Released on Sunday. Just wondered if any ydl.net folks downloaded and installed yet? I'm very tempted to drop the $70 bones for the ydl.net acct to get my hands on it right away but common sense is telling me to wait till XMAS when it'll be available for free.

Here's the installation guide btw.......(UPDATED LINK)



http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ydl5.0_ps3_guide.pdf

Released on Sunday. Just wondered if any ydl.net folks downloaded and installed yet? I'm very tempted to drop the $70 bones for the ydl.net acct to get my hands on it right away but common sense is telling me to wait till XMAS when it'll be available for free.

Here's the installation guide btw.......

http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ydl5.0_guide.pdf

I would hope someone would try this now and let us know, but I suspect people don't want to pay for it now when it could be free, although the $70 for this ydl.net account I think also provides tech support, but I could be wrong.

I might actually splurge on it (getting my replacement PS3 today), and if I do, I'll report back here.

Until Sony lets Linux access the RSX, I really have no interest. My main curiosity with Linux is streaming media files from another computer on the network. Until this is possible I'm hardly tempted to install a free distro, let alone pay for one.

Until Sony lets Linux access the RSX, I really have no interest. My main curiosity with Linux is streaming media files from another computer on the network. Until this is possible I'm hardly tempted to install a free distro, let alone pay for one.

You can already do this, don't need the RSX to play video files over a network.

I doubt Sony will ever offically give access to the RSX, since that is the only thing keeping pirated games from running under linux.
I suspect its only a matter of time before the hacking community works around that though.

darusgrey, I do not have the PS3 - but am interested in using it as a media server. How can you play DVDs (iso's, VOBs, menu support , etc) with the PS3 over the network? I am pretty sure it doesn't upscale either. I would have thought the Linux route would help address that - maybe. Sounds like you say you can do this "natively".

Paul

I'm downloading the LINUX image right now. My PS3 will be here tomorrow, so I'll give it a shot ASAP

darusgrey, I do not have the PS3 - but am interested in using it as a media server. How can you play DVDs (iso's, VOBs, menu support , etc) with the PS3 over the network? I am pretty sure it doesn't upscale either. I would have thought the Linux route would help address that - maybe. Sounds like you say you can do this "natively".

Using any dozens of video programs just like you do a PC.
Linux is just another OS, it isn't bizzaro world :p

I personally use VLC(It doesn't upscale, but I'm sure theres one that does somewhere).

Has anyone on the internet posted impressions of the Linux playback capabilities yet? Can the framebuffer driver output 30 or 60 frames per second consistently? I know there could still be CPU troubles decoding some videos because much of the software hasn't been optimized for the PS3 at this point. But can the current video driver system keep up with full screen playback without tearing and stuttering?

I've installed it but haven't had a chance to play with it much now. I've posted it on the newsgroups, so feel free to download it and try it out. I think some people have started seeding torrents as well

I've installed it but haven't had a chance to play with it much now. I've posted it on the newsgroups, so feel free to download it and try it out. I think some people have started seeding torrents as well

havent seen it seeded anywhere since i last checked

Downloading it now...hopefully it's finished by the time I get off work today

im dl'in a torrent. 3.33gb. Hope its the one.
yellowdog-5.0-phoenix-20061127-PS3.iso

I've installed it but haven't had a chance to play with it much now. I've posted it on the newsgroups, so feel free to download it and try it out. I think some people have started seeding torrents as well
I was looking for this on newsgroups last night, could tell me what group this was uploaded to? Thanks

It's on a.b.warez.linux

Thanks a lot for posting to the groups. Much appreciated!

You can already do this, don't need the RSX to play video files over a network.

I doubt Sony will ever offically give access to the RSX, since that is the only thing keeping pirated games from running under linux.
I suspect its only a matter of time before the hacking community works around that though.

So I can stream the countless xvid avi files I have on a computer in my network to the PS3 if I use Linux? Straight out of the box, just install Linux and a VLC RPM or something?

So I can stream the countless xvid avi files I have on a computer in my network to the PS3 if I use Linux? Straight out of the box, just install Linux and a VLC RPM or something?

That's what I'll be testing out in a few hours

How easy was the install? Seems like the Fedora installation required downloading some files and some other BS.

I would assume since this was designed for PS3, you just pop in the disk and do the install other OS on the XMB, right? Thanks and I too am looking forward to comments from people who have this installed to see how it goes, as a functioning linux PC, HTPC (how video/audio playback is, whether it be divx, simple mpeg's/avi's, or SD DVD's.

So I can stream the countless xvid avi files I have on a computer in my network to the PS3 if I use Linux? Straight out of the box, just install Linux and a VLC RPM or something?

VLC might be getting built for PPC Linux out of the box, it might not. Although considering it is getting built for PPC MacOS X, it should have a fair amount of support for the vector unit and CPU optimizations already. Just nothing for the SPEs.

How easy was the install? Seems like the Fedora installation required downloading some files and some other BS.

I would assume since this was designed for PS3, you just pop in the disk and do the install other OS on the XMB, right? Thanks and I too am looking forward to comments from people who have this installed to see how it goes, as a functioning linux PC, HTPC (how video/audio playback is, whether it be divx, simple mpeg's/avi's, or SD DVD's.

The installation guide is posted above. .pdf format. Seems pretty easy. I'll hopefully be able to test it tonight (20% downloaded so far).

The installation guide is posted above. .pdf format. Seems pretty easy. I'll hopefully be able to test it tonight (20% downloaded so far).

The link is dead. Probably TerraSoft is irked that their DVD iso's, for YDL.net customers only, are being put up on **********.

The link is dead. Probably TerraSoft is irked that their DVD iso's, for YDL.net customers only, are being put up on **********.

Then again, it's free, so what can they say?

Then again, it's free, so what can they say?


Their whole point is that if you want it now, you pay now. It will be free later.

It's like Halo 2 when you had to buy maps that would later become free. If you get the maps now, for no cost, they will be ticked off.

P.S. I am curious to hear any comments generally about YDL 5.0 on PS3. What have you been able to do so far?

