Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

[Feba]

1- For those of you that have installed Linux on it, what is the performance like? Comparable to a 3.6GHz (or whatever it is) PPC processor, I assume it doesn't use the SPEs, 256MB RAM, and a late 7 series GeForce? Or better or worse?

2- I assume it has standard USB ports, yes? Does it have a port for a VGA monitor, or are there converters out there that aren't hell to configure? DVI? Is it possible to use the Blu-Ray drive in Linux?

3- This is more about the PPC itself, which is what I want Mhurron's help with- WINE only works on x86 processors, right? Does Darwine work on the PS3 (on Linux), and if so, what kind of speed does it have, and how buggy/incomplete is it compared to WINE itself?

Mainly I ask because it looks like my new 1600$ PC might be junk, and it might be cheaper to just buy a PS3 and use it as a desktop than bother replacing parts. Plus, I'll admit, there are two or three interesting looking PS3 games.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

It runs great for normal processes, but don't look for it to play heavy games or anything. Sony's dev team has disabled the RSX when running Linux, so any graphics processing is done without the RSX. From my understanding, everything else hardware-wise can be accessed by the system while running Linux. They have not ruled out any changes to this in the future however, but I would imagine it's done to prevent PSone and PS2 emulation on the Linux system.

The PS3 does not support VGA. Only HDCP-certified HDMI, or DVI if you use a converter. I do believe there are workarounds, but it's probably pretty complicated. And yes, it has four standard USB ports which can be used for almost anything, from memory card readers to keyboards to printers to wireless ethernet adapters and external hard drives.

Also keep in mind that when you install Linux on the PS3, you have to make a choice when partitioning the HD for use. You can either devote 10GB of the HD to Linux, or devote all but 10GB to it, leaving that 10GB for other use such as downloadable content, game saves, and multimedia content accessed from the XMB. It might not be a problem now, but when more DLC games come out and stuff like UT3 is out there, you'll be wanting a lot of space for your PS3 to use for general purposes.

I'm not sure if you can use the BD drive via Linux, but I can check and find out. The rest is a little too technical for me (I know very little about Linux, anyhow), so someone else will probably know more about it.

If what I've heard is true, Linux on PS3 is a great feature and has a lot of uses, but you shouldn't consider it as a replacement for a Linux-based PC completely.

Try http://ps3forums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=51 for more information.

[Feba]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Sony's dev team has disabled the RSX when running Linux, so any graphics processing is done without the RSX.

Then it might as well be useless for me. Don't bother wasting your time looking it up, thanks anyway.

Shame they have to discourage anyone from playing games they didn't spend 60$ on..

[DakAttack]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Shame they have to discourage anyone from playing games they didn't spend 60$ on..

Yes, discouraging piracy is a shame. We saw how well Microsoft dealt with it when it came time with the Xbox. I don't think anybody has cracked it with the 360 yet.

[Feba]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Yes, discouraging piracy is a shame.

It has nothing to do with piracy, moran.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

After looking around it seems you can access the Blu-ray Drive with Linux on PS3. You can open the BD and access all the files on the disc.

PS3 homebrew via Linux is still in its infant stages, so while 3D accelleration from the RSX isn't available, it'll probably take some time before people can find ways to efficiently use various emulation programs. Various SNES emulators have been reported to work fairly well, but that seems to be about it at this point.

And yes, WINE only works on x86, and CELL is PPC64.

[Feba]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

I don't really care about homebrew, if the PS3 can't even allow itself to run as a decent desktop it's useless to me =/

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Well I don't know much about it from personal experience, so I'd recommend checking up on the PS3forums Linux section for more proper information. It only lacks 3D accelleration, so I'd assume most other processes run fine. People have been running full 1080p video and other things with it perfectly.

[Feba]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

To me, a computer without a graphics card is like a calculator without the ability to divide.

[Aeni]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Well, the RSX's pipelines are locked in ratio anyway, so just what kind of performance are you going to expect out of it even if you could access it? You could get a cheap Dell desktop and slap in a better graphics card in there and get better mileage for the money spent.

Bottom line, if you're gonig to run apps that are not tuned and developed specifically for PS3s system architecture to take advantage of certain features designed primarily for gaming, then you should look at getting another PC or just upgrading the one you already have. I highly doubt PS3 has the "right" kind of performance to run something like Adobe Premiere out of the box.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

It certainly doesn't and wasn't intended to do such things, so like I said, I wouldn't consider purchasing a PS3 as a replacement for a Linux-based PC.

No one knows exactly why Sony decided to allow owners to install a separate OS to the system, and it's a neat feature to play around with, but I don't think they intended it to be that way either.

[Feba]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Well no doubt they wanted it to be able to sell itself as a home computer. They tried the same thing with the PS2, but the Linux Kit never took off, so without having the OS being able to be installed from something everyone has (CD-R), it didn't help them.

Still, without a graphics card it's pointless. Which is sad, if they had left that on, it could be sweet. Heck, even making it a linux based computer like they originally had would be great, plus the GPL would allow linux devs to port their OS to Cell architecture, which would've been great for IBM since they could work out a market for that, and Sony because being able to actually harness the cell in a desktop computer would kick seven different kinds of ass, and would move PS3s.

And no, upgrading my current computer would be a waste. Socket 478, AGP, DDR RAM. It can't really do more than it already is.

[InuTrunks]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Actually, the "Linux" kit for the ps2 was for developer use.... (homebrew apps)

[Feba]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Actually, the "Linux" kit for the ps2 was for developer use.... (homebrew apps)

You're thinking of Net Yaroze I think.

The PS2 linux kit was partially to help students learn the PS2 hardware, but it was also sold as a consumer kit to use it as a computer.

Sony would very much like to have people believe that their consoles double as home computers, which is very nearly true for the PS2 linux kit and PS3 running linux, but without being able to play 3D games worth a damn, it does me no good..

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Questions for PS3 owners. Also, Mhurron.

Well, do keep in mind that for the most part, a "home computer" isn't made to play 3D games. You can do anything else perfectly fine using the PS3 Linux and while it's a tragedy that Sony's decided to keep the RSX off-limits, the console does perform most other tasks just fine.

A neat feature to have, but useless if you're only looking to play more complex games.