How to: Linux on the PS3

[Rambilin]

Hello this is a guide for putting Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 (YDL) which is based on the Fedora PPC core. Please see the next posts for limitations at the moment so you don’t jump into something that might disappoint.

Reading Material:

Doc 1 (http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ydl5.0_ps3_guide.pdf)
Doc 2 (http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html)


Files:

File 1 (http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/data/otheros.self)
File 2 (http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ps3/otheros.bld)
File 3 (http://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/yellowdog/iso/yellowdog-5.0-phoenix-20061208-PS3.iso)

Click the headline for more!

[Rambilin]

Optional file once installed:

ftp://fr2.rpmfind.net/linux/fedora/core/5/ppc/os/Fedora/RPMS/compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-55.fc5.ppc.rpm

IMPORTANT: If you hard drive is not already partioned you will lose all data saved to the game os, i.e. all saves and downloaded contend so precede at your own discretion.


Items required installing Linux on a PS3

- Removable Media (flash drive, memory stick, compact flash, or SD card)
- DVD Burner, or you can order a copy of Yellow Dog 5.0 from Terrasoft
- USB Keyboard and mouse (wireless ones work!)
- A TV with 720p/1080i or 1080p support.
- I recommend not doing this on the 20gig as you will be very limited on space.

First download the iso and rip it to DVD, but before you do anything else please keep the YDL.pdf link either open or printed out.


After you have the iso and the YDL disc burned you need to put the otheros.self and otheros.bld onto a flash drive, or if you have the 60gb model you can put them onto a memory stick, SD card or compact flash.

Save the files into a folder called x:\PS3\Otheros where x is the drive letter of your removable media.

You could use a digital camera or psp to transfer them over if you don’t have a card reader.

Once those two files are on your media of choise insert it into the appropriate slot and boot up your PS3.

Go to – settings – system settings – install other os. If the files are in the right spot it will than go through the setup, eventually rebooting into the Linux installer.

Once the new installer is up type install and follow the steps provided referring to the YDL pdf for guidance.

Please use the Terrasoft guide for first boot as well.

If you have a 1080p or 1080i TV set on boot up type ydl1080i for a 1920 x 1080i desktop.

To return to the PS3 Game Os in the command line or at boot up type boot-game-os

To return from the PS3 back to linux go into the system settings and change the default os from PS3 to Otheros

I recommend the optional file as it allows several programs to run that do not at default.

Limitations and some pluses:

Limitations currently existing with Linux and the PS3

Partions on the PS3 can only be 10 10 on the 20gig or 10 50 on the 60gig. You can't do anything else yet :(

Only 6 of the eight Cell cores are accessable

Nvidia does not provide a drive for PPC yet so no 3d (or direct 2d) acceleration

Flash 9 is not supported by PPC yet; please visit http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/pipermail/yellowdog-announce/2006-October/000129.html to help with this issue.

Only 256mb of the systems 512mb is accesable. This leads to a slow boot up and slow loading of programs. Once opened they are ok though.

No blu ray player software exists yet for Linux.

Linux simply is not that user friendly to those that have only used Windows 9x and up, even with a GUI.


Some nice things so far about Linux on the PS3

Open office, MP3, video players, and Firefox are included as the basics.

You can map the PS3 controller to work as a keyboard on most game software.

The X-Arcade stick with USB add on also works.

It includes a C++ compiler and library, while not as robust as XNA or even that old PSone home dev kit it is there and should lead to a lot of neat things. A million monkeys err coders or something, right?

1920 x 1080 firefox browsing rules.

If you used DOS you should be familiar with most command line syntax. Just remember to access a folder in Linux it is not cd\folder it is cd /folder; took me forever to remember that.

[Rambilin]

I would be hard pressed to put together a system under $600 that could run through DVI or HDMI at 1920 x 1080 as quiet as the PS3. On the other hand it would have freaking flash 9 support.

