I recently got a PS3 and I'm interested in running Linux on it. I've done a fair bit of research and I'm disappointed by the fact that you only have 2 partition options for adding a Linux OS: 10GB to Linux and the rest to the PS3, or 10GB to the PS3 and the rest to Linux.

I've not seen anything in several days of google searching, but I was wondering if anyone knew anyway to circumvent this restriction. If not, I can always play the musical storage game with a USB HDD on the PS3 side of the partition, but I'd rather not if there is anyway around the issue.

8/18/2008 12:30:16 PM

I don't know of a way around it, I just did 10GB for Linux.

It really hasn't been a problem, but I don't store much on my PS3 anyway. YMMV.

8/18/2008 1:07:41 PM

Is there a PS3 linux way to rip blu-ray movies? I don't want to get a drive for my PC just to do this.

Also, do the video encoding apps for linux utilize the benefits of the Cell processor?

8/18/2008 4:40:18 PM

its very easy to get a larger harddrive

8/18/2008 6:54:05 PM

^ Yes, but larger partitions are a problem. They way things currently are, you're going to have one OS limited to a 10GB partition. That sucks. If I upgrade to a 250GB HDD (which is at least easy to do [thanks for at least that Sony]), I don't want to split my partitions 10GB/240GB. That is silly and I'm disappointed that there isn't a way around it.


I've also just found out that it's practically impossible to use a PS3 to stream videos from hulu.com to my TV.

8/18/2008 6:57:34 PM

Quote :

"Yes, but larger partitions are a problem. They way things currently are, you're going to have one OS limited to a 10GB partition. That sucks. If I upgrade to a 250GB HDD (which is at least easy to do [thanks for at least that Sony]), I don't want to split my partitions 10GB/240GB. That is silly and I'm disappointed that there isn't a way around it"

oh i didnt realize that was the case

8/19/2008 8:36:25 AM

... when I partitioned mine, I could've sworn it was 5GB...

Best thing to do is just buy an external harddrive. If it's FAT32 formatted, both PS3 and Linux can utilize the space on the drive. Any other format won't be read by the PS3 Game OS. (Linux can read other formats such as HFS+)

Keep in mind that Linux on the PS3 can't make full use of the graphics card, so don't expect to do any graphics-intensive work on there. (Most emulators for ancient consoles are ok, but mine gets choppy watching movies with H264 codec).

Quote :

"I've also just found out that it's practically impossible to use a PS3 to stream videos from hulu.com to my TV."

For streaming to PS3 from another computer, you can use UPnP media servers with transcoding, such as Windows Media Player 11 with tversity on Windows or MediaTomb on Mac. Or one of the better streaming products out there is popcornbox... never tried streaming from web streams to tv though

8/23/2008 11:39:01 AM

Quote :

" Keep in mind that Linux on the PS3 can't make full use of the graphics card, so don't expect to do any graphics-intensive work on there. (Most emulators for ancient consoles are ok, but mine gets choppy watching movies with H264 codec)."

no drivers?

8/23/2008 11:50:02 AM

^ It isn't a drivers issue... in fact, Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) has a good set of drivers included... for example, it has the best support for Apple hardware of just about any Linux distribution out-of-the-box (if it had a box).

No, in this case, it's not Terrasoft's fault, it's Sony's... PS3 "other OS" partition is not granted full HW access... when you install to the "otherOS" partition, you are installing on top of the Hypervisor, which limits your access to HW. No HW graphics acceleration... you don't even get to run all the processors!



You may want to check out http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewforum.php?f=19 for YDL on PS3 support, such as installing YDL, getting it configured for HD, installing emulators, installing VLC, getting the PS3 controller recognized as a joystick for above emulators, etc.

8/23/2008 8:18:07 PM

interesting

sounds like that would take a low-level workaround or hack

8/23/2008 8:34:48 PM

^ That would be a hell of a hack. Linux on a PS3 doesn't directly interface with the hardware. Everything is run with the native PS3 OS acting and an intermediary.

8/23/2008 10:11:54 PM

http://www.themediamall.com/playon

8/23/2008 11:24:30 PM

^ I'm going to have to give that a try.

8/24/2008 2:28:42 AM