Here are two shakey-cam videos of YDL on PS3. The 1st is the tail end of the install and 1st boot with some desktop apps running with working WiFi. The 2nd video shows a quicktime movie playing back and while playing, the user is moving the window around. It looks promising.
http://ps3mods.blogspot.com/2006/11/yellow-dog-linux-videos-on-ps3.html

A better video playback demo on FC5 on this video:
http://www.warp2search.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30726
Video stuff starts out about the 3/4 mark.

The guy said a few things that aren't correct but the VLC playback seems to work in any case.

http://www.warp2search.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30726Yeah wow, looks pretty good to me. He says it's "not quite there yet".

But, skip to about 75-80% and he plays a fullscreen HD video (I guess it's HD) over the network (WIRED network, he says wireless doesn't work yet) from a Mac.

http://home.comcast.net/~j.walkup/ps3_hdvideo_linux.jpg

Downloading tonight. Will get to install it at some point in the next few days.

Yeah wow, looks pretty good to me. He says it's "not quite there yet".

But, skip to about 75-80% and he plays a fullscreen HD video (I guess it's HD) over the network (WIRED network, he says wireless doesn't work yet) from a Mac.
For the wi-fi, it sounds like that might be a problem for the Fedora Core 5 installs but it sounds like it's tweaked in YDL to work. Perhaps it's just a simple driver problem with the current FC5 DVDs?

From what I can tell, there's still a CPU problem decoding HD videos, not a problem displaying them. But we really need some hardcore HTPC people with a PS3 to verify what works and what doesn't.

I really hope Sony is going to improve the level of graphics acceleration available to Linux but at this point I believe the PS3 is going meet my media and emulation needs. I guess we still don't know if Linux can output 5.1 sound or if it's just stereo. But at least video-wise the framebuffer is not as bad as it sounds.

Well, I've got YDL up and running on my PS3. Pretty snazzy. It runs surprisingly well. I haven't used LINUX in ages, so I'm still trying to get re-adjusted. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Can you try out VLC playback of video files at full screen? Do they skip or otherwise not playback correctly?

PS- Do you have any Xvid files or something similar? Any with high-ish (for SD video) bitrate, such as anything over 2000Kbps?

I'm actually trying to install VLC right now. It's reminding me why I haven't used LINUX in a while lol. Getting lots of config errors. I think YDL is going to be missing a ton of the necessary libraries. Hopefully someone will release an RPM installer soon because I'm about to call it a night.

Does YDL not include some kind of tool to install apps like this? I pretty much stick to Gentoo so I don't know much about rpms or apt or whatever else exists.

What was installed by default in YDL? Did it come with any video players out of the box? Maybe mplayer or xine/oxine?

so, with linux

if oyu have an externall HDD, and bought a USB TV tuner....... could you turn PS3 in to a fully functional PVR?

yes

Anyone try Bibble Pro yet? If I can surf the web and use Bibble that's all
I need/want form the PS3 and Linux.

Here's another video of Fedora Core 6 supposedly playing a 720p Xvid video in full screen. It's in Divx format and I don't have their web plugin installed so I can't view it.
http://stage6.divx.com/members/246437/videos/1042281

can i install this on my pc first to get used to the commands etc? or does it need to be a mac or something? havent ever even touched linux.

also, if installed on the ps3, how do you uninstall it so everything is back to the way it was with the gameOS.

Can you set it up so it still boots to the gameOS and you can boot up linux as an option?

UPDATED LINK.....

http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ydl5.0_ps3_guide.pdf

I can't wait to pick up a PS3 at the beginning of the year because of Linux. I can turn it into my all-in-one machine and play PS1, PS2, and PS3 games on the GameOS side and run emulators to play NES, SNES, MAME, etc. games on the Linux side. And I can do this without hacking my system. Sweet.

I can't wait to pick up a PS3 at the beginning of the year because of Linux. I can turn it into my all-in-one machine and play PS1, PS2, and PS3 games on the GameOS side and run emulators to play NES, SNES, MAME, etc. games on the Linux side. And I can do this without hacking my system. Sweet.

As long as you don't mind stealing roms for the emulators, hopefully you'll be good to go in due time.

can i install this on my pc first to get used to the commands etc? or does it need to be a mac or something? havent ever even touched linux.

also, if installed on the ps3, how do you uninstall it so everything is back to the way it was with the gameOS.

Can you set it up so it still boots to the gameOS and you can boot up linux as an option?

From what I've read, you can delete the LINUX partition and have that data be restored back to the GameOS partition.

To answer your boot question, it's a little screwy. You choose to either boot to GameOS or OtherOS by default. You cannot load OtherOS from within the GameOS currently. So basically if you want to use the OtherOS period, you have to set it to be the default. After it loads to the KBOOT screen (which is actually decently quick), you can then use the "boot-game-os" command to load your GameOS.

How are things going TwinTurboJosh?

I think one of the most pressing issue is how video playback works with YDL. In particular, high-def content (being the most system-taxing) is of interest to me. Files encoded with H.264/MPEG-4 often appear as .MKV files in newsgroups. Right now there is a small (approx 25 mb file) sample of Heroes Season 1 Episode 10 (which aired free to air) in alt.binaries.hdtv.x264. There's also a sample of Stargate Atlantis 3x11 available too. If you could download and try playing either of these I think we'd all really appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

From what I've read, you can delete the LINUX partition and have that data be restored back to the GameOS partition.

To answer your boot question, it's a little screwy. You choose to either boot to GameOS or OtherOS by default. You cannot load OtherOS from within the GameOS currently. So basically if you want to use the OtherOS period, you have to set it to be the default. After it loads to the KBOOT screen (which is actually decently quick), you can then use the "boot-game-os" command to load your GameOS.


ok thanks i think i got it. but just to make sure, i only want to mess around sometimes with linux. So I want my gameos to start every time i power on the system.

