[mdlug] Linux on the PS3 - anyone have experience with this?

[Ingles, Raymond]

> From: Joe Doehler

> I doubt that all that potential can be used with Yellowdog. Some web
> sites state that Sony locks out access to the SPU's when alternate
> OS's are installed, in fear that they could be used for cracking
> their games, but some people appear to have broken that barrier:
> http://www.physorg.com/news92674403.html

 Not exactly. Linux runs under a hypervisor on the PS3; it gets access
to the main CPU core (basically a PowerPC core at 3.2GHZ) and six of the
seven SPU's. (The seventh is used by the hypervisor.) You don't get
direct access to the hard disk, either, but you have some choice about
how much space you get.

 What you *don't* get is access to the "RSX", the graphics processor, so
no hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. Graphics is basically a glorified
framebuffer. (Some people found a hole that got access to it for a
while, but that was closed in later versions of the PS3's firmware.)

 The RSX, though, has 256MB of memory. People have figured out how to
use that as a fast swap device, effectively doubling the amount of RAM
available to Linux. This makes Linux a lot more usable. Now that that
technique is in Ubuntu out-of-the-box, I figure it's time.

 Sincerely,

 Ray Ingles                                       (313) 227-2317

 "Useless laws weaken the necessary laws." - Charles Montesquieu
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