[51|RandoM]

Sweet!!! A $200 linux box...oh wait it costs $600. :(
Are you aware that the $499 PS3 runs linux just as well as the $599 version?

Are you aware that this is a thread for people interested in running linux on a ps3, and not for those who derive sport from trolling those who are?

I think you're aware of both of those things. ;)

One final thought, can you point out a $200 linux box that will also play Resistance: Fall of Man? You'd probably make some friends on this forum if you could.

[Schnoogs]

Are you aware that the $499 PS3 runs linux just as well as the $599 version?

Are you aware that this is a thread for people interested in running linux on a ps3, and not for those who derive sport from trolling those who are?

I think you're aware of both of those things. ;)

One final thought, can you point out a $200 linux box that will also play Resistance: Fall of Man? You'd probably make some friends on this forum if you could.

Nothing sadder than someone who doesn't realize they're being made fun of and instead they respond with a serious post :rolleyes:

[Schnoogs]

can you point out a $200 linux box that will also play Resistance: Fall of Man? You'd probably make some friends on this forum if you could.

Can you point out a $200 console that will play Resistance: Fall of Man??

Oh wait...the PS3 is $600....but it would be a steal at $200! ;)

[51|RandoM]

cluttering up every thread with your childish amusements is a disservice to the people actually interested in the topics at hand.

But you *know* that, which is why you're doing it, obviously. Just another griefer reveling in Internet anonymity, I suppose.

[Wolvie]

LOL, random just keeps making friends. LMFAO!!!!

[Schnoogs]

cluttering up every thread with your childish amusements is a disservice to the people actually interested in the topics at hand.

But you *know* that, which is why you're doing it, obviously. Just another griefer reveling in Internet anonymity, I suppose.

You talking to me or yourself?

Denial...you got to love it!!!!! ;)

[Wolvie]

Schnoogs, stop talking to the guy, your just feeding the troll. Just Iggy him like everyone else does, and walk away. Your just wasting your time.

[Schnoogs]

Schnoogs, stop talking to the guy, your just feeding the troll. Just Iggy him like everyone else does, and walk away. Your just wasting your time.

I agree...

[TheEpicOfTyler]

Jesus Christ, Schnoogs, is it possible for you to enter a PS3 related thread without being a fucking moron?

[Shjinta]

Jesus Christ, Schnoogs, is it possible for you to enter a PS3 related thread without being a fucking moron?

No...I don't think so...

[Wolvie]

Damn there's a shit storm of PS3 vs. 360 flamming going down tonight... It's like GameFaqs all over again! Oh the horror, the horror...

[Dracula-X]

It's great how not one decent ps3 post, especially one designed to be informative and helpful, can go by without some douchebag trolls derailing it.

[mightbe]

I really hope that they can allow more transparent access to the console hardware. The 256mb memory limit is rather bunk if you ask me.

Nothing really came from the PS2 Linux but this seems a bit more robust. Maybe we'll see some improvements.

And also you talked about partitioning 20 and 60Gb HDDs. What if you bring your own to the party? Does it have to have one 10GB and one partition for the rest of the space?

[Neosho]

I'm curious as to what the actual use is for this, beyond "OMG LINUX ON XYZ!"

I mean, linux users are obessed with that shit...but does this have a purpose beyond e-peen bragging rights? If you can get it to do something cool, like run mathmatica or something, and it's all uber fast, sweet...but no 3d accel?

Open office, MP3, video players, and Firefox are included as the basics.

You can map the PS3 controller to work as a keyboard on most game software.

The X-Arcade stick with USB add on also works.

It includes a C++ compiler and library, while not as robust as XNA or even that old PSone home dev kit it is there and should lead to a lot of neat things. A million monkeys err coders or something, right?

1920 x 1080 firefox browsing rules.

All of these things are things that a normal computer would do much better...

Honestly, i'm not trying to troll...but there really doesn't seem to be a real purpose to this beyond the typical "i must put linux on everything" geek drive.

