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Linux for the PlayStation2:It's Official
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Thu Apr 26, 2001 09:25 AM
from the do-you-speak-japanese? dept.
from the do-you-speak-japanese? dept.
Oliver writes "Sony officially announced their port of Linux to the PlayStaion2 game console. In the press release they mention that they were moved by demand the community petition (see this story) demonstrated with over 6000 signers. The PS2 Linux Kit page is currently only in Japanese and there's not much info thre yet other than some pictures. But according to it, a Beta version is going to be sold to 1000 members of the community in June for about $200.
The Kit is going to consist of an external HDD/Ethernet unit connected to the PCMCIA slot, found on early Japanese PS2 models, a VGA adapterplus USB Mouse and Keyboard. Kits for oversee models are supposedly in planning. The kit will include a complete Linux/X11 environment with all sources, technical hardware manuals for the EE, GS and vectorunits plus a low-level API and Mesa drivers for graphics. " Won't work for us unfortunate american PS2 junkies. But its a sweet step.
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Linux for the PlayStation2:It's Official
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Re:to do list: (Score:3)
Babelfish: In AD2101, boot was beginning (Score:4)
What you say!!
babelfished (Score:5)
On April 26th of 2001 it is the press release which is issued in the reporting authorized personnel address from corporation SONY * computer entertainment.
April 26 of 2001 day
Corporation SONY * computer entertainment
" Place t Shaun 2 " business Linux kit (beta edition)
In the Japanese country destined for the Linux community, release start
Corporation SONY * computer entertainment (the SCEI), release we start from this year June " place t Shaun 2 " (the PS2) the business Linux kit (beta edition), destined for the Japanese domestic Linux community.
Demand is moved aside large number that since selling the PS2, from everyone of the domestic Linux community, we would like to enjoy programming the Linux on the PS2. The latest Linux kit (beta edition) release, as you answer to the demand from everyone of that kind of Linux community, being something which is done with the purpose which supports the activity of everyone of the Linux community it does.
As for the Linux since the being born, spread is advanced quickly in the entire world, activity of everyone of the developer and the user which relate to the Linux is spreading, the organization such as enterprise and the university as a non- profit-making activity, furthermore exceeding the border. The in that situation, the PS2 has observed, as the platform of the new Linux on Internet also the signature activity which requests the release of the Linux which operates with the PS2 is done. As one example, a certain Web sight (* 1) in, from this year March with the signature activity which is started, as of this day, with the Japanese sight approximately 4,500 names, approximately 1,500 name thing signatures have gotten together with the English sight.
The Linux kit for the PS2 (beta edition), high-speed network * interface (the 100BASE-TX ethernet) outside it possesses attaching type HDD unit and the Linux beta edition installation disk (DVD-ROM), it consists of the VGA adapter, the USB keyboard and the USB mouse et cetera in order to indicate the image signal of the PS2 in computer display. Because of this, everyone of the user starts the Linux on the PS2 when it is connected to network, it is possible to enjoy Linux application. (* 2)
Furthermore, image output of the Linux for the PS2 the XGA (the 1024×768 dot) and the like has supposed the computer display of high resolution. (* 3) and, outside is included in this kit attaching type HDD unit corresponds to the PC card slot of the PS2 itself. The recent model PS2 which is sold on this year April 18th (SCPH-30000) correspondence to the model of the expansion bay type which is included presently is in the midst of examining.
In case of the release of this kit, in order to be able to assure the continuous communication of everyone of the Linux community, in order that the sale method of utilizing network is introduced preparation is being advanced. The commodity and sale method concerning details, the place t Shaun * dot the sight of the COM which is the group company of this corporation * Japan corporation (the http: Consecutively we guide the
As the SCEI continues and " place t Shaun " and " place t Shaun 2 " focusing on game * music * movie * publication * program and the like fused creates the world of new computer entertainment, you propose to the network society which was opened, global promote the construction of broadband * network powerfully and are defeated.
(* 1) http:
(* 2) in regard to the source cord/code, following to that condition in regard to the part where disclosure is required the GPL (the GNU General Public License) or by other license conditions, it discloses, but the software component of the part where the SCE has had all rights is not included targetting disclosure.
(* 3) connecting to the television for general home, it is not possible to utilize.
