also, if you have any trouble, visit the About page and see if anything there helps you out -- I couldn't find a specific set of instructions (probably because this is supposed to be easy), but it seems like they go into more detail here. If anyone gets this up and running, tell us how it stacks up to the other programs available.

So, we already know someone hacked into the PS3 and made it so the Wiimote could be used as a sort of pointing device... kind of like how it is on the Wii itself. The Playstation 3 isn't going to stop there, however. Someone else has hacked up their system and got the "almighty" 360 controller working on it. If you've got Linux on your PS3, you can most certainly use the wired version of the 360 controller. Its functionality has been tested with snes9x (an emulation program that kicks bum) and Doom and passes with flying colors.

If you want to install the driver onto your PS3, the install file is here. Let us know if you get it running.

[via PS3-Hacks]

It doesn't necessarily consume the competition, but it certainly shows it isn't afraid to have some sort of illegal "we can program games to use your Wiimote if we wanted to" deal. These pics were taken at... some... sort of Binary 2.0 Conference. It's hard to tell with all those question marks riddling the screen.

What happened there? Just another amazing bit of Linux usage -- the PS3 used the Wiimote for the presentation. Who would've thought the PS3 could also serve as a business presentation tool? There's not really much else to say from a news angle, but really, what can't the PS3 do? And could someone explain why the SIXAXIS wouldn't have worked just as well for a "mouse pointer" device?

Emulation is amazing. Most of us have probably experienced the joy of such things, whether it be downloading a ton of games you'll never play just because you want to say you have them, or reliving a classic game that stopped working on your old Nintendo systems long ago. Heck, even downloading Japanese titles just to check out what you're missing (assuming you're not living in Japan). It bears repeating: emulation is amazing. The downloadable titles coming out on all the systems and the classic library found on the Wii are sorts of emulation, but you've got to pay. Paying is lame! Sometimes. Here's a solution for some of your emulation desires.

Over at the psp-spot.com forums, there has been posted a thread about the new SCUMMVM v.0.9.1 binary -- a way to emulate SCUMM and non-SCUMM games on Linux, which you should install on your PS3 as soon as you can! SCUMM games include many of the Lucas Arts titles, like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. It's still under heavy development and a few bugs have been reported, so download it at your own risk.

By now, you guys know I'm not exactly the voice of intellect when it comes to operating systems and hardware specs -- even so, I'm going to try to do this bit justice. Linux's Yellow Dog 5.0 will be ready for you to download Install and Source ISO's on the 27th from www.ydl.net. To be exact, on the 27th you can "Download Install & Source ISOs via YDL.net Enhanced." Perhaps my wording was off.

What does this do, exactly? It appears that it pretty much updates the website for you, allowing you to access a full-fledged mailing list as opposed to the help desk Linux has used for eight years. Great? Great. I've not had the pleasure of using Linux, so if anyone wants to throw in some extra jargon explaining this or that, knock yourself out. All we know is that if you've got a PS3, you had better keep your Yellow Dog up to date! Why wouldn't you, after all?

A friend attending Wake Forest learned his way around the Linux OS last year and switched to it full-time from the Windows OS also on his laptop. With that superiority in mind (at least, one example of Linux being the favored OS) we can see why Sony would choose a flexible system like Yellow Dog Linux to power their next system. The OS will ship with the PS3 in November and soon after, support the Apple PowerPC line.

Now, correct us if we're wrong, but wasn't it talked about a long time ago that PS3 would support Linux systems? Now we know that it's Yellow Dog, but the whole Linux thing isn't exactly breathtaking news. It's most assuredly cool, though. You can check out any sort of specs or other technical tidbits over here, but the point is the same: PS3 hearts Yellow Dog Linux, and you will too.

[thanks to everyone and their uncle who sent this in!]

If Sony's support for previous homebrew endeavors (like the PSP) was any indication of their PlayStation 3 involvement, then indie coders out there would have something to worry about. Thankfully that's not the case.

We've heard about their desire to get homebrew developers on board with the Linux system to create some unique and independent software for the next-gen console. Izumi Kawanishi spoke up about this recently saying that Sony would "like to see various individuals participate in content creation for the PS3."

The idea here is to broaden their Linux strategy. Using Linux World, they plan on giving homebrew hackers all the freedom to build from the ground up. No SDK libraries or support. It's all you guys.

This would be a huge step for independent game makers out there, especially if Sony would let them distribute it over their online platform too. There's still no word on the distribution part though, but hopefully we will see some integration on that end as well.

As expected, Sony held its PlayStation Business Briefing 2006 in Japan today, where a simultaneous worldwide launch was announced for the PS3 in early November (which would purportedly be sometime during the first 10 days of the month).

PS3 highlights of the briefing include that simultaneous launch in Japan, North America, and Europe; a 60GB hard drive preinstalled with every system (which will support Linux and be completely upgradeable); a 6 million unit production target through March 2007; 100% backwards compatibility with HD upscaling; a free "basic" online service for the "PlayStation Network Platform"; and a May/June ship date for final dev kits.

PSP highlights can be found neatly summarized in this particular Joystiq post, while "PlayStation Network Platform" highlights (for the "Live"-like online service) can so far be found here. Hooray for new PlayStation info! Now we'll have to see how Sony executes on all these ideas. It should be an interesting few months until E3 (and then early November), especially if XBLA-like games are offered as downloads and bootable off the hard drive.