[Gideon Ransom]

Can you point out a $200 console that will play Resistance: Fall of Man??

Oh wait...the PS3 is $600....but it would be a steal at $200! ;)

Let me be the first to point out that having an orange name will not keep you from being banned for trolling. And let me further point out that this is your only warning.

I've seen the exact same PS3 troll from you now in two different threads.

[saneman]

All of these things are things that a normal computer would do much better...

Honestly, i'm not trying to troll...but there really doesn't seem to be a real purpose to this beyond the typical "i must put linux on everything" geek drive.

What is this platform like for developing something like.. say.. XBMC? If it could make something that useful (of course, without having to boot into a full linux desktop system first) that would be incredible. It would also remove one reason for getting a modchip installed.

[Borys]

Oh for fuck's sake... can God please cleanse this place from anti-Sony trolls?

It's unreadable since November 2005, when Xbox 360 launched.

[Rirath]

Let me be the first to point out that having an orange name will not keep you from being banned for trolling. And let me further point out that this is your only warning.

I've seen the exact same PS3 troll from you now in two different threads.

Oh come on, with the stuff people get away with around here this is hardly all that bad. Frankly, he has a point. This is great if you have a PS3 and have nothing better to do, but frankly it doesn't have a lot of use. It's certainly not a system seller or anything. The PS3 will do fine eventually, but for now it's the PS2's launch all over again.

There's no need to be threatening the banhammer over this. And for the record, I found the "passed on a PS3" thread to be quite informative. Many of us either don't want to, or don't have time to follow all the tidbits. It's nice to see the points summed up and debated.

[Yeti2005]

I really hope that they can allow more transparent access to the console hardware. The 256mb memory limit is rather bunk if you ask me.

Nothing really came from the PS2 Linux but this seems a bit more robust. Maybe we'll see some improvements.

And also you talked about partitioning 20 and 60Gb HDDs. What if you bring your own to the party? Does it have to have one 10GB and one partition for the rest of the space?

I think Linux can only access 256mb of memory because that's all the PS3 has for "general" ram. I thought the other 256mb was the video ram. I could be wrong but I thought that was one difference between the PS3 and 360 (separate memory architecture vs unified).

Edit: While I don't have a PS3, these "how to" threads are informative. Keep up the good work Rambilin.

[rein]

Rambilin, or anyone else who might know.

Is there a time frame for when you will be able to partition the drive a little different than the 10/50? I would hate to have 10GB left over for the PS3 games side of things and 10GB could limit Linux too. I want to play around with this but I wouldn't mind waiting until they have a few limitations removed.

[51|RandoM]

All of these things are things that a normal computer would do much better...

Honestly, i'm not trying to troll...but there really doesn't seem to be a real purpose to this beyond the typical "i must put linux on everything" geek drive.

It is the only easy way for the average Joe to test any code on a Cell processor. Lots of non-videogame programmers are very interested in doing so, especially in terms of scientific computing where it looks like the Cell is going to be a beast.

It is also about adding functionality to the platform. Sure, you might not want to be able to check e-mail, fire up OpenOffice for a bit of word processing, or any of the other bazillion mundane tasks one might accomplish from a linux desktop... but you could if you had to for some reason... say perhaps your main rig was down in the middle of the upgrade and you needed to research something online or download a new driver/bios...or somebody else was using your main rig and you didn't want to interrupt their session just to check e-mail...

Lastly, the support of Linux allows people to write software that turns the console into something else. Maybe you want it to be a mediaserver when you're not gaming? Easily done with Linux(might be easily done in the PS3's OS as well, I don't know, but you still might want to do it differently just to add support for mediatypes the ps3 does not support).

[Corngood]

I think Linux can only access 256mb of memory because that's all the PS3 has for "general" ram. I thought the other 256mb was the video ram. I could be wrong but I thought that was one difference between the PS3 and 360 (separate memory architecture vs unified).

