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Games Entertainment

Sony Announces Version 1.0 Of Linux for Playstation 2 458

ResearchBuzz writes: "Sony has announced the May 2002 release of Linux (for Playstation 2) Release 1.0." He quotes from the press release: "The company expects the kit to sell for about $199 USD when it is made available in May 2002 exclusively through its website, http://www.us.playstation.com."
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Sony Announces Version 1.0 Of Linux for Playstation 2

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  • This will be a neat kit, and I'll likely spring for it. The hardware is worth it alone...

    But out of serious curiousity -- I wonder how hard it will be to get BSD running on it... Hmm.
  • by srw ( 38421 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:27AM (#2923788) Homepage
    Is this really useful? You need a monitor which supports Sync-on-green to use this. I guess we won't be able to use this as a set-top box.
    • by fliplap ( 113705 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:33AM (#2923806) Homepage Journal
      Actually, old Sync-on-green monitors are very very cheap. I've met places that are giving away 21" old x-term monitors, almost all of which are sync-on-green.

      And, IIRC, you can still use this with a normal TV, you just won't get that great of resolution. I'm not sure how it would work with say a 1080i HDTV.

    • Here's a blurb on an adapter that should do the trick for you...
      http://lists.debian.org/debian-hppa/2001/debian- hp pa-200111/msg00001.html
    • by ecampbel ( 89842 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @06:08AM (#2924222)
      Can I use a TV as my display ?

      Yes. However, it is necessary to install Linux (for PlayStation 2) for the first time using a compatible VESA Monitor that supports "sync on green". Once Linux has been installed, it is possible to configure it to boot using TV display from then on. Some digital TV (DTV) modes are also supported (separate cables may be required for DTV).

      Which Display Resolutions are supported ?

      NTSC/PAL interlaced and non-interlaced

      DTV 480P, 720P and 1080I modes

      VESA modes 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 at 60/75 Hz

      More:
      Linux (for PlayStation®2) Version 1.0 FAQ [playstation2-linux.com]
  • MAME (Score:3, Funny)

    by BlueJay465 ( 216717 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:27AM (#2923791)
    Great, now I can port all those old arcade games from 10 and 20 years ago onto 21st century platform. Who woulda thunk it?
  • by AnimeFreak ( 223792 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:38AM (#2923825) Homepage
    Considering there is a hard disk and a operation system that is developed by "hackers," what is stopping someone from creating a bootloader for Linux to boot PS2/PSX burns (let it be a DVD-R/CDR).

    I don't see why it would not be possible to do so unless they have really done a good job putting protections into place.
    • In the past, you had to have the development system to use the programs wrote by others. So you'd have to shell out the money for a development system just to play your pirated games. In the case of the PSX that was cost and unit prohibitive. There weren't enough units and they cost way to much to justify that.

      In this case, though, some people may be more keen to paying $200 and pirate 50 games (of which, they'll play 4. Good thing they are saving money.).

      It boils down to, even if you did come up with a bootloader, only those with a development system would benefit from it. If I had one of the development systems, I wouldn't be interested anyway. If a game is worth playing, I'll buy it.
  • by SkulkCU ( 137480 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:38AM (#2923826) Homepage Journal

    Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle

    I was actually excited about this neat-o deal until I read this phrase. Doesn't it seem a bit silly to praise and promote a life filled with entertainment? Or am I being a joykill?

    On the other hand, if entertainment is being redefined as Linux hacking, maybe there's a great deal more progress being made than I realized...
    • The "entertainment lifestyle" phrase is a very common one in Japanese marketing. It doesn't translate well into US marketing speak, so it feels a bit disengenous to non-Japanese.

      Just one of those things people take for granted, since cultural identity has long been substituted by marketing techniques... not just in the US, but everywhere.
  • So if it includes the Hard Drive and Ethernet adapter, does this mean those are going to be available in May instead of this summer? That's kind of exciting....

    I'm not sure what Sony planned on selling the drive for, but I think the Network Adapter (which was suppose to be modem and ethernet) was going to go for around $40. Anyone know what the hard drive was going to sell for?