Your saying at first, after installation, the ps3 will boot linux every time on power-on. Then at this kboot screen or prompt or whatever it is, i type boot-game-os and press enter. That will then make the ps3 boot the gameos upon power-on EVERYTIME? or just the next time?

Basically i want to only boot to gameOS and run linux when i feel like messing around.

I would like the same type of setup TR11, but it's not set up to work quite like that. From what I can tell, basically you'll have to boot into Linux, then on the next reboot type boot-game-os, then in the XMB set the boot option to GameOS. Should boot into GameOS until you set it to Linux...

Your saying at first, after installation, the ps3 will boot linux every time on power-on. Then at this kboot screen or prompt or whatever it is, i type boot-game-os and press enter. That will then make the ps3 boot the gameos upon power-on EVERYTIME? or just the next time?

According to the YDL install manual, boot-game-os will only boot the GameOS that one time. Once you are in the GameOS you can then set it so that the GameOS is your default OS. However, after I ran 'boot-game-os' I then went to the settings in the GameOS and the GameOS had already been back to default. I'm not sure if 'boot-game-os' had made that change, or if something else I had done made that change (the manual also mentions that holding down the power button for 2 seconds upon boot makes that same change).

Right now I have the GameOS set as my default, and I likely won't boot back into YDL until an installer is released for VLC. A friend of mine is a real LINUX nerd, and he really wants to take a look and is pretty confident he can get the necessary libraries up and running for VLC.

Good work guys.. I'm keeping my eye on this thread as streaming XVID enconded AVI's to a PS3 or 360 is probably the number one thing on my HT list right now..

Good work guys.. I'm keeping my eye on this thread as streaming XVID enconded AVI's to a PS3 or 360 is probably the number one thing on my HT list right now..

Same. That one article says that you should be able to stream 1080 video files with at least a 40mbps connection, which works if you are on a LAN, obviously. Or live in Hong Kong. ;)

Does YDL not include some kind of tool to install apps like this? I pretty much stick to Gentoo so I don't know much about rpms or apt or whatever else exists.


I am wondering this too. I've used RPM's before, and I know that on Fedora/Red Hat, they have something kind of like APT called yum.

1.) Does YDL 5.0 use RPM?

2.) If so, does it have yum installed or has anyone tried to install yum?

3.) If so, any luck with installing software via yum?

My hope is that when I get YDL 5.0 on my PS3, the first thing I'll do it check to see if there is yum. If not, I'll d/l it and install via rpm. Then using yum I'll get its graphical frontend, yumex. Then, just like synaptic on debian based distros, I hope to be able to go to town getting and easily installing tons of software for my PS3.

Anything wrong in this thinking? Thanks!

its crazy that how if you havent ever used linux AT ALL before, you have really no idea what anybody else is talking about haha (talking about myself).

Yea, yum is the package manager for YDL. I managed to find the source of the vid with the guy running 720p vids on YDL, and traced it back to the UK equivalent of this forum :D

Some of the things you have to do are a little complicated for myself, but some of you LINUX guys should be able to take care of this no problem. Here's the thread:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=431607

I never got the hang of yum, mostly because everyone I knew used Gentoo/FreeBSD and APT. I even struggled with RPMs of really simple stuff. I couldn't get something to play mp3s. :(

Then my Linux machine died and I haven't tried since.

Yea, yum is the package manager for YDL. I managed to find the source of the vid with the guy running 720p vids on YDL, and traced it back to the UK equivalent of this forum :D

Some of the things you have to do are a little complicated for myself, but some of you LINUX guys should be able to take care of this no problem. Here's the thread:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=431607

Great then if yum is the package manager for YDL, if you don't already have yumex, the graphical frontend, you should get it because it makes installation of software easy.

I never got the hang of yum, mostly because everyone I knew used Gentoo/FreeBSD and APT. I even struggled with RPMs of really simple stuff. I couldn't get something to play mp3s. :(

Then my Linux machine died and I haven't tried since.

Well if you know APT, then you know synpatic probably (the graphical frontend of APT)

yumex works the same way with yum. In fact, yumex feels very much like synaptic, and yum feels get much like apt.

I wasn't aware of yumex at the time. The command line owned me. I had the right commands but it just always seemed to have some sort of problem.

Need some help. I've burned the iso to a DVD and when I get to the kboot prompt and select either "install" or "installext", my screen just "blinks". I can't see a damn thing to proceed with the install. Any thoughts? I'm using a Vizio 50" plasma set at 720p. I'm going to burn the DVD at 2x rather than "fastest possible" to see if that helps.

EDIT: Burning at 2x did the trick. Installing now.

so, I got it installed....... but I have no idea how to do anything like install things :(
I'm a complete linux noob

I've spent MAYBE and hour in Gentoo and Knoppix before but that's it

Go to that UK AVS thread already posted Viper. Some good info there.

NO wifi connectivity? WTF??? Please tell me someone with YDL on a wifi unit has gotten online and post how. Read on the YDL forums that ethernet cable was the only way. Say it ain't so!

I was looking for setup for wifi also. I've installed Fedora 5, and then formated the drive and installed YDL after grabbing it from the newsgroups.
The install was quick and easy. Well, I don't know about quick. I started the setup and went to bed. Everything was done in the morning.

But just like Fedora there was no wireless. I didn't have the time that morning to go through all the different network cards to see if anything would work, and I've not see what type of wireless card is in the PS3 yet. But I wouldn't be to fond of putting out a switch to split the connection between my 360 and PS3 just to have Linux running.

If it doesn't work, how about trying a USB-Wi-Fi adapter.

IGN has done a review of TDL on the PS3. In it, they mention it comes with a media player called "Titan" (which they say requires plugins for different media formats but does not come with any). Anyone heard of this software before? Google doesn't list it for me.

Man those guys at IGN are clueless.

The media player is actually "Totem" and not "Titan"

Try mplayer and vlc.

If you need help join the YD irc at irc.freenode.net #yellowdog

Try mplayer and vlc.