Edit: While I don't have a PS3, these "how to" threads are informative. Keep up the good work Rambilin.

You're right about the RAM, think of it like a PC with 256MB of main ram and a 256MB video card. It's alright for games, but 512MB unified memory would be better for general computing.

[TheSolidHair]

My friend and I did this the other day on his PS3. Still haven't gotten wireless to work yet, but that takes time. I haven't used my of linux ever, but I might have to put it on my PS3 too.

[muddi900]

Is it the fully functional version of Firefox? Or Does it have the same limitations as the PS3 browser.

[thecrazyd]

Let me be the first to point out that having an orange name will not keep you from being banned for trolling. And let me further point out that this is your only warning.

I've seen the exact same PS3 troll from you now in two different threads.
Thank you for warning him! Schnoogs is the first person I have seriously contemplated putting on my ignore list.

[Taco]

Lastly, the support of Linux allows people to write software that turns the console into something else. Maybe you want it to be a mediaserver when you're not gaming? Easily done with Linux(might be easily done in the PS3's OS as well, I don't know, but you still might want to do it differently just to add support for mediatypes the ps3 does not support).

This is what would appeal to me if I had a PS3. I've been considering putting a media PC together, but if I had a PS3 I'd be looking at that as an option instead.

[51|RandoM]

My friend and I did this the other day on his PS3. Still haven't gotten wireless to work yet, but that takes time.

YDL doesn't have drivers for the PS3's wireless network hardware. According to their webpage they do have beta code from Sony that they're working with, so it would appear that drivers are coming eventually.

[Schnoogs]

Let me be the first to point out that having an orange name will not keep you from being banned for trolling. And let me further point out that this is your only warning.

I've seen the exact same PS3 troll from you now in two different threads.

Edited so that 51|Random can read along...

Technically it wasn't a PS3 trolling...I was trolling 51|Random ....there is a difference.

Warning noted...I'll dial it down a few hundred notches!

[51|RandoM]

Technically it wasn't a PS3 trolling...it's a 51|Random trolling....there is a difference.

Warning noted...I'll dial it down a few hundred notches!


...which is why you got a warning and I didn't. curious...

[Rambilin]

I'm curious as to what the actual use is for this, beyond "OMG LINUX ON XYZ!"

I mean, linux users are obessed with that shit...but does this have a purpose beyond e-peen bragging rights? If you can get it to do something cool, like run mathmatica or something, and it's all uber fast, sweet...but no 3d accel?



All of these things are things that a normal computer would do much better...

Honestly, i'm not trying to troll...but there really doesn't seem to be a real purpose to this beyond the typical "i must put linux on everything" geek drive.


Well there is always the epeen factor for getting something to work :), but seriously if you own a DLP monitor of any size it is basically the same quality as a computer monitor. I have seen HTPCs run on duel Nvida PCI hardware at 1280 x 720 and 1920 x 1080 and it is a site to behold on 42-71" screens. The problem is you need a beast of a system to run modern PC games (2 top end Nvida cards still run 1k+) plus you'll want a nice duo core CPU from Intel or AMD, plus a couple gigs of ram, and all the other stuff. Plus if you want it in your living room you want it quiet so add another couple hundred for a good water cooling system.

The $600 PS3 can do 1920 x 1080 essentially out of the box, and for the programs I have gotten to work on it so far which unfortunately are only a couple of emulators (I am trying to get some Quake 1 Team Fortress going but my linux is more than a little rusty)

Plus the developer community of Linux is huge and it is possible to run wrappers (DX through openGL for example, sometimes at least) to get other programs to work. Look what is going on with the PSP and amplify that several times and that is the excitement.

[Rambilin]

Rambilin, or anyone else who might know.

Is there a time frame for when you will be able to partition the drive a little different than the 10/50? I would hate to have 10GB left over for the PS3 games side of things and 10GB could limit Linux too. I want to play around with this but I wouldn't mind waiting until they have a few limitations removed.


