New PS3....Questions!!!

setanta5

OK,

i got given a PS3 for Christmas, 40gig model. Nice gift. Got Kane and Lynch and Orange box with it. 2 controllers and BT remote. I'm happy with it but have not spent much time on it fiddling about.

I have some questions.

've heard its easy to set up mutiple accounts so you can view Japanese and American online stores and download their demos. HOw do i go about that? Is it worthwhile?

I want to set up as a music/video streaming setup with my Macbook. Does anyone know how i go about this? Do i need to "tell" the PS3 to look for the macbook or do i "tell" the macbook to allow the PS3 to see it (if you follow me)?

Will a new Apple wireless keyboard and mouse work on it?

Are there any worthwhile tweaks or hacks i should check out?

Any other advice or websites people can recommend?

Any answers are welcomed. Not a complet games noob but been out of touch since giving up my old xbox 18 months ago. Only had DS until this.

whiterebel

setanta5 wrote: »

OK,

i got given a PS3 for Christmas, 40gig model. Nice gift. Got Kane and Lynch and Orange box with it. 2 controllers and BT remote. I'm happy with it but have not spent much time on it fiddling about.

I have some questions.

've heard its easy to set up mutiple accounts so you can view Japanese and American online stores and download their demos. HOw do i go about that? Is it worthwhile?

I want to set up as a music/video streaming setup with my Macbook. Does anyone know how i go about this? Do i need to "tell" the PS3 to look for the macbook or do i "tell" the macbook to allow the PS3 to see it (if you follow me)?

Will a new Apple wireless keyboard and mouse work on it?

Are there any worthwhile tweaks or hacks i should check out?

Any other advice or websites people can recommend?

Any answers are welcomed. Not a complet games noob but been out of touch since giving up my old xbox 18 months ago. Only had DS until this.

Set up a new user and then go set up the US one with a fake adress - Iused Zip 90210 - probably most did.

MacBook wil required paid for Software to stream to the PS3, I used Twonky on its 30 day frree trial. It was a bit fiddly to get going but worked fine after that.

Don't know about the Apple KB and mouse.

_PCahill_

check out mediatomb it will stream to PS3 fine and it's free. I guess it has a version available for mac cos it's open source and out for quite a few unix based platforms already.

LookingFor

setanta5 wrote: »

OK,

i got given a PS3 for Christmas, 40gig model. Nice gift. Got Kane and Lynch and Orange box with it. 2 controllers and BT remote. I'm happy with it but have not spent much time on it fiddling about.

I have some questions.

've heard its easy to set up mutiple accounts so you can view Japanese and American online stores and download their demos. HOw do i go about that? Is it worthwhile?

It is. Particularly a US account. But I'd do the Japanese one too, I've downloaded a few demos off it I couldn't get on the US or Euro store (most recently the Yakuza 3 demos).

It's simply a matter of creating two other users, and signing them up to the PSN - except, you select your region as United States and Japan respectively, instead of Europe. The Japanese one will then redirect you to sign up pages with Japanese text, obviously, but there are guides like this one out there about getting through those pages.

setanta5 wrote: »

I want to set up as a music/video streaming setup with my Macbook. Does anyone know how i go about this? Do i need to "tell" the PS3 to look for the macbook or do i "tell" the macbook to allow the PS3 to see it (if you follow me)?

This software was just released for macs, supposed to be really good:

http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/medialink

There's a trial version you can try there. I presume it'll come with instructions. Usually it's a matter of installing the software on your mac, configuring the settings, then having your ps3 scan for media servers - your mac should show up.

setanta5 wrote: »

Will a new Apple wireless keyboard and mouse work on it?

Not sure, if the USB dongle is a fairly standard one, it probably should. I use a Microsoft wireless usb kb/mouse and it's fine.

setanta5 wrote: »

Are there any worthwhile tweaks or hacks i should check out?

Try enabling RGB Full under display settings..might improve colours on your display (if it's HDMI LCD).

Try messing about with the backwards compatibility settings, turning smoothing on and so forth, to taste.

You can install Linux if you're feeling particularly experimental.

You can change the themes and backgrounds for the OS now..if you google PS3 themes you'll probably come across a bunch.

Folding@Home is pretty cool, might be worth a look.

Oh, and games-wise, if you like "hacky" things, Unreal Tournament 3 should be worth a look. Not out here yet, but you could import it from the US. Mods work with the PS3 version. (Oh yeah, that's one other thing to be aware of - PS3 games are region free, so import away!)

nedd

question about acessing the PSN using a US and Japanese user, is there much of a difference in the content available to download?

AtomicHorror

nedd wrote: »

question about acessing the PSN using a US and Japanese user, is there much of a difference in the content available to download?

Quite a difference, the EU store lags behind on the release of the big demos. There's also some stuff that both stores get that we just never see.

nedd

cool. i never knew you could do this. i will be setting up new users tonight. to play the content downloaded from the US store do i need to be logged in as the US user? or does the content get shared over all users?

