ps3 questions

[gnznroses]

gonna install linux on my ps3 but have a few Qs.

1. this guide (only one i could find) http://linuxps3.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=32&limit=1&limitstart=1 seems pretty good, but i wonder if it's distro-specific? i mean i'm substituting fedora for ubuntu, but i wonder about the ps3 addon disc it says to burn, that includes the otheros.bld file (different from the otheros.self provided by sony btw)

2. the guide also says you hafat format your ps3's hdd in order to partition and install linux. that sounds awfully backwards. i nkow you can backup your data but i only have a 512 mb usb drive that won't be able to hold all my downloaded demos.

3. any full-speed working-sound emulators for nes/genesis/snes/other yet? ones i saw before didn't work too well and that's pretty surprising since it's linux afterall not just a system-specific homebrew like psp.


-edit-
found:
official(?) ubuntu ps3 guide: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/PS3 but it seems to be telling you how to do it FROM linux
YDL guide: http://www.gamescentral.com/blogs/tek_jansens_explosive_gaming_experience/archive/2006/12/04/playstation-3-tek-jansen-s-guide-to-installing-linux-on-your-ps3.aspx doesn't mention a ps3 addon disc and instead just copies both the otheros files onto a usb drive.

[Garfunkel]

1/ use the ubuntu guide
2/ you MUST backup or you may lose everything, use the usb or external HDD and transfer it to your computer.

3/ i don't know but there would be heaps.

[gnznroses]

ok. i bet i hafta delete my demos before i backup cause i don't have any way of backing up more than 512 mb. that really sucks too.
-edit-
oh, and that ubuntu guide makes no sense to me...

[gnznroses]

hmm, well on question: is the otheros.bld file actually different for each distro? what does it do? cause i can figure how to install, or at least try one of the methods, but i don't see an otheros.bld for ubuntu.

[Garfunkel]

hmm i had a look at the guide and it doesn't look right, it is incomplete, don't follow it.

I found this it seems a lot more helpful:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=316047&highlight=PS3

however the problem is is that you need to be running Fedora on the ps3 already which is stupid.....

I have heard that ubuntu needs some extra packages to run on the CELL properly but have found no clues to what they are, but it appears the boot loader (kboot) is one of them. Personally if you are feeling adventurous install Fedora on the Ps3 then install Ubuntu, i would personally recommend either waiting until kernal 2.6.20 hits most distros (because ps3 will be supported officially, right now you need a patch) or install YDL through the torrent in the ps3 board (it will have the greatest performance as it was compiled for the Cell).

I do not think the Otheros.bid file is distro-specific, but it allows the ps3 to recognise the other os

[gnznroses]

hmm, i can install fedora instead of ubuntu. i doubt i'll use it much anyways. probably never really if there's no good emus. i think all the distros need the kboot thing. the first guide i posted, for fedura, says to use it. not sure about ydl. i'll look again at ydl but i was thinking it had a crappy gui or something which was why i was gonna use ubuntu.

i wonder if there's a way to create a virtual usb drive on my laptop and connect that to my ps3 via usb, cause my thumbdrive isn't big enough as i mentioned. doubt it tho.

[gnznroses]

ack, ydl = 4 cds. dunno why they don't make a dvd version...

[Garfunkel]

YDL uses the E17 enlightenment GUI, very nice.

All distros that i know of need the kboot image.

If you had a mini-sata to usb cord you could connect your ps3's add to your laptop, or if you have sata in your laptop and space for a 2nd hdd you could connect it right in.

another way is to download a linux livecd, ubuntu which you already have is one, if you have set up printer/file sharing then you can boot of the ubuntu with your ps3's hdd in your laptop and copy the files off of it to another computer via wifi/ethernet.

[gnznroses]

ah, good ideas. tho it may actually just be easier to redownload the demos.

about ydl being better and built for cell: i actually doubt that. i'd say they just got ahold of the kernal patch from sonmy before it was made public. the distro itself seems to date way before ps3.

[Garfunkel]

Well many say it is far more responsive then other distros, most of the apps however will not be compiled for cell, just the basic OS

[gnznroses]

ok, i'm confused. even if i had a big enough usb stick to backup all my data, if i use the restore feature, it reformats the hdd and returns it to a factory state it says. so how in the hell are you supposed to back up game saves, install linux, and then restore the game saves?
actually, i found something on the net about how to install saves that you download, to put them in a \PS3 folder, so i guess if the backup is all the files separately and not one compressed file i could do it the same way, it just seems like a retarded way to do things. i don't see any way you could backup and then restore anything but your save games.

[gnznroses]

to add even more confusion: the ps3 online manual says a system restore cannot be done if one of the following has been done:
blah blah blah...
formatting the harddrive


wtf
so in actuality, it's ONLY prossible to backup your save games, cause you CANNOT restore anything else.

[Garfunkel]

yeah it is sorta screwed up, let me know how you go

[gnznroses]

ok, will do. i think i'll go ahead and format now, and copy back over my save games (i assume Resistance will just re-install the hdd stuff). but i'm gonna hol doff on installing ydl til my hdtv shows up, so i don't hafat deal with a text install and cause it'll suck anyways. i also couldn't find any emulators either. just snes9x and one called Mess which emulates several crappy systems i think. i found a linux version of RockNES which i assume will work even tho it's not for PPC? i mean does every linux app hafta be compiled for PPC for it to work on ps3? i know Wine says it doesn't work on PPC.

[Garfunkel]

apps need to be either compiled for ppc or cell to run on the ps3