Yellowdog Linux on PS3

[Gatecrasher]

Has anyone installed YLD Linux on their PS3?

If the PS3 is connected to a PC network, can it access the shared folders of the network?

Can video be streamed from the PC network via the PS3 onto HDTV using the linux versions of VLC or Mplayer running on the PS3?

[scotty777]

well... all yellow dog is, is linux, a normal version, only it uses the low ram and the cpu to it's best potential. im not to clued up with linux, but if it can connect the a pc(windows) it should connect with the ps3.

i do believe once you got linux on the ps3, you can simply use it as a computer, rip music, make documents, network it, print, any thing

[Gatecrasher]

Thanks for the reply. Sure, my ps3 connects to my (windows) network, but the only purpose it seems to serve is to share the internet connection. I'm not seeing any folders on the network. I can't transfer files from the network to the PS3.

I believe there are two ways to achieve this: One involves making your PC network show up like an internet site from which you can then download files. The other is to install a Linux OS and share/stream files seemlessly.

I just wondered if anyone here had tried this yet? And if so, what kind of results they got.

The aim is to get the PS3 to really cook as an entertainment centre, without having to waste my life converting media files and burning them disk.

[doobiwan]

Scotty, technically Yellow dog is a PowerPC based linux which is why you need it for the PS3, and regular linux's don't work. You also don't have access to any of the "funky" bits of the PS3, like the RSX or SPU's when running linux, yet. Guys are negotiating with nvidia for drivers.

[Gatecrasher]

Terra Soft Solutions who make Yellowdog Linux have now made their PS3 capable of utilising the console's wifi connection. That was one of the main barriers putting me off since my HDTV is far from my router.

The only other major barrier is, as doobiwan says, that Linux does not utilise the RSX video accelerator (yet?), so playing HD content causes stuttering. But SD video should stream fine, and that covers 99% of my library.

I've started downloading the distro. I'll tell y'all how I got on later in this thread.

[doobiwan]

Cool, I'm interested to hear how it goes.

[Gatecrasher]

Success!

I can now stream video from my Wireless network (Windows) via the PS3 to my Bravia LCD TV. There is still some configuration I could do to get it to work optimally. But, for now, the SD content in its original size plays perfectly and smoothly.

I didn't run into any major problems following the given linked guides. The pre-requisites are :

a USB drive (or memory stick) for initially booting the OS.
a USB keyboard for operating under Linux
a USB mouse for operating under linux
a blank DVD-R for loading the linux distro

You'll need following files:
yellowdog-5.0-phoenix-20061208-PS3.iso (Yellowdog Linux 5.0 distro) available from the iso folder of this list of download mirrors
otheros.bld and otheros.self from here.

You need to burn the distro to a dvd. On the USB drive make a subdirectory \ps3\otheros\ in which to save otheros.bld and otheros.self.

For wifi connectivity you need the 5.01 kernal update, which I got from Rapidshare. Its a good idea to copy this to your USB drive to use once YDL is up and running.

The steps to be taken are covered fully in the following guides.

A Guide to Installing Yellow Dog Lunus 5.0 for PLAYSTATION 3

Installing the built-in Sony PS3 Wi-Fi kernal

Configuring the built-in Sony PS3 Wi-Fi

Installing VLC and Nautilus configuration

If you have a go at this: Good luck!

[scotty777]

holy crap... thats so cool

[doobiwan]

Well done. How does it run now, do you need to boot from USB to access Linux, or does it give you an option?

[Gatecrasher]

Well done. How does it run now, do you need to boot from USB to access Linux, or does it give you an option?

In PS3 system settings you can specify the default OS, either PS3 or otherOS. If you change to otherOS it gives you the option to boot to Linux immediately.

In Linux, you can also boot to the PS3 immediately from the desktop. You can also specify the default OS, either gameOS or otherOS.

[doobiwan]

Nice.

In 5 or so years time, it could be quite interesting to see if anyone would look to use, by then, cheapish PS3's (I assume they'll hit about R1500, like the PS2) for rural/development computer programs.

[jasondeklerk]

There is a memory stick you can buy from this company that has linux already installed. All you need to do is plug it in, attach the keyboard, and thats it!

http://www.redgiant.co.za

[Lord-Nikon]

Ok, I know this is digging up an old thread, but does anybody know why they have removed support for a second OS on the new PS3 consoles?

I downloaded the 9.10 Ubuntu PS3 distro last night, burned it and went home very excited to find out (after formatting my drive) that the next step (Allot 10GB to other os) is not available anymore?

Any hacks?

[JazzeD]

The only reason I can think of is to make the Phat version still to look attractive?

I installed Ubuntu on mine. Have only used it a couple of time thought to copy DVD's that none of my PC's or Server's at work could read. Will probably copy(backup) one of my BD over the weekend.

[Lemon369]

Never really needed to, but plenty of guys on ps3za have installed and used YD on the ps3's...glad you got it right and keep us posted on your experiences with it...nice thread...