Turn Your PlayStation 3 Into a Linux PC

[KG4CGC]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how_to/4263321.html
It's new to me.

[N2CHX]

Now if you could reverse that process, my son would be forever grateful. He loves video games and my three twitterbugs each have a Linux machine in their bedrooms. This 3,000 square foot three story house has three access points. I think he'd much rather have the PS3...

[N2RJ]

There was Linux for the PS2 as well. Officially sanctioned by Sony too:

http://playstation2-linux.com/

[KB3LAZ]

Someday one of you are going to have to teach me the ways of linux. I have played with it unsuccessfully several times.

I never seem to be able to get it to install properly. Well, I did on the one desktop but my laptops told me to piss off. Having at least one windows PC is a must for me as I like my games. :D

[KG4CGC]

I wish I knew more about linux too but I guess I'm too lazy to understand it well enough to make most general software run on it. I'd really like to know what crap on XP I can shut off in the Task Manager. I don't understand why I need 40 to 52 processes running in the background if I'm just using PhotoShop or whatever.
There are some things that I recognize that I already shutdown but then there's the things in the OS that are running that are not needed that I don't know if it's OK to turn off.

[KB3LAZ]

I wish I knew more about linux too but I guess I'm too lazy to understand it well enough to make most general software run on it. I'd really like to know what crap on XP I can shut off in the Task Manager. I don't understand why I need 40 to 52 processes running in the background if I'm just using PhotoShop or whatever.
There are some things that I recognize that I already shutdown but then there's the things in the OS that are running that are not needed that I don't know if it's OK to turn off.

If it does not say .exe then it is turned off on mine and even a few of those are gone. I have a few System processes, local, and host as well. What used to be 40 is now 15. Dropped my total CP usage from 25% to 2%.

I also have things such a prefect shedding on auto.

[KG4CGC]

There are some things that are just there to bloat the system and are unnecessary. Surely there is a list somewhere of what you can turn off.

[KB3LAZ]

There are some things that are just there to bloat the system and are unnecessary. Surely there is a list somewhere of what you can turn off.

Yes there is but I don't remember where RCL found it. He gave me a list of other changes to make as well and my PC's run so much smoother and faster. I will get with him and ask where he got the lists from and get back to you.

[W1GUH]

Gotta try this soon. Has anyone done this & did things go smoothly? If linux can tap the full power of the PS3 engine, that could be a very powerful workstation.

[n2ize]

Gotta try this soon. Has anyone done this & did things go smoothly? If linux can tap the full power of the PS3 engine, that could be a very powerful workstation.

I have heard some people who have done it and claimed that it worked out quite well. But as for me I have never tried it. I never owned a PS2 or PS3. I do like my PDP-11 though. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[W2NAP]

Gotta try this soon. Has anyone done this & did things go smoothly? If linux can tap the full power of the PS3 engine, that could be a very powerful workstation.

I have heard some people who have done it and claimed that it worked out quite well. But as for me I have never tried it. I never owned a PS2 or PS3. I do like my PDP-11 though. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

just wish i had the money one of them ps3 cost.

[W1GUH]

I put LInux on my PS3 today & it seems all good. There's the usual wrinkles that were a little time-consuming, but no show-stoppers & it seems to work just fine.

Also, changing the hard disk in the PS3 is basically trivial, and the link in this thread went very smoothly. One thing...somehow I could only allocate 10 G from a 250 G disk for Linux. That seems small, and probably I'm going to have to go back and firgure out how to make the PS3 make a bigger partition.

Also, having a problem getting Flash to install, they all seem to be for "386", I couldn't get one for Power PC. That'll take some searching.

The cool thing is I don't need to swap out the disk; changing between Linux and Game, while not trivial -- needs a "trick" -- is esier than swapping out the disk.

If you've got a PS3 it's a neat thing to do. Just be prepared to devote some hours to it...about 3 is a good estimate. Between the download times, the DVD burning time, the installation time, and all the "what do I do now?" times, it's not "instant".

Good luck with it!

One thing...I understand the new, slimmer PS3 doesn't do Linux, so if you want to do this, get an old "fat" PS3.

[W4GPL]

One thing...I understand the new, slimmer PS3 doesn't do Linux, so if you want to do this, get an old "fat" PS3.This is true, but for a $299 price tag, I'll deal with the minor limitation.

[WØTKX]

There are some things that are just there to bloat the system and are unnecessary. Surely there is a list somewhere of what you can turn off.

I passed the phrase Windows XP unneeded processes to the Mighty Oracle of Google, and got this simple result. Check the other linkies that pop up as well:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A420-2005Feb5.html

Eine Runde Dunkel Weiss, Bitte! :cheers: