linux on ps3

Helix

right, ive installed a new harddrive so ive a bit of space to play around with

im a complete linux pre-noob, and know bugger all about it. what distro would be the most user friendly for general goofing round on?

wes

Just got a new HD myself and will probably give Linux a go sometime this week.

As far as I know the following distros work on the PS3 to varying degrees:

Yellow Dog Linux
Ubuntu (and its various spin offs)
Open Suse
Fedora

You can google the various details you need.

I can't really recommend one until I gave install Linux a go myself.

witnessmenow

Its not worth your while Helix TBH.

The formatting tool of the Ps3 is kinda stoopid too, it lets you have one of the following options iirc:

whole hard drive for game os

10gb for game os rest for linux

10gb for linux rest for game os


so even with all your space linux will still only have 10gb.


What do you want it for exactly?


EDIT: BTW I have yellow dog linux on mine, havent used it since well before christmas

lee_baby_simms

Its kinda useless. Wireless security isn't supported and it can't use the ps3s graphics hardware so its awkward to get online and half decent emulators won't run.

Tar.Aldarion

Why put linux on a ps3? Even without the size restrictions...

Helix

something different to goof with

thats pretty much my only interest

Varik

i have it but as soon as i get broadband the hdd is getting wiped and partition removed
can't now as it will not let me use wmv files if i do

skywalker

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Why put linux on a ps3? Even without the size restrictions...

Im presuming (dont know for certain) that the ps3 makes an even better video player with linux. Id imagine mkv files work with it installed. Maybe you can access ntfs external drives too. My 2 pet hates with the ps3 currently.

That 10gb limit imposed by the formatting tool is ridiculous though.

Varik

mkv is getting bigger now with more poeople using h246 and not xvid maybe some day it will support it

skywalker wrote: »

That 10gb limit imposed by the formatting tool is ridiculous though.

theres no need to ever store the file on the ps3 hdd so the 10gb will only for the linux os with some space

or are you saying it too big and not too small.

skywalker

Im saying theres no need to impose an artificial limit either way, why not let the user format their hdd whatever way they choose.

Can someone who has linux installed confirm whether it can read ntfs external drives?

Creamy Goodness

i think one of the latest ubuntu's supports ntfs.

don't hold me to it though.

Eoinsku

It will probably be a long time before mkv support comes to the PS3. In the meantime, use a program called MKV2VOB to convert the mkv to an m2ts file. The conversion process doesn't require any encoding so it's very quick. In the configuration tab, just set output file to m2ts, and encoding (I think) to 264 slow

The m2ts file will play off the PS3's hard drive without any problems. However, if you're steaming to the PS3 from a PC using TVersity, you need to change the file extension to m2t (i.e. just remove the s at the end).

Then just sit back and enjoy HD TV shows, movies, or pornography on your HDTV.

vibe666

Cremo wrote: »

i think one of the latest ubuntu's supports ntfs.

NTFS has been fully supported in Linux (not just Ubuntu) since the start of 2007 using the ntfs-3g package. ntfs-3g can be a bit of a pain in the hole if you're not overly familiar with linux, but it's made a lot better by something called disk manager which takes away the need for typing stuff manually 99% of the time. It's only pre-built for edgy & feisty so you'll need to grab the source and build it yourself if you plan on using it with another version of ubuntu or a different distro.

tbh though if you've no history with Linux you're better off starting out with the distro that works best with (and is designed for) the PS3, which is Yellow Dog.

There's a guide for getting it working HERE if you're interested.

it's not the be all and end all tho, you might be better off leaving it till someone comes out with something better. you'll probably have no trouble playing regular divx's etc. but I'm not sure if it can cope with HD video sources yet.