It is all up to Sony at the moment. If someone figures out how to directly access the game OS it could change, but boy that could lead to some bricks if you take out the wrong thing.

Also, on the formatting I forgot to mention it does not affect your user accounts. It must have some on board memory for storing that information.

[Schnoogs]

Well there is always the epeen factor for getting something to work :), but seriously if you own a DLP monitor of any size it is basically the same quality as a computer monitor. I have seen HTPCs run on duel Nvida PCI hardware at 1280 x 720 and 1920 x 1080 and it is a site to behold on 42-71" screens. The problem is you need a beast of a system to run modern PC games (2 top end Nvida cards still run 1k+) plus you'll want a nice duo core CPU from Intel or AMD, plus a couple gigs of ram, and all the other stuff. Plus if you want it in your living room you want it quiet so add another couple hundred for a good water cooling system.

The $600 PS3 can do 1920 x 1080 essentially out of the box, and for the programs I have gotten to work on it so far which unfortunately are only a couple of emulators (I am trying to get some Quake 1 Team Fortress going but my linux is more than a little rusty)

Plus the developer community of Linux is huge and it is possible to run wrappers (DX through openGL for example, sometimes at least) to get other programs to work. Look what is going on with the PSP and amplify that several times and that is the excitement.

Quake 1 probably won't be a good selling point for going this route...The PS1 was fast enough to power Quake 1. I don't think many people will install linux so that they can use 8 Cell Processors and a cutting edge video card to play Quake 1.

I see the ONLY appeal of doing this is to satisfy the inner nerd. It's a cool thing to do becuase it requires some technical expertise.

[Rambilin]

It is the only easy way for the average Joe to test any code on a Cell processor. Lots of non-videogame programmers are very interested in doing so, especially in terms of scientific computing where it looks like the Cell is going to be a beast.



Exactly! One of my favorite programs for analysis is called Stata, an old text based statistics tool. It is extremely powerful for regressions, matrices, forecasting, survival analysis, and much much more. The only problem is now that I'm not a student it is close to $2k for me to go up to version 9 which supports multi threading :(. I know the formulas, I know a little C++, linux can read my ASCII database, maybe I can get some of my own formula's into it. The project I am currently working on is approaching a gig of just variables so you can imagine how long it takes to process on a single core machine. I am curious though (besides if I can do beyond "hello world!") how much the extra cell cores will help with so little memory.

[Rambilin]

Quake 1 probably won't be a good selling point for going this route...The PS1 was fast enough to power Quake 1. I don't think many people will install linux so that they can use 8 Cell Processors and a cutting edge video card to play Quake 1.

I see the ONLY appeal of doing this is to satisfy the inner nerd. It's a cool thing to do becuase it requires some technical expertise.

Heh my inner nerd is very happy, but look at the big picture. If someone with a lot more talent than me can get one or more of the 6 cores to act as an OpenGL accelerator starting with quake 1 that could lead the way to other OpenGL titles, Wolfenstein, Unreal, etc. It could eventually lead to a DX wrapper which would open up a lot of windows software. It could all end up being a pipe dream until the 256mb limit is broken, but is very interesting.

[Rambilin]

My friend and I did this the other day on his PS3. Still haven't gotten wireless to work yet, but that takes time. I haven't used my of linux ever, but I might have to put it on my PS3 too.

There is a way to get it to work from the command line, but I can't find the link. It was on QJ.net (which has some really obnoxious ads) if I come across it I will post it.

[Schnoogs]

Heh my inner nerd is very happy, but look at the big picture. If someone with a lot more talent than me can get one or more of the 6 cores to act as an OpenGL accelerator starting with quake 1 that could lead the way to other OpenGL titles, Wolfenstein, Unreal, etc. It could eventually lead to a DX wrapper which would open up a lot of windows software. It could all end up being a pipe dream until the 256mb limit is broken, but is very interesting.