If you need help join the YD irc at irc.freenode.net #yellowdog

Have you personally installed VLC yet? The instructions on the UK AV forum were over my head. I hope someone on that channel has made a step-by-step FAQ

The media player is actually "Totem" and not "Titan"
So IGN just made up the name Titan out of thin air? That's weird.

I just got ydl 5.0 installed today, am actually on it right now, and can't do any video playback. I played with linux a few years ago, but can't remember much of what I learned. I guess I need to do some more research. I can't even get the flash player to install to view youtube, lol. It looks pretty nice on my 92" screen although it doesn't make use of the whole screen for some reason. I have about a 5" black bar on either side and a 3" bar on top and bottom? I have a sanyo plv-Z2 projector running at 720p using hdmi to dvi cable. I tried to adjust the screen, but can't find any way to make the image fill the screen. My projector is receiving a D-720p signal. Anybody having any luck with the VLC install?

Have you tried fullscreen mode? There are several places on the web that talk about how to configure that.

Have you tried fullscreen mode? There are several places on the web that talk about how to configure that.

So far from other places it seems that people can get 720P windowed video playing fine, 1080P stutters. Both stutter in fullscreen, which was expected at this point.

Someone's going to need to write hardware acceleration into the videoplayers, which can be done due to the more then enough horsepower available from the cell cpu's. It's just a matter of how long, and how complicated it will be.

Ad now we play the waiting game.

On another note, anyone here have success with old gen emulators?

I will try the full screen config mode tomorrow, its kinda getting late.

I read on the ydl.net site that there was a problem with the yum program and there is a update for it available for subscribers. Is anyone familiar with this and how to go about fixing it? I am wanting to install mplayer and I believe it can be installed with the yum software. Hope this is worth all the trouble, I just lost my game data for resistance, I had beat it on normal, and was about 20% through with the hard difficulty. Plus I lost my demos, luckily I hadn't bought any online games, lol.

So far from other places it seems that people can get 720P windowed video playing fine, 1080P stutters. Both stutter in fullscreen, which was expected at this point.

Someone's going to need to write hardware acceleration into the videoplayers, which can be done due to the more then enough horsepower available from the cell cpu's. It's just a matter of how long, and how complicated it will be.
That's good info, but my comment about trying fullscreen mode to action_jackson was based on the problems he was having with black bars on the edges of his monitor. Since I don't have a PS3 yet, my suggestion to him was based on secondhand info. But I've read that the Sony-provided Linux video utility supports a special mode called "fullscreen" that is somehow different from the normal mode. Perhaps the normal behavior is to combat against overscan or something.

Well, I just completed installation of YDL on the PS3. Installation went very smooth and I am quite impressed at the usability right out of the box. After changing the display mode, it displays quite well at 720p in widescreen...

Now it's on to loading my rpms for videolan. I will report back in the am.

For those unable to get MM playback take this file:

http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/essential-ppc-20061022.tar.bz2
or
ftp://ftp1.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/essential-ppc-20061022.tar.bz2

extract the files, then browse to:

/usr/lib/win32

as the administrator (try "gksudo" from the terminal) and delete the codecs in the folder if there are any and copy the codecs from the download in the folder and reboot

If that doesn't work report back and I'll give you guys something else to try. I have never used YDL so I'm going from previous Linux experience.

For those unable to get MM playback take this file:

http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/essential-ppc-20061022.tar.bz2
or
ftp://ftp1.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/essential-ppc-20061022.tar.bz2

extract the files, then browse to:

/usr/lib/win32

as the administrator (try "gksudo" from the terminal) and delete the codecs in the folder if there are any and copy the codecs from the download in the folder and reboot

If that doesn't work report back and I'll give you guys something else to try. I have never used YDL so I'm going from previous Linux experience.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but are these links to the complete program and codecs, or is this just the codecs? Also, where should I extract the files to? When you say browse, do you mean usind the terminal ie: using the cd comands? If not is there a way to browse to the folder using the gui and bring up the command line?

Sorry, I am a newbie and have only limited knowledge, I have only really use the terminal and not much experience with that. I have xbmc installed on my xbox and want to replace it with the ps3 if possible. It may be a while before anything can compare to xbmc though.

Not positive is this has been brought up but like the PS3 itself YDL doesnt seem to support 1080i displays without jumping through a ton of hoops and editting files before you can even see what the graphical interface looks like.

Has anyone been through this process and can post a fairly detailed guide on it?

I can't believe that you have to basically break out regedit and alter files just to be able to see anything other then the prompt.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but are these links to the complete program and codecs, or is this just the codecs? Also, where should I extract the files to? When you say browse, do you mean usind the terminal ie: using the cd comands? If not is there a way to browse to the folder using the gui and bring up the command line?

Sorry, I am a newbie and have only limited knowledge, I have only really use the terminal and not much experience with that. I have xbmc installed on my xbox and want to replace it with the ps3 if possible. It may be a while before anything can compare to xbmc though.

Just the codecs. Extract anywhere, but eventually you need the codecs in the win32 folder. When you use the "gksudo" command from terminal you should get a browser window and be able to navigate to the correct place. You may need to check the YDL site to get the correct command to become the administrator if "gksudo" doesn't work.

a little off topic, but here's a guy who got gentoo to run on his ps3. he's go 1080p running too.
http://whitesanjuro.googlepages.com/home
here's a screen shot, with the little spu penguins. how cute!
http://picasaweb.google.com/whitesanjuro/Ps3DayTwo/photo#4998878606740422674

I can't even get the flash player to install to view youtube, lol.

I don't believe Flash 8 supports a ppc chip yet.

Why is there only 256MB of system memory? This will run linux "ok". But if you want to do anything worth while and have a smooth feel 1GB is minimum by my standards. RAM is fairly inexpensive. The 360 had 512MB of system memory. Perhaps 256MB is more than sufficient for the PS3 OS and hand off most of the load to the GPU and video ram.

They are already demos of 1080p playback from Linux so any concerns about RAM being too low are no longer worrying me. More RAM would certainly be better but there is plenty for what I need now. Hopefully we'll have a PS3-specific HTPC Linux distro in the future that is even further optimized.

