Sorry if this has been asked before....I did a search but did not come up with any specific answers I was hoping for (plus, the AVS search function isn't the greatest )

Anyway, would someone please advise whether installing Linux is really beneficial. Is it something you use all the time or just an added option? Could you do without it? Also, does having it installed in any way slow down gameplay (online or otherwise)??

Please respond asap as I have not yet hooked up the PS3 (will be a Xmas gift) and if I wind up using Linux I'd like to install it right away ince no game saves, etc. will be on the hard drive to start.

Thanks!

IMHO yes! Then again, you have to be somewhat interested in learning a new os, and knowing that is nothing like your Windows Counterpart. If you are a PC/IT junkie, you will love it. However one disappoitment is no Hardware Acceleration in the GUI. Its all Frame Buffer, so don't expect any intensive graphic app's to run smooth... Other than that its a full blown OS, functional as your windows - you can use Open Office ( simmilar to Office ) Firefox, VLC ( most if all my media works on it now ) WiFi or Ethernet - depending on the model. You can mount all your media... and important of all connect to the windows PC :D

Thanks for the quick reply GW....

But most importantly, does the installation of Linux in any way slow down the PS3 operations or cause any "hiccups" in online or single gameplay or DVD play???

No! It is totally seperate, on a different partition.

Thanks for the quick reply GW....

But most importantly, does the installation of Linux in any way slow down the PS3 operations or cause any "hiccups" in online or single gameplay or DVD play???

Not as far as I have seen. The 2 OS's are completely partitioned as mentioned earlier.

Thanks guys....

One last question.....if I was only going to use the PS3 for occasional web browsing & multimedia, should I just stick with the supplied web browser or definately install Linux?

Thanks again

Can anyone tell me how ubuntu runs on the ps3. Thats what i use on
my computer and would like to put it on the ps3. If YDL runs better i would install it thought

The only advantage I can see to having Linux on the PS3 is for a better web browser. With no access to the GPU you'll be running a pretty gimped copy of Linux on your PS3. If you actually want a Linux system download Ubuntu and make a Linux partition on your computer.

YES! if you have patience. For me, the best thing about running Linux on your PS3 is the ability to run emulators. The only problem is the learning curve. I installed YellowDog and it took me hours to figure out how to install Java and Flash and learn some basic commands. I still can't get the flash to work, and I am terrified to attempt to install the emulators. Anyway, I am reading up a little and may switch to Ubuntu because it uses less memory and supposedly has more support.

Yeah I'm going to Ubuntu my self next from YDL. I also used Fedora Core.

Ubuntu works well on the PS3 but the current installer has a few bugs that you have to work around manually. The newest kboot from Ubuntu also supported booting the PS3 in the native resolution (1080p in my case), where before every Linux would boot in 480i then switch.

The bad side to Ubuntu on the PS3 is how much memory it uses by default. You'll probably want to stop some services and whatnot.

In my opinion, the default Ubuntu install is too slow on the PS3. Right now I am running fluxbox on SuSE. Fluxbox is a lot lighter and faster than Gnome/KDE. Honestly, I don't think Linux on the PS3 is very practical. I only installed it so I could mess around and write some code for the cell processor.


Old pic of SuSE + Gnome on PS3. I like to amuse myself with my comments:D
http://picgarage.net/images/Scree_65986_166.png

Gentoo running Gnome is pretty fast too. Ubuntu just uses too much RAM and has too many options running.

I've run linux for years on my own boxes, but personally, I've booted into linux on teh PS3 only about 2-3 times. The web-browser is better, and you might be able to run some emulators (slowly), but there are really no advantages. It's also a PITA because once you boot into Linux you are automatically rebooting into Linux until you specifically tell the PS3 to boot into the game-os.

Would it be possible to use a 360 controller on ps3 by using linux? I'm not really that good with linux, but I've used ubuntu a couple times on my teachers computer at school and understand basically how it works. Would this be possible/practical?

Does anyone know if you can play any region bluray disc in Linux, or is the firmware locked on the drive itself?

I don't think you can play any Blu-ray movie discs from Linux. You can access the data on PS3 Blu-ray game discs though.

Installing linux is ABSOLUTELY worth it - if you're installing it on a PC, that is. :)

(The PS3's limited RAM and lack of GPU support hurt linux functionality)

edit: In answer to Chase's question - it may be possible, but last I checked the 360 controller driver had to be a kernel module - compiling and installing it wouldn't be easy for someone new to linux.

Installing linux is ABSOLUTELY worth it - if you're installing it on a PC, that is. :)

(The PS3's limited RAM and lack of GPU support hurt linux functionality)

edit: In answer to Chase's question - it may be possible, but last I checked the 360 controller driver had to be a kernel module - compiling and installing it wouldn't be easy for someone new to linux.

Yeah thats what I figured I've spent the last couple of hours getting linux on my computer and it took me forever to figure out how to just get it on there(Burn ISO to DVD?!?) Now that I have it I don't have the slightest clue what I'm doing, however I have made it crash twice so far. Compiling and installing something is not happening. Man you know more people would use this if it was easier to understand I need to get a book or something. No way I'm putting this on my ps3.