As a technical challange its very cool...I'll give it that for sure.

I just think the average gamer already has a windows PC capable of playing all of those games so I dont see the incentive to play things on the PS3.

I'l definitly follow this though...if I ever get a PS3 in a couple of years this might be a cool thing to mess with. The only thing that really interests me is developing code for the consoles...XNA is a godsend. I hope something like that comes out for the PS3.

[lost]

I'd really like a Wii version of these guides.

I've got mine all set up and such but if theres tips and tricks I'd love to know them.

[claws]

The cores thing is interesting - I don't know if they're at all general purpose, or just specialised vector units, but I guess it's more like a DSP where you need a monster compiler (or to go to assembly language) to get any decent performance out of the thing. I'd love to know what pure CPU performance for general tasks is like. Anybody tried it?

Also, does anyone know if they plan to release chip documentation for the audio/graphics components? They held an awful lot back for the PS2 Linux, and without being able to use the full power of the PS3 it's nowhere near as fun. If you have to do all the good stuff in software through the cores, it's a bit sad.

[Schnoogs]

Those cores are not general purpose and from what I've read are more analogous to vector units.

wikipedia has a great write up on the PS3's various processing components.

[51|RandoM]

The cores thing is interesting - I don't know if they're at all general purpose, or just specialised vector units, but I guess it's more like a DSP where you need a monster compiler (or to go to assembly language) to get any decent performance out of the thing.

You really need that monster compiler. Ars has a brief write-up on IBM's Octopiler (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060225-6265.html), and another straight from the horse's mouth (http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/research_projects.nsf/pages/cellcompiler.index.html).

The gist of their testing with the new compiler is that having the compiler divide up the work between the SPEs instead of having the PPE do it yields an average speedup factor of 7.7.

[claws]

That 7.7 is rather misleading, being as it's based on optimisation of a benchmark. These compilers tend to be really good at that, strangely, but not so good at all at 'real world' problems, unless you manage to kludge the code around to look sufficiently like one of those nice benchmarks. But thanks for the information - I guess the PS3 Linux ships with GCC?

Incidentally, I guess that Ars's Tier I/II programmers are going to be in huge demand (since III won't get any performance worth a damn, and Tier IV is totally impractical). Assembly language is back in town!

[51|RandoM]

Yeah, YDL ships with GCC.

[Hitoriga]

I have had my share of problems installing Linux, as will most people. My problem is that YDL has a stronger support for 720p, which of course makes it tough for those without it to get linux functional. I had to jump through hoops and look up a lot of forums to find the answers I needed to get my PS3/Linux to run with a gui.

I suggest that people only use their PS3/Linux with TVs that support 720p, otherwise, you are going to have a tough time using it as a simple desktop computer. I am thinking about buying a widescreen monitor, and getting an HDMI->DVI converter so that I can run PS3/Linux on 720p. I am assuming of course, most normal 19" widescreen monitors support 720p because of the conversion. Any thoughts?

On the bright side, I have notice a lot of neat things, like Eclipse. A godsend for programmers to own. Once I get my monitor, I will be doing some cell-openGL testing. I saw the "helloworld" code for the cell, and its pretty scary. Anyone else seen it?

[51|RandoM]

I had to jump through hoops and look up a lot of forums to find the answers I needed to get my PS3/Linux to run with a gui.


http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/solutions/ydl_5.0/video-config.shtml

It isn't hard to change resolution at all, you just have to know how. This link does a pretty good job of explaining it.

...and frankly, that isn't the pain in the ass that Xfreex86 is on some occassions.

[epyon]

Damn there's a shit storm of PS3 vs. 360 flamming going down tonight....
heh. Why flame ps3 or 360? There both good systems. I got all three (next gen) :)
Its nice to see that at least some cooler things are being brought to the table this next gen; seems a little bit more easier and cheaper this time to put Linux on a Sony console.
edit: to try to keep it more on topic.