And Gnome, Firefox and OpenOffice.org running on the PS3 is just icing on the cake.

Where are this demos of 1080P palyback :) post links please :)

YDL isn't jack until us 60 giggers get it online via WiFi! Has anyone had success? I'll be damned if I'm going to run 50ft of cable to make it happen.

Why is there only 256MB of system memory? This will run linux "ok". But if you want to do anything worth while and have a smooth feel 1GB is minimum by my standards. RAM is fairly inexpensive. The 360 had 512MB of system memory. Perhaps 256MB is more than sufficient for the PS3 OS and hand off most of the load to the GPU and video ram.

Windows and Linux are two very, very different OS. 256 should be more then enough. Linux, for the most part, isn't a memory whore.

What is the consensus regarding partition size? Choices are...10GB for "other OS" (that is barely enough I think for a YDL install) with the remainder for the PS3 or 10GB for the PS3 and the remainder for the "other OS." I really wish this was more granular in the choices. Even with a bigger HDD, there are compromises. Thoughts?

Windows and Linux are two very, very different OS. 256 should be more then enough. Linux, for the most part, isn't a memory whore.

I am quite aware of this as I am a software engineer. Nonetheless 256MB of RAM will not be sufficient to use the PS3 as one might use a desktop OS. It will be fine for doing server tasks like file storing, some media streaming, etc. Linux can be very memory hungry which isn't always a bad thing (if you plan on running like a desktop and not a server). My concern is trying to use the PS3 for HD media playback. The video card will have to be heavily tapped for this to occur which is fine.

256MB just seems rather restricting if it is to be used for something other than the PS3 OS. A 1GHz Celeron PC with 1GB of RAM would probably out perform the PS3 for general purpose use and can be bought for less than $100. And yes, I am aware the PS3 can perform significantly higher instructions per second but applications will have to be geared for the PS3. This is why many game developers find the 360 easier to work with. Using generic processors and more memory with higher bandwidth allows one to not to focus on the hardware as much.

Without a doubt a PS3 specific distro will have to be made to take full advantage.

...Without a doubt a PS3 specific distro will have to be made to take full advantage.

there should be some cool stuff coming down the pipeline. there are kernel patches and spe examples available online now (http://www.powerdeveloper.org/playstation.php) Gentoo developers seem to be excited. i'm a Debian/Ubuntu guy, so i'll have to wait a while. We'll see development speed up as more machines become available to the masses.

I just got ydl 5.0 installed today, am actually on it right now, and can't do any video playback. I played with linux a few years ago, but can't remember much of what I learned. I guess I need to do some more research. I can't even get the flash player to install to view youtube, lol. It looks pretty nice on my 92" screen although it doesn't make use of the whole screen for some reason. I have about a 5" black bar on either side and a 3" bar on top and bottom? I have a sanyo plv-Z2 projector running at 720p using hdmi to dvi cable. I tried to adjust the screen, but can't find any way to make the image fill the screen. My projector is receiving a D-720p signal. Anybody having any luck with the VLC install?I followed this guide and got VLC working.
http://forums.qj.net/f-ps3-linux-283/t-how-to-play-videos-on-yellow-dog-50-81670.html

I followed this guide and got VLC working.
http://forums.qj.net/f-ps3-linux-283/t-how-to-play-videos-on-yellow-dog-50-81670.html

What about the missing rpms on that faq? There were about 7 or so dead links he posted, and I just grapped the first ones I could find on google. I'm getting a couple of warnings, but I'm failing on a dependency for faad2-2.0-1.0.yd4.fr.ppc

edit: I fixed the dependencies issue, after the 'install' finishes I've got nothing. The system doesn't recognize the 'vlc' command and there isn't anything in the software menu under Enlightenment or GNOME

Here are the 3 warnings I get while installing the rpm files
warning: /root/installme/a52dec-0.7.4-7.2.fc4.ppc.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID e42d547b
warning: /root/installme/arts-1.4.0-1.ppc.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 4f2a6fd2
warning: /root/installme/libcddb-1.2.2-1.fc5.ppc.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 1ac70ce6

If anyone has the complete directory of working rpms they used, I'd appreciate it

Here are the 3 warnings I get while installing the rpm files
warning: /root/installme/a52dec-0.7.4-7.2.fc4.ppc.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID e42d547b
warning: /root/installme/arts-1.4.0-1.ppc.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 4f2a6fd2
warning: /root/installme/libcddb-1.2.2-1.fc5.ppc.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 1ac70ce6

If anyone has the complete directory of working rpms they used, I'd appreciate itI had the same problem so I did not install the rpms with the rpm command. I manually clicked on each file and let the software updater install the files. When I did that the program told me if I had the newer version of the file or it was already installed.

After I got done double clicking on the files, I logged out and logged back in and used the vlc command which worked. All the rpms I used are on the PS3 in a folder called VLC.

Where are this demos of 1080P palyback :) post links please :)
Yeah, I meant 1080i!

Just messing around the other day I stumbled onto a story at PVR Wire that stated that people were already able to dump data from blu ray disks onto the hard drive. I wonder how long it will take the hacker community to figure out how to get a player to be able to playback this material.

What affect do you think this has upon the blu ray format? If Sony's DRM is somehow circumvented this early in the format war could it spell doom for blu ray?

Why don't you ask in the appropriate thread?

I would tend to think the ability to back up Blu-Ray easily (even though the file sizes can be very large) would boost the appeal of the format rather then spel it's doom.

-Brian

I thought this would be the appropriate thread since they are using the YDL and this is a thread about what people think about YDL isn't it? IF not please direct me to the proper thread.

I thought this would be the appropriate thread since they are using the YDL and this is a thread about what people think about YDL isn't it? IF not please direct me to the proper thread.

Is fact you can back up files from a BR disc from the PS3 a big deal?

You can buy a BR drive for the PC and do the same, you can attach a MS HD-DVD drive to a PC and do the same?

The key is you can not play them...