    I'm wondering what the value-add price of Linux is in this case.
  • I really hope that this now make MAME support possible.

    A MAME DVD would have enough space on it for all the most popular MAME's game ROMS

    BUT, would Sony allow such a distribution ???

    Checkout MAME here : http://www.mame.net
    And for all your ROM needs here : http://www.mame.dk

    Galaga,Outrun,Spy Hunter,Xevious,Rolling Thunder - ahh !! my childhood !

    Darren Kruse CCNP CCDP
    WAN/LAN Networking Consultant
    mailto://darren_kruse@hotmail.com
    www.geocities.com/darren_kruse [geocities.com]

    • The Mame license prohibits distribution of Mame on the same physical media as ROMS. Note the following quote from the Mame license:

      "You are not allowed to distribute MAME and ROM images on the same physical
      medium. You are allowed to make them available for download on the same
      website, but only if you warn users about the copyright status of the ROMs and
      the legal issues involved. You are NOT allowed to make MAME available for
      download together with one giant, single file containing all the supported
      ROMs, or any files containing more than one ROM set each. You are not allowed
      to distribute MAME in any form if you sell, advertise, or publicize illegal
      CD-ROMs or other media containing ROM images. Note that this restriction
      applies even if you don't directly make money from such a sale. The restriction
      does not apply, of course, if the CD-ROMs are published by the ROMs' copyright
      owners.


      Of course, if you could burn your own DVD for your own personal use....
      • Of course, if you could burn your own DVD for your own personal use....

        If you mean a ps2 bootable dvd, I don't that's going to happen, not only due to technical reasons but also legal reasons. Now on the other hand, if you could store your ROMS on your computer and rig up some bits to list/fetch them via the network adaptor... The same could be done for a NES/SNES emulator/ROMS!!

        Oh god, I have to go masturbate.
      • Use the PS2 Hard drive to store the ROMs and MAME.
  • Nethack (Score:5, Funny)

    by alister ( 60389 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:49AM (#2923861) Homepage Journal
    This will only be of value if I can compile Nethack for PS2. This would have to be the only game to take full advantage of the PS2's graphics :-)

    Alister
  • Hmmm... (Score:3, Funny)

    by BJH ( 11355 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:54AM (#2923878)
    It looks like Linux (for PlayStation 2) may be a really popular item (for PlayStation 2), especially if Sony (for PlayStation 2) is releasing (for PlayStation 2) this into mainstream (for PlayStation 2) retail (for PlayStation 2) outlets (for PlayStation 2).

    Just remember, it's for PlayStation (for Play(for PlayStat(for PlayStation 2)ion 2)Station 2) 2!
  • by indaba ( 32226 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @02:55AM (#2923881)
    You'll notice that there's still no way for anyone to author a DVD and distribute it without the blessing of Sony.

    With my end-user hat on , I think this is a good thing, as I know that all commercial PS2 bootable DVD will have at least some sort of minimum quality control

    With my hacker/geek hat on, I'm kinda disappointed that this won't allow non Sony sanctioned s/w to be produced for the PS2

    I'm not sure which way to lean on this one, so it's just an observation at this stage !

    Darren Kruse CCNP CCDP
    WAN/LAN Networking Consultant
    mailto://darren_kruse@hotmail.com
    www.geocities.com/darren_kruse [geocities.com]

    • Sure you can.

      It has a NIC. It has a Hard Drive. What more do you neeD?
    • With my hacker/geek hat on, I'm kinda disappointed that this won't allow non Sony sanctioned s/w to be produced for the PS2

      Oh, pull the GPL out of your ass. Sony has gone out of it's way to put this together; they even had a petition to gauge interest, meaning they gave two shits about consumer demand. They can impose restrictions if they want.

      As we all know, the big-console makers expect to make up for the money lost in hardware sales with software sale royalties from developers. There's no way you can even expect them to allow people to burn/distribute their own works.
  • Benchmarks? (Score:2, Interesting)

    Has anyone ran linux on a PS2 run any Benchmarks yet? I'd like to know just how fast the CPU really is.
  • PS2-linux URL (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gkbarr ( 124078 ) <[moc.oohay] [ta] [scpkg]> on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @03:14AM (#2923949) Homepage
    playstation2-linux.com [playstation2-linux.com]

    For those who are interested, this is the place to go. Every 'community' like /. stated as one or two guys with an idea...