LookingFor

nedd wrote: »

cool. i never knew you could do this. i will be setting up new users tonight. to play the content downloaded from the US store do i need to be logged in as the US user? or does the content get shared over all users?

It gets shared over all users. However I think one bit of Japanese software (Mainichi Issyo) requires you be logged in as the Japanese user.

4real

hey what do i put in for the japenese address! if i am setting up a japanese account!?

skywalker

Also do you want to be creating master or sub accounts for the diff regions?

AtomicHorror

4real wrote: »

hey what do i put in for the japenese address! if i am setting up a japanese account!?

Make something up. If you like, try getting creative with some dirty words.

skywalker wrote: »

Also do you want to be creating master or sub accounts for the diff regions?

Master.

Super Sidious

LookingFor

What keyboard and mouse do u use? and do they work wit games?

Cheers,
fly

AtomicHorror

flynner13 wrote: »

LookingFor

What keyboard and mouse do u use? and do they work wit games?

Cheers,
fly

Neither will work for games unless the game specifically supports them. I think UT3 does but that's the only one I've heard of that works. I know you're asking Lookingfor but I think you can assume that most USB wireless keyboard/mouse combos will work with the PS3. I use a Logitech set that I bought last year.

Super Sidious

So basically u only use it for browsing the net?

AtomicHorror

flynner13 wrote: »

So basically u only use it for browsing the net?

It also makes text entry for messages etc. a lot faster. It's also essential if you feel like installing Linux. Hopefully, they'll patch up some of the games so that the PC gamer crowd can get mouse support.

skywalker

Any tips on the linux install? How smooth was it? & what about the division of space, I read something about a limit of 10gb being placed on linux, is that correct?

AtomicHorror

skywalker wrote: »

Any tips on the linux install? How smooth was it? & what about the division of space, I read something about a limit of 10gb being placed on linux, is that correct?

Installation was not exactly straight forward but then Linux tends to be a complicated install on a PC too. I mostly installed it to see if I could- I hardly ever use it now. I think 10gb is the recommended partition size but I don't think that's a limit. I think that any second OS installed on a PS3 is restricted in terms of other resources it can use- reduced core number on the CPU.

Keicou

Does anyone know how to connect the ps3 wirelessly. I have set it up on a few peoples PS3 but when it comes to mine I caint. The only diff is that on my router I do not use the first wep key. Is there anyway that you can change the wep key number on the PS3??

mathias

I did an install of the recommended YDL linux ( yellow dog linux ) when I got mine , to extend its media capabilities ( which is what I wanted the PS3 for anyway ).

The same as any linux install , you have to know what your doing , it can get quite complicated , however since I did the install , upgrades arrived which allow you to play all the media I wanted to play in linux through the PS3 interface , so linux hasnt been used since , theres no reason too. ( for me anyway)

mathias

Is there anyway that you can change the wep key number on the PS3??

WEP is a pretty weak security method , and can be a pain to log into , its better to go to your router and change this to WPA-PSK , the reason I say that one is that you can enter a pass phrase of your choice , ( song lyric or something that you'll easily remember ) and a key is generated from that.

Its easy to put this ( your chosen passphrase ) into the PS3 and makes connecting so much easier too , also way more secure than WEP.

eddhorse

TBH WPA/PSK is as weak as WEP , they can be cracked easily.
I dont want to start a security thread out of this, just change the key on the router to be key 1.

Why use key 2?

mathias

From here ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access
no wireless security is perfectly safe , but a strong WPA PSK key is way better than WEP ,
A strong key means mixing caps and lower case , letters for numbers , and some non alphanumeric characters , ..........

In setting up your ps3 or indeed a psp for wireless , it is by far the easiest method to connect , which is the important thing. I dont think many people could care less if people saw what games they were playing.

Security in pre-shared key mode

Pre-shared key mode (PSK, also known as personal mode) is designed for home and small office networks that don't require the complexity of an 802.1X authentication server. Each user must enter a passphrase to access the network. The passphrase may be from 8 to 63 printable ASCII characters or 64 hexadecimal digits (256 bits).[2] If you choose to use the ASCII characters, a hash function reduces it from 504 bits (63 characters * 8 bits/character) to 256 bits (using also the SSID). The passphrase may be stored on the user's computer at their discretion under most operating systems to avoid re-entry. The passphrase must remain stored in the Wi-Fi access point.

Security is strengthened by employing a PBKDF2 key derivation function. However, the weak passphrases users typically employ are vulnerable to password cracking attacks. To protect against a brute force attack, a truly random passphrase of at least 20 characters should be used, and 33 characters or more is recommended.[3]

Some consumer chip manufacturers have attempted to bypass weak passphrase choice by adding a method of automatically generating and distributing strong keys through a software or hardware interface that uses an external method of adding a new Wi-Fi adapter or appliance to a network. These methods include pushing a button (Broadcom SecureEasySetup[4] and Buffalo AirStation One-Touch Secure System) and entering a short challenge phrase through software (Atheros JumpStart[5]). The Wi-Fi Alliance has standardized these methods in a program called Wi-Fi Protected Setup (formerly Simple Config).