I thought this would be the appropriate thread since they are using the YDL and this is a thread about what people think about YDL isn't it? IF not please direct me to the proper thread.
Too bad you didn't post anything about Linux, YD or otherwise. If you want to discuss what ripping blu-ray discs means for the future of the PS3 or blu-ray, then do that in another thread.

I had the same problem so I did not install the rpms with the rpm command. I manually clicked on each file and let the software updater install the files. When I did that the program told me if I had the newer version of the file or it was already installed.

After I got done double clicking on the files, I logged out and logged back in and used the vlc command which worked. All the rpms I used are on the PS3 in a folder called VLC.

No dice. On a couple of rpms including the actual one for VLC I get "Unable to retrieve software information. This could be caused by not having a network connection available."

Man, you'd think at least there'd be a functional media player pre-configured on install. Certainly disappointing for me. Maybe I expected too much?

Installed YDL over the week end. Pretty simple to do. Hopefully someone gets VLC to work with linux. Keep the thread updated. :)

No dice. On a couple of rpms including the actual one for VLC I get "Unable to retrieve software information. This could be caused by not having a network connection available."Oh I totally forgot about this but YDL messed up the repo files on where to find the updates. You have to fix the repos so it can update your files and so it won't stop the software updater.

Follow this guide from YDL:

Pointing yum to YDL.net
Introduction

There was a small problem with the /etc/yum.repos.d files provided in the 20061127 ISO, in all 3 repos files, base was used as the
tag at the top of the files. Use the following file contents in each file to fix the bug, as well to configure YDL.net as your
yum server. Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD with your respective YDL.net enhanced username and password.

yellowdog-base.repo:

[base]
name=Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 Base
baseurl=http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@www.ydl.net/downloads/enhanced/yum/5.0/base/
#mirrorlist=http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/yd50-base-mlist
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY

yellowdog-extras.repo:

[extras]
name=Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 Extras
baseurl=http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@www.ydl.net/downloads/enhanced/yum/5.0/extras/
#mirrorlist=http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/yd50-extras-mlist
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY

yellowdog-updates.repo:

[updates]
name=Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 Updates
baseurl=http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@www.ydl.net/downloads/enhanced/yum/5.0/updates/
#mirrorlist=http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/yd50-updates-mlist
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY

If you don't have an account then you can delete these files they are under /etc/yum.repos.d/

I am having major problems installing Linux 5.0. Do I need HD cables to even view Linux? I am using the cables that came with the system and I had to do the install in text mode. I got to the part where you have to type in "startx" then from there the screen goes blank. Please help? does this mean I have to buy a HD television to use this feature?

If you don't have an account then you can delete these files they are under /etc/yum.repos.d/

Brilliant! VLC works perfectly now. Played a few 720p test DIVXs flawlessly minus issues with the image staying onscreen even after you've closed the program.

edit: I may have jumped the gun. It is only playing divx files I've downloaded from stage6.divx.com. Strangely enough it won't play regular divx-encoded avi's. Nor will it play mpegs or xvids. Oh well, at least it's a start.

double edit: It should be worth mentioning that the Nautilus file explorer recognizes windows shares over the network perfectly.

Brilliant! VLC works perfectly now.

Could you post the steps needed to install and run VLC?

Is it just
yum install videolan-client

Also what is in your yum.conf ?

Thanks I'm sure many would like your help here...

Could you post the steps needed to install and run VLC?

Is it just
yum install videolan-client

Also what is in your yum.conf ?

Thanks I'm sure many would like your help here...

I grabbed all the rpms from here http://forums.qj.net/f-ps3-linux-283/t-how-to-play-videos-on-yellow-dog-50-81670.html

Be warned that a few of those links are bad, so you'll need to google the files. Then I simply did like suggested above and manually installed each individual rpm. You could try the 'rpm -ivc' or whatever command from the terminal, but using this method I guaranteed that they were all installed. You do need to delete those 3 repo files also, or you'll get network connection errors. After that, you're done. Running the videolan rpm installs the final program.

Thanks for the update TTJ - glad to see there's some progress. Please continue to post back with any new updates and successes. If you're sure to remember exactly what you've done to get new things working I'm sure we could all use the info. Maybe this weekend I'll have time to get it installed and catch up also so I can pitch in with trying things out.

How and where to get Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 DVD ?

Installed VLC last night on the PS3 with the method described above. I couldn't get the mplayer to install, however.

VLC played the SD files I have. It plays 1080i HD .ts (transport stream) files on an external USB drive, but the playback is a bit choppy. Its choppy to the point of being unwatchable. I haven't tried any 720p recordings yet, so maybe that will make a difference. Full screen didn't work either.

Has anyone gotten full screen 1080i playback working?

Thought I would update everyone here in case in might be usefull for someone else.

The good news is I got fullscreen playback on vlc working by switching to gnome from the default environment.

The bad news is that transport stream playback of both 720p and 1080i material is too choppy. This was material recorded from ABC (720p) and CBS (1080i) in the mpeg2 ts format. I played files locally (by way of external usb HD) and through the network (windows share). Both had the same result.

I launched the system monitor and observed something interesting. Two processors are listed, and during playback one topped out at 60% with the other at 90-100% during full screen playback. Perhaps one of the SPEs is being used for audio and the other for video. Even though the video is choppy the audio is fine.

Lower bitrate avi and mpg files played fine through vlc.

I suppose its not quite ready for prime time. Hopefully future versions of ydl will open up the capabilities of the ps3 a bit better.

I don't think any of the SPEs are being used yet from Linux. Maybe the hypervisor is using one but that's nothing that affects video playback.

Anyone tried this combo? I've successfully installed the YDL(typing this message on it!), but something is bugging the heck out of me. I've tried by Mode 5 and Mode 37 for the video out by modifying the kboot.conf file. I can't tell the difference between the 2 modes (1080P - YUV / 1080P - RGB). Also, on both of the modes, the screen does not fill up all the day. I am seeing about 2 inches on both sides (left and right) of black bars, and (1 inch thick up and down) black bars. Is this an overscan / underscan issue? Anyone know how to fix this? Is there a known custom video mode that would fill the screen?