[shnastybiznastic]

You know, I bet Enlightenment looks fucking fantastic in 1080p. Not my workspace of choice, but widescreen desktops could be really usable. What all have you managed to compile so far, Ramblin?

[mightbe]

You know, I bet Enlightenment looks fucking fantastic in 1080p. Not my workspace of choice, but widescreen desktops could be really usable. What all have you managed to compile so far, Ramblin?
Oh they sure are! I've been using one for almost three years now.

[lepht]

Only 6 of the eight Cell cores are accessable



Unfortunately this appears to be a permanent limitation, not something that will be eventually fixed. One cell of eight is completely disabled, to help with chip yields. Apparently at this point it's much easier to manufacturer a cell chip will 7 functional cores than it is to get all 8 working. The other unaccessible cell is permanently (at least with the current firmware) locked into Sony's OS, to allow it to deal with networking, etc. while user software is being run. I can't wait to see what some of the demo-scene coders can do with that much floating point power even with only 6 cores, I think we'll see some amazing physics demos.

[Neosho]

Well there is always the epeen factor for getting something to work :), but seriously if you own a DLP monitor of any size it is basically the same quality as a computer monitor. I have seen HTPCs run on duel Nvida PCI hardware at 1280 x 720 and 1920 x 1080 and it is a site to behold on 42-71" screens. The problem is you need a beast of a system to run modern PC games (2 top end Nvida cards still run 1k+) plus you'll want a nice duo core CPU from Intel or AMD, plus a couple gigs of ram, and all the other stuff. Plus if you want it in your living room you want it quiet so add another couple hundred for a good water cooling system.
Seems like a 8800 can run most of the modern games at that rez at a playable rate...not trying to start flamewars or anything here, but if you've got a working computer, you can drop a beefy v-card in, two gigs of ram, and a decent processor you shouldn't have any problems running at that rez. I've got a friend with a 7800 and a dell 24'' widescreen monitor that supports 1920x1080 and it runs everything just fine. His is also really quiet, despite being fan cooled...good cases and good fans go a long, long way toward making a case quiet. So does cable management for better airflow. As a note, i'm posting this on a ShuttleX mini lan case hooked up to a 60 in Samsung DLP TV (I don't know shit about TV stuff, sorry) that all of his consoles and such are hooked up to as well. It's nice to posat on something like this, but i prefer the 24 in monitor or the 30 that his brother has. It's just more managable.

The $600 PS3 can do 1920 x 1080 essentially out of the box, and for the programs I have gotten to work on it so far which unfortunately are only a couple of emulators (I am trying to get some Quake 1 Team Fortress going but my linux is more than a little rusty)
Right, but will it run anything more modern? I could run Q1TF on this machine with no problems...but again, bigger != better when it comes to screens. I find that 24 inches is the sweet spot for gaming for me, and 30 inches would be nice for work related stuff. Not being able to take in the entire image in a single eye focus point can really detract from your FPS experience. I'm sure in some other games it'd be uber though.

Plus the developer community of Linux is huge and it is possible to run wrappers (DX through openGL for example, sometimes at least) to get other programs to work. Look what is going on with the PSP and amplify that several times and that is the excitement.
That's pretty cool...it's just that i don't see linux on a PS3 doing anything that linux on a computer could do already. For me, it's a question of what you get out of it...and if for you, the journey is the reason to do it, then power to you...just not for me :)

[Schnoogs]

30 inches would be nice for work related stuff. Not being able to take in the entire image in a single eye focus point can really detract from your FPS experience. I'm sure in some other games it'd be uber

I got the Dell 30" for xmas...so far I've played all of the most recent FPS's on it and they all look sick.

HL2 runs like butter at 2560x1600 and looks breathtaking. It was a bit overwhelming at first but now I can't go back to anything smaller! ;)