From here the top
Trade name " Place t Shaun 2 " business Linux kit (beta edition) SCPH-10270 K
Standard price 25,000 Yen (classified by tax)
Sale day June of 2001 (schedule)
Kit contents Linux beta edition installation disk (DVD-ROM)
Outside attaching type HDD unit (40GB)
* 100BASE-TX broadband ethernet correspondence
* By way of the PC card slot connection
USB keyboard
USB mouse
VGA adapter
Guide window Place t Shaun * dot COM * Japan corporation
http://www.jp.playstation.com/linux/
Copyright (C) 2001 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and PlayStation.com (Japan) the Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Re:$200 ??? Are you kidding??? (Score:4)
- DVD-ROM for all the software
- USB keyboard
- USB wheel mouse
- 10/100 Ethernet adapter
- 40GB hard drive w/ PCMCIA connector
- PlayStation2->VGA adapter
Not bad for $200. Especially when you consider that the hard drive/Ethernet PCMCIA card is probably a custom part.We're not scare-mongering/This is really happening - Radiohead
Hey! (Score:5)
Nevermind...
Re:Speaking of convergence fantasies (Score:3)
Not a stupid idea (Score:5)
The cost of the devkit has been the main hurdle for people learning how to program consoles on their own. I wanted to learn dreamcast programming, but the devkit was more than my yearly salary. I wasn't interested in performing hacks and messy work around so i could program the DC to kinda work with linux/assembly.
With this linux kit, it includes support for the low level api. and the psx2 is notoriously different/difficult to work with, so letting interested people mess around with development in their spare time is a GOOD IDEA in my opinion. I would definately buy the kit if it becomes available for non-japanese consoles.
I wouldn't buy this for linux, i would buy it for the chance to program on the psx2.
Re:TAXES!!! Re:Why, Sony + Linux (Score:3)
So what? I don't care if they did it because the ghost of their dead grandmother told them to, it's still a good deal.
In fact if they start selling a Linux distro for the PS2 they nice profitible, long-term revenue stream. Unless they did a poor job with the port (I doubt it) most people would be happy to purchase Sony Linux, and I doubt that anyone else would make much headway in the PS2/Linux market. They also might make a few bucks on the additional Sony-branded hardware (hard drive, keyboard, networking, etc.).
There is also some possibility that it could be used like a TiVo or for interactive content (like Starship Troopers, "Do you want to know more?" with URLs embedded in the video stream) or just for normal web browsing. This would require your equipment to support DV (FireWire) video, since there doesn't appear to be a video-in on the device itself (maybe something that could be added via the expansion bay on the back?).
The possibilities are endless, with a general purpose OS like Linux (or NetBSD) you can get the box to do anything you like, reliably and quickly. Niftilicious.
Re:Way cool development platform... (Score:4)
> card for a PC. (Last I heard. It may have come
> down quite a bit)
I'm a little confused about that...
You may or may not recall the Net Yaroze [psextreme.com] (the "black Playstation"). It was meant for hobbyist Playstation programmer and came with a stripped down set of libraries, special memory card and boot cd, and a serial cable to connect to a PC (and yes, you can use Linux [identicalsoftware.com]). That's all you needed.
I had seen the blue [argonet.co.uk] (developer) Playstation at a friend's company and I was under the impression that it was just like the Yaroze except it had the full libs and could read gold (burned) cds, but apparently the card you speak of is also required. I'm unclear as to what it's for, considering that you can do crippled programming on the Yaroze with just a serial cable.
Cynical point of view (Score:4)
I might be wrong, obviously, but given the extremely low price of this SDK, and that it runs a very buzz-friendly OS, I have to wonder...
after all, given that the XBox is a MS product, I assume that it would be very easy for MS to give out some sort of SDK that runs on a standard PC, since the hardware is pretty much the same.
What do you all think?
Interesting, but... (Score:3)
Considering the cost ($300ps2 +$200kit) it would make a extremely cheap development platform for new games.
If this happened the X-box would be toast. EOL.
You know the porting of games would come fast and furious after that. eg: UT, UT2, Half-life, Q4, Tomb Raider, Turok, Drakken, Doom, Leisure Suit Larry and the Land of the Lounge Lizards. (yeah, I know some are already ported)
Blue PS1 and other hardware explained (Score:5)
You start work on a development kit - this is the expensive PCI card for PS1, or the big black tower (the T10000) for PS2. This hardware supports source-level debugging, has more memory, etc and is what you do your main development on.
Once your game is well on the way to completion (eg. it can fit in the memory of the consumer hardware, it doesn't crash too often) you start to make bootable discs that run on what are called debug stations. The blue PS1 was the debug station. For PS2 the debug looks like the consumer unit except it says 'TEST' on the top instead of 'PS2'. The debug stations can operate from CD-R and DVD-R media (no copy protection). These are primarily so your testers can run the game before you submit it to Sony.