Thanks. :confused:

Anyone tried this combo? I've successfully installed the YDL(typing this message on it!), but something is bugging the heck out of me. I've tried by Mode 5 and Mode 37 for the video out by modifying the kboot.conf file. I can't tell the difference between the 2 modes (1080P - YUV / 1080P - RGB). Also, on both of the modes, the screen does not fill up all the day. I am seeing about 2 inches on both sides (left and right) of black bars, and (1 inch thick up and down) black bars. Is this an overscan / underscan issue? Anyone know how to fix this? Is there a known custom video mode that would fill the screen?

Thanks. :confused:

Add 128 to fill the screen.. so 5 becomes 133 etc.

Add 128 to fill the screen.. so 5 becomes 133 etc.


Can you clarify? How do I add 128? Where? Is there a file where I can add this to? I wasn't aware you are able to define custom resolution on Yellow Dog Linux 5. If so, can you please guide me to the right direction?

Thank you.

Can you clarify? How do I add 128? Where? Is there a file where I can add this to? I wasn't aware you are able to define custom resolution on Yellow Dog Linux 5. If so, can you please guide me to the right direction?

Thank you.

Just add 128 to the video modes listed here for full screen.

Edit the /etc/kboot.conf file. Instead of using video mode 5 for 1080p, use 133. (5+128)


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

We are definitely on the right track. I've fixed the black bar issue using your suggested mode 133. The black bars are gone, but now it's overscanning. is 128 all you can add to the default listed mode? How did you derive 128? Any other mode suggestions? I am very new at this, and still can't figure out how you got 128....

Here's what the table shows for 1080....

1080 = 1688 x 964

We are definitely on the right track. I've fixed the black bar issue using your suggested mode 133. The black bars are gone, but now it's overscanning. is 128 all you can add to the default listed mode? How did you derive 128? Any other mode suggestions? I am very new at this, and still can't figure out how you got 128....

I can't take credit for the 128 add, someone posted it on a forum, said the YDL folks just left it off the web page in error.

Overscan happens on most HD sets, except the some of new LCD direct views. If you login using gnome, you can adjust the top and bottom panel size to make things somewhat better.

Its not YDL that is overscanning, just your HD set is not showing the full 1920x1080 panel.


Probably a way to set a custom resolution, maybe someone else can help...

I am having major problems installing Linux 5.0. Do I need HD cables to even view Linux? I am using the cables that came with the system and I had to do the install in text mode. I got to the part where you have to type in "startx" then from there the screen goes blank. Please help? does this mean I have to buy a HD television to use this feature?

burn the dvd at 1x or 2x. Anything faster may effect your install. I was getting a constant blinking screen when I originally tried to install using a DVD I burned at max speed. I burned again at 2x and it worked perfect. As far as HD, I think I did read that you need a HDTV to view it. I may be wrong.

I guess I'll just have to wait until someone releases the either the full table 1080P resolution modes. Another blow is that I just found out that Flash isn't available for PPC based linux. That means no YouTube.

How much of YDL 5.0 gets installed following the default install guide? I mean, is there a way to perform a complete install?

Man, you'd think at least there'd be a functional media player pre-configured on install. Certainly disappointing for me. Maybe I expected too much?

I don't think that is expecting too much, especially on this 'made for ps3' build that is being sold.

I am waiting for something hopefully prebuilt with a nice full screen gui like beyondtv or media center, so I can sit on the couch and watch videos off of my network. Until I am convinced that that is possible for a linux newb like me I will be sitting on the sidelines.

edit: important note, I have a tivo s3, and I am hoping to use the ps3 to replace my media center pc (since I don't use the recording features of it anymore).

I don't think that is expecting too much, especially on this 'made for ps3' build that is being sold.

I am waiting for something hopefully prebuilt with a nice full screen gui like beyondtv or media center, so I can sit on the couch and watch videos off of my network. Until I am convinced that that is possible for a linux newb like me I will be sitting on the sidelines.

edit: important note, I have a tivo s3, and I am hoping to use the ps3 to replace my media center pc (since I don't use the recording features of it anymore).

/agree "made for PS3" but can't support wireless????

I launched the system monitor and observed something interesting. Two processors are listed, and during playback one topped out at 60% with the other at 90-100% during full screen playback. Perhaps one of the SPEs is being used for audio and the other for video. Even though the video is choppy the audio is fine.

I believe linux only uses the PPE. The PPE is a modestly powered PowerPC chip with 2 processing units. I think there are going to be some performance issues with this..

Overscan happens on most HD sets, except the some of new LCD direct views. If you login using gnome, you can adjust the top and bottom panel size to make things somewhat better.


JackLT: Thanks for the tip regarding manual adjustment using gnome console. Can you do me a favor and give me couple of command line examples? I would like to try this and see if this will work for me.

Thanks.

JackLT: Thanks for the tip regarding manual adjustment using gnome console. Can you do me a favor and give me couple of command line examples? I would like to try this and see if this will work for me.

Thanks.

I just used the gui to adjust the panel sizes, such that when I opened browsers full size they would be readable. Of course you lose some of the panels.

After installing YDL, I have not used it much of late.
I have a PC connected to the set as well, and it does everything so much easier and better it seems.

Is anyone using a wireless keyboard and mouse with YDL on their PS3? If so, what model are you using?

Is anyone using a wireless keyboard and mouse with YDL on their PS3? If so, what model are you using?

I was using the Gyration wireless USB set.

Is anyone using a wireless keyboard and mouse with YDL on their PS3? If so, what model are you using?


I have the Logitech Wireless Desktop S510. But in theory, any USB based input should work.

Keyboard works just fine, as expected, but the the mouse is a bit sluggish (also as expected). I will be replacing the mouse with the Logitech G7 laser gaming mouse.

Depending on the gaming performance of the keyboard (if some company would ever incorporate a keyboard / mouse PS3 game support...), I am most likely going to replace the keyboard s well, maybe with something like Logitech Di Novo Edge.