For the people who know what they are doing, putting Linux on the PS3 is pretty handy. Some of the best subtitling and MPEG4 apps are on Linux and these work fine on even the PS3.

Yeah thats what I figured I've spent the last couple of hours getting linux on my computer and it took me forever to figure out how to just get it on there(Burn ISO to DVD?!?) Now that I have it I don't have the slightest clue what I'm doing, however I have made it crash twice so far. Compiling and installing something is not happening. Man you know more people would use this if it was easier to understand I need to get a book or something. No way I'm putting this on my ps3.
Ubuntu is really user friendly, you could try that. With whatever distro you are using, have you tried looking in its package manager for what you want? Most distros have enough apps in there so that you won't have to compile anything on the side (unless you use a 'from source' distro, like me)
I managed to crash linux a whole lot of times when I first started using it too, but it will always be my main OS from now on.

I don't think you can play any Blu-ray movie discs from Linux. You can access the data on PS3 Blu-ray game discs though.
Really, don't VLC and Mplayer both support playback of Bluray?

Ubuntu is really user friendly, you could try that. With whatever distro you are using, have you tried looking in its package manager for what you want? Most distros have enough apps in there so that you won't have to compile anything on the side (unless you use a 'from source' distro, like me)
I managed to crash linux a whole lot of times when I first started using it too, but it will always be my main OS from now on.

I might try and get Ubuntu, right now I have Gentoo. Is that an especially advanced version or something?

Really, don't VLC and Mplayer both support playback of Bluray?
Not according to this post (http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?p=134536#p134536).

HD movies can't be played yet in mplayer and VLC for PS3 linux. These players are not optimized for PS3 SPU architecture. But check out this cool new project:

http://linux.yes.nu/PS3Ubuntu/

Someone is finally working to optimize mplayer for the PS3 ubuntu. Even though it's at very early, but they are getting along nicely.

If this matures, then we should be able to play ANYTHING (HD or not) in PS3 linux. Of course, this will take some time though.

Go to their forum and support them!!!!!!! ;)

I might try and get Ubuntu, right now I have Gentoo. Is that an especially advanced version or something?
Well, yeah - Gentoo even gives experienced linux users headaches sometimes :D

Painfully slow....an old Celeron 933 with 512 megs of ram runs circles around the PS3 and Ubuntu.

I don't know how much you can cut out and get it to be fast enough for use. If you want to play around with Linux either partition your drive or go buy a $100 used computer off of Craiglist, it'll be faster.

its a great idea but until the ram issue is addressed and not sure how that will happen then no matter how fast the processor or subsystem performance will really suffer.

Wow, I thought Linux maybe the answer to the constant same thing coming up over and over about the PS3s poor web browsing capability but it appears it has lots of issues too. I have a thread asking if a PS3 can serve as well for internet surfing and what not as a PC but it seems it can not. Have any changes or new things come up on the horizon making the PS3 a good choice for accessing the web and serving as a HTPC?

I'm glad this topic came up. I created a file to intro my home theatre:

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b96/Willise/?action=view&current=tempfox.flv

I would like to have this play before the main Blu Ray movie plays. I have heard this may be possible with Linux. HAving zero knowledge of Linux myself, does anyone know if this type of thing is even possible? Also, where can I find some type of scripting that would allow this?

Thanks a million!

I'm glad this topic came up. I created a file to intro my home theatre:

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b96/Willise/?action=view&current=tempfox.flv

I would like to have this play before the main Blu Ray movie plays. I have heard this may be possible with Linux. HAving zero knowledge of Linux myself, does anyone know if this type of thing is even possible? Also, where can I find some type of scripting that would allow this?
That would be really cool if you could. :D

I'm glad this topic came up. I created a file to intro my home theatre:

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b96/Willise/?action=view&current=tempfox.flv

I would like to have this play before the main Blu Ray movie plays. I have heard this may be possible with Linux. HAving zero knowledge of Linux myself, does anyone know if this type of thing is even possible? Also, where can I find some type of scripting that would allow this?

Thanks a million!

Yes you can have linux play that file before launching a movie. You could probably even do it in Windows. The only problem is that the Linux partition won't be able to play blu-ray media.

Does Linux have some kind of scripting mechanism, where you could play that above video in Linux and then when complete, have the script exit Linux to the PS3 partition. Then once in the PS3 partition the movie could automatically start?

Does Linux have some kind of scripting mechanism, where you could play that above video in Linux and then when complete, have the script exit Linux to the PS3 partition. Then once in the PS3 partition the movie could automatically start?

That is exactly what I want! I'll recreate another personal intro for someone who can figure it out!!!:D

You can script Linux to play the movie and then reboot into the PS3 OS, but it would probably take 10 secs or more. If the Blu-ray is already in the drive and the PS3 was set to auto-play you could probably get what you want.