The black PS1 (the Net Yaroze) wasn't even as full-featured as a debug station - it couldn't boot from CD-Rs. Plus, you could only download your own code to it after booting from a special black CD. Given that this PS2 hobbyist kit is for the consumer PS2, there won't be CD-R support there either.
More Human than Human (Score:3)
Anyone else see the signifigance of this? A killer OS, combined with state of the art engineering for multimedia hardware. Complete right down to the low level information to program the fancy-pants features. Last time I saw that was in the near-mythical box of yore, the Amiga.. *dreamy sighs* I hope this makes it to North America. I can't believe sony did it either.. aye karumba!
Just think, a standardized, high-power linux graphics computing platform targeted solely at games, but with the capability to do other stuff, too. Maybe I'll spend my GF3 fund on something like that and keep my PC for coding. Heh.
Hope it's not a hoax..
Slightly OT, but DOWN WITH REGIONAL HARDWARE (Score:4)
I dunno, I know I don't see the whole picture, if someone out there can rationalize regional hardware for me...
Ah well...
-----
get me a bootable cdrom... (Score:4)
would be *really* nice to have a bootable MAME CD as well.
PS/2? (Score:3)
Yeah, I got Linux running on my PS/2 years ago... I don't see what the big deal here is. It's actually a pretty crappy server, and is only any good as a terminal.
DeCSS (Score:5)
Re:Way cool development platform... (Score:3)
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
Speaking of convergence fantasies (Score:3)
Re:um what about the GPL? (Score:3)
Re:um what about the GPL? (Score:5)
Oh yeah? (Score:3)
FluX
After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network
Re:Way cool development platform... (Score:3)
Quite frankly, I don't think this is going to happen like this. Linux is already available for PCs. Linux running PC-owners have a far higher proportion of programmers with the ability to write games than the ps2. If we were going to see a plethora of games for linux, developed by amateurs, they would already be here. As it is, we have a handful of Loki ports, and a few relatively simplistic games (cannon smash, tux racer etc).
Where it may help is if it is competitive with the native development of ps2 games. A conventional games company looking at developing a game for ps2 would weigh up the points of doing it under linux on ps2 or not, and one point that may swing it is that, "if we do it under linux, we can pick up all those geeks on slashdot too".
For myself, I would rather see something like the dreamcast linux that is currently available. I don't need a hard disk on a console, just a network card. Because I know all I'll use it for is as a sitting room front-end for my real computer to play mp3s, occasionally look at the web etc.. which isn't exciting, but I'd put money it's what a lot of people want.
not_cub
to do list: (Score:4)
2. Buy a PS2.
3. Get kit.
4. Convince wife that it is all "educational" and is not because of any "cool factor".
Re:Rendering Farm? (Score:5)
Ah, no. Not even close. Sorry. You're confusing real-time graphics with pre-rendered graphics, here. When you render graphics with a 3d modeling/rendering app like Lightwave or 3DSMax (for example) the CPU is doing all of the rendering computations when you render your final image.
Your 3d-accelerated hardware (the PS2's obvious strength) is used by LW or 3DS for real-time previews while you're creating and animating your scene. But when you're rendering your image, your shiny GeForce5 with 256MB memory and a 600MHZ GPU is nothing but a fancy slot-warmer. It does nothing. Your GeForce5-equipped machine is not going to render any faster than an identical PC with a S3 Virge chip.
Also, rendering is a true memory hog. Anyone doing serious rendering has at least 128MB of memory, if not 256 or 512MB. The PS2 has 32MB on board making it less than useless.
I'm sure the PS2's CPU is pretty powerful, especially for the floating-point operations needed for 3D rendering, but... it's only 300MHZ. I seriously doubt it's going to render faster than a 800mhz Athlon that you can buy for like $100 these days.
So, in summary, "no."
http://www.bootyproject.org [bootyproject.org]
Software decoding of MPEG? Almost crazy! (Score:3)
I have two rigs I use with daily frequency. Both run Linux, the 2.2.14 kernel, and are virtually identical in the software arena (yes, one has WordPerfect and XEmacs, but I don't use them that much
One is a C433 with 96 M ram, a PCI sound card, and a Voodoo2 3000 accelerator card. I can play Q3A and it sings (except for a minor sound problem.. damned
Now, the other rig is a P100 laptop with 40 MB ram and 350+M swap (for now.. i needed the insane swap to get certain apps running right!). I play a regular 128 kbps stereo MP3, and it belches out the audio in fits and spurts. Audio sucks even on lower quality MP3s because the ability to process the large amounts of data ain't there.
