Whats the best linux to install on the ps3

[ninogenio]

i have finally got my self a ps3 and i want to code for it,

trouble is ive never used linux before and i dont have a clue which one is best, is there any coding restrictions with any versions. also with the cell sdk do you get full controll over the cell down to assembler cause i would like to test it properly out like send vector code to specific spe's etc or does the compiler take care of this.

also i heard a rumor that the rsx can be made available with a hack is this true?

cheers.

[Jim]

I put Fedora 9 on mine, but it's far from an easy install.  I believe F10 is easier.  And getting wireless to work was a pain.  Put it this way, it took me a DAY to install it!

You get full control over the PPU and 6 SPUs.  There is a full SDK available.

RSX can be used with firmware <= 2.10.  But if you want to do anything else online you'll be wanting to upgrade your firmware.

I haven't really had the time or inclination to code much for PS3.  I wanted to do a distributed Mandelbrot renderer as an example of how to code the SPUs, but only got as far as prototyping it on Windows - even with a dual core I got about 2x speed up by multithreading over a single core.

Jim

[ninogenio]

cheers jim,

is fedora 10 better than 9, i really dont know linux at all. do i just simply download fedora and mount it on a dvd ready for instalation on the playstation.

i know how to partion the ps3 its from there i am fuzzy.

i have the latest firmware so i guess the rsx is out for now.

[Jim]

You need to get the Fedora 10 PPC disk.  So it's not the 'normal' distribution you're after.  F9 was tough because there was no wireless network and also a bug in the installer that had to be worked around.   I suspect these things are fixed in F10, since they're unofficially officially supporting PPC again...

When you first set your PS3 up, you get the chance to allocate some of the space to Other OS.  Choose as much as you can - on mine it was 10Gb out of 60Gb.  If you don't do this up front and some day you want PS3 Linux, then you'll have to reformat and lose all your save games and downloaded stuff.

Jim

[ninogenio]

cheers jim ill try that.

i got the ps3 second hand its a 60gb model but ive went and got into all my games before allocating space. can i back the saves up to an sd card and put them back after?

i have found the ppc f10 iso its 4.4 gig so im going to try it out. whats the kde install all about? is that something i should download too?

[Jim]

I think you might be able to put the saves on to a memory stick.

Jim

[ninogenio]

right cheers jim ive got my ps3 partition sorted out with 10gb to linux and ive installed kboot, ive downloaded and mounted f10 ppc beta dvd iso.

now when i type install-fc sda and press y i get the following.

UDF-fs: No VRS found
not fedora core install dvd

there is no specific instructions i can find for f10 on the ps3 im using the instructions and kboot for f5 so thats probably where im going wrong.

[ninogenio]

i think to install f10 there is going to have to be a new kboot built.

ive installed ubuntu 7.10 for now and dissabled a lot of the heavy weight stuff that comes with it now i guess i need to get used to it lol.

[Jim]

Glad you got it going. It won't make much difference which distro you end up with!

Jim

[ninogenio]

yeah cheers jim.

will i still be able to get the dev enviroment up and running under ubuntu as i really cant see any programing related stuff on my install.

[Jim]

Yes, no problem.  You need to find the installation/package manager thingy and install all the dev related tools.

Jim