Keyboard works just fine, as expected, but the the mouse is a bit sluggish (also as expected). I will be replacing the mouse with the Logitech G7 laser gaming mouse.
Excellent call. Have two G7's and it's an awesome mouse.

Excellent call. Have two G7's and it's an awesome mouse.


I know, I love mine as well. But the G7 that I have will be staying with my PC. I just love the extra battery feature, pop-in, pop-out.

The response is unlike anything I've ever owned. Literally 'LASER' precise. Once some decent FPS / RTS games w/ keyboard and mouse support come out, I'll be ditching the crappy optical mouse that came with the S510.

Has any tried a bluetooth keyboard with their PS3 and YDL? The regular wireless keyboards seem to have a very limited range < 2 meters.

Has any tried a bluetooth keyboard with their PS3 and YDL? The regular wireless keyboards seem to have a very limited range < 2 meters.

I have a bluetooth keyboaord/mouse combo which works well with WinXP, but I am unable to get it to work with YDL on the PS3. I've tried with and without the bluetooth USB dongle.

I've installed the bluez* package using yum, but it still doesn't recognize any devices. I'm not really familiar with linux, so I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if bluetooth keyboards just don't work yet with this version of YDL.

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have a bluetooth keyboaord/mouse combo which works well with WinXP, but I am unable to get it to work with YDL on the PS3. I've tried with and without the bluetooth USB dongle.

I've installed the bluez* package using yum, but it still doesn't recognize any devices. I'm not really familiar with linux, so I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if bluetooth keyboards just don't work yet with this version of YDL.

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Since I got my 160gb internal HDD last night, I also signed up for ydl.net and got the ISO's from them (I want to use their repositories, although so far they are not that great).

I think I remember some documentation from them saying they don't support bluetooth just yet for YDL 5.0, so you are SOL on the bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

I want to use their repositories, although so far they are not that great.
Do they have anything in the way of HTPC stuff or other video player/codecs available from their servers? I think I'm going to skip YDL and go for Gentoo by the sound of it.

Do they have anything in the way of HTPC stuff or other video player/codecs available from their servers? I think I'm going to skip YDL and go for Gentoo by the sound of it.

Does anyone know if Gentoo supports bluetooth accessories? My PS3 is located about 15' from where I sit, so if I want a wireless keyboard and mouse, it needs to be bluetooth.

For a wireless keyboard / mouse try a wireless USB setup, I use the Gyration set.

For a wireless keyboard / mouse try a wireless USB setup, I use the Gyration set.

You're using it with YDL and have no problems?

Do they have anything in the way of HTPC stuff or other video player/codecs available from their servers? I think I'm going to skip YDL and go for Gentoo by the sound of it.

Nope. :(

You're using it with YDL and have no problems?

Thats right it just works, in PS3 mode, YDL, or attached to a PC with windows or dos.

Does anyone know if Gentoo supports bluetooth accessories?
Dunno how well it works on the PS3 but Gentoo seems to have lots of bluetooth stuff available:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/Special:Search?search=bluetooth&go=Go

extract the files, then browse to:

/usr/lib/win32

as the administrator (try "gksudo" from the terminal) and delete the codecs in the folder if there are any and copy the codecs from the download in the folder and reboot

If that doesn't work report back and I'll give you guys something else to try. I have never used YDL so I'm going from previous Linux experience.

I do not see a Win32 file or folder

Anyone able to get YDL to work with wifi yet? Just wondering.

Thanks! ;)

I can confirm that in order to get Mplayer to work, you need to extract contents of
the alraedy mentioned essentials ppc codec package to /usr/lib/win32 and not just to /usr/local/lib/codecs ! Otherwise mplayer will not work (in fact it will crash and burn, badly).

You need to create /usr/lib/win32 directory first, as it doesn't exist on Yellow Dog out of the box.

I also installed vlc after MUCH trouble - there's a huge list of rpm's you need to install, and what's worse, no one is really maintaining it so almost a third of the files are not accessible, and not only that, but you can't even see file names in firefox as they get abbreviated, making it very difficult and time consuming to first find out what they are and then hunt them down. And in the end, it's not worth it because it doesn't work any better than mplayer.

In fact, both of them are essentially useless, unless you want to watch video in a window.
With mplayer, full screen only works from command line if you specify mplayer -sws 0 -zoom, and does not work from gmplayer interface - making it nearly useless. What's worse, it will NOT be able to play back smoothly even a standard definition divx/xvid when zoomed! To add insult to injury, the image will be pretty bad (bad scaling etc.) even though it's dropping frames like crazy! The same is the case for vlc, except that it does not require command line to work properly in full screen (but it's just as useless once you get there).

Essentially, video playback on PS3 as it stands right now is next to useless, unless you have your screen resolution set to 480p. And getting even normal linux machine to play back media served over the network is very difficult, unreliable and rarely works at all - my hopes of PS3 becoming a media hub are fading by the minute. Add to it the length of the boot time, the utter clumsiness of switching between game os and linux (should need to be a menu selection right as ps3 is turned on, and you should be able to select with the controller), and you don't really get much out of it all.

How have the people posting videos at YouTube of fullscreen playback in hi-def modes succeeded?

Beats me. I don't think they used Yellow Dog. Or it could be that their desktop runs at 720p. Mine runs at full 1080p with no black bars, maybe that's too much to handle. Or they might not be running it on PS3 at all ;). I have found a lot of posts pointing out that HD playback does not work and not a single one that it does.

Besides, even the latest Core 2 Duo machines have trouble playing full HD content without graphics card acceleration of decoding. A crippled PPC chip like in PS3 should not be able to handle it, especially when there is not even 2D acceleration on the video. Maybe when SPEs are utilized.

Essentially, video playback on PS3 as it stands right now is next to useless, unless you have your screen resolution set to 480p.
Sounds like you're having trouble when others are succeeding.

Ouch that really hurts aos007, but your honesty is appreciated. This is a disaster on the Linux front as far as I'm concerned. Both disappointing and very frustrating for me.