Then comes in the handheld MP3 player. Of course it plays 'em good; after all, THAT'S ALL IT DOES!
Moral of the story: A properly engineered dedicated device can do more with less processing power than a non-dedicated box.
I mean, think about it! MPEG-2 decoding is insane on system resources! Loads of ram and tons of cycles are needed to chew through the frames and the damned CSS coding!
A dedicated DVD player is built to crank out IMAGE without the overhead of an OS and multiple uses (beyond CD player, but a 386 can play a CD!!)
Windows.. Good for targeting rocks.
Funny thing is... (Score:5)
Dreamcast Linux [sourceforge.net]
NetBSD, too, if you swing that way. ;)
Dreamcast NetBSD [netbsd.org]
Raw links for the Goatse paranoid:
http://linuxdc.sourceforge.net/
http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/dreamcast/
Re:Wow! (Score:3)
The US, Euro (I guess?) and latest Japan models have an internal bay for the hard disk and ethernet port, so they'll require a different kit. I'm sure it's being worked on, if only because they'll need it in Japan.
That's why I wanted a PS2: SSX and this.
("... and the no-feet guy told me there was this thing called a budget and WNYX was way over it.")
What about programs? (Score:5)
As far as I know, right now you can't write games for the PS2 without the permission and strict supervision of Sony. Will the existence of PS2 Linux change this, or will any attempt to distribute games for it meet with a heavy kibosh from a swarm of Sony lawyers? I'm not too excited about an Open Source OS for the PS2 if I can't run Open Source software on it.
Why, Sony? (Score:3)
Strangely enough, this isn't too far out of Sony's master plans. The GSCube, their 3rd-generation console, runs almost entirely on Linux according to this month's issue of Wired magazine. It's a large, ugly beast but very powerful -- many many processors.
But still, PS2 + Linux doesn't make a whole lot of business sense.
Now what? (Score:3)
But is there any practical value for this? It seems to me that when you're buying a keyboard and external hard drive to run Linux on a system displaying on your TV, you would be better off using the PC you already have. (I'm skeptical that there is a large base of PlayStation Linux customers who don't already have a PC.)
I'm not knocking this - I'm trying to understand if there's anything behind statements like conservative fractions in the company are hindering the Public Release of the port, fearing revelation of their trade secrets and not seeing the advantage for SCEI releasing the software.
Unsettling MOTD at my ISP.
Great news... (Score:3)
I'll never be off my PS2 ever...
Indrema Factor (Score:4)
Think about it, whats the best way to insure the longevity of a game these days? Ask Sierra studios and they'll tell you the answer is a community of home grown developers. This practice can easily translate to a console. Sony is protecting themselves against the Xbox and Gamecube by 'opening' their console to people who could develop apps and games at home.
Way cool development platform... (Score:5)
Nintendo currently requires you to buy or lease an expensive (bigger than my yearly salary) SGI-based development kit. Playstation 1 requires you to buy a $2k PCI card for a PC. (Last I heard. It may have come down quite a bit) Microsoft's going to let you develop on a PC, but let's be honest here. How many developers have the best 3D gaming platform money can buy?
Letting users run linux and a HDD *on* a PS2, however, means that entriprising hackers can start building games and/or other apps. What's *really* great about this is the fact that quite a few of these new apps are going to be written for the X environment on the Linux kit. It seems to me like that would make it an easy port to GTK, etc...
Ohayou gozaimasu, our Nihonjin friends. How about some prelim reports on the functionality once you get your hands on these guys?
Re:um what about the GPL? (Score:3)
TAXES!!! Re:Why, Sony + Linux (Score:5)
The need the Playstation 2 to be classified as a computing device rather than as a consumer electronics/entertainment device (For Great Britain - I don't know about the European Community as a whole).
This was discussed in Slashdot before. Where's that group memory thing (or I guess I'm one cell of it...)
Wow! (Score:3)
Re:Rendering Farm? (Score:3)
you can actually build a rendering farm on the cheap!
But remember the game console pricing model! Lose money on the hardware, make money on the software. If people start snapping these up as cheap graphics workstations, something has to give, since those people aren't likely to buy anywhere near enough games to match the number of consoles. Sony either needs to charge for the linux software dvd or charge more for the hardware. I bet it's the former. Or pehaps charging a high price for the disk/ethernet add-on hardware.