    In other words, the site is kinda small right now.

    It helps if you, like, smoke a lot of weed.

  • Back when this story last hit /. I observed the dump of dmesg from the thing and the DVD drive was conspiciously absent. Without that we can't build up a DVD/DiVX;)/MP3/OGG/etc player very easy.
  • DivX (Score:2, Funny)

    by luckymat ( 137959 )
    I wil be able to watch DivXs and listem to mp3s throught my PS2 !JOY!
    • Of course, it would be cheaper to buy a TV card with video out and a little and a little Y-adapter to go from your soundcard out to RCA than to dish out the 200 dollars for a PS2 devel kit....
  • by PoshSpod ( 549405 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @03:49AM (#2924033)
    From the playstation2-linux website [playstation2-linux.com].


    Site Statistics
    Hosted Projects: 5
    Registered Users: 5


    Hurray and be registered user 6!

  • Question (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @04:16AM (#2924078)
    Do we hate Sony today?

    Last week, we hated Sony for its DRM copy-protection on Sony Memory sticks.

    The week before that, we loved Sony because they were releasing a PS2 Linux kit in Japan.

    The week before that, we hated Sony because they were a key proponent in creating the DMCA.

    The week before that, we liked Sony because of the PS2.

    The week before that, we hated Sony because they shutdown an AIBO hack site.

    Do we like or hate Sony this week?
  • Television output (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Linux Freak ( 18608 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @04:43AM (#2924114) Homepage
    According to the press release, ``The graphics output requires a high-resolution computer display, with standard output set as XGA (1024 x 768 resolution); home televisions cannot be used as monitors."

    This is the only thing that bugs me (well, aside from the fact that I live in Japan and this won't run on my Japanese PS/2, and the Japanese version of the kit is high near impossible to obtain). I don't really _need_ a monitor (I'd just ssh in from my main workstation) but I would really like to be able to, say, watch streaming video on my TV. (Example: Star Trek Enterprise won't be showing in Japan for like, another 2 years. I have been grabbing eps from the 'net and watching them on my crappy 17" LCD monitor, while my 24" TV sits there idle.)

    Anybody know more about this? Surely the development of a driver to push video through the RCA video hookup wouldn't be too difficult?
    • I agree that lack of TV output is my only complaint with their package.

      I somehow doubt that X can't run on interlaced NTSC, but rather that text is ugly and difficult to read at typical font sizes.

      The option of running at 640x480 or even less if necessary would increase acceptance even if a monitor were recommended.

      Another cool application would be dual monitor support (including TV plus RGB). I have no idea how the connectors work, and this is more viable if VGA is a seperate connector rather than an adapter for s-video or something.

      Virtual desktops in X window managers would let you direct apps to monitors of your choice (say TV displays desktop 2 and 4, and VGA 1 and 3).
    • TV sets are pretty good at displaying moving, colored graphics, but lousy at displaying a text file; the maximum readable line length is about 40 characters. Sony assumes (correctly, I think) that anyone who needs Linux on their PS/2 is going to need better text display capabilities. That is, they are doing their best to make this a platform for writing games, not pirating them -- and if you are coding, you need a decent monitor. You also need a better monitor than a TV for web-surfing...

      So they do make it possible to set the video to the TV output (you'll need this when you want to run that game you wrote), but set the system so the first boot will be to a monitor. This seems to forget two groups of people:

      1) SSH: Real hackers already have a computer, and they'd probably much rather type on that than on the PS2 anyhow, so they'll probably prefer the PS2 Linux set up for remote control, and going to the TV when they want to try running a game. So borrow an SVGA monitor to boot it the first time and change the settings. You've already got at least one.

      2) Non-hackers that just want to play the games hackers are giving away. Some of these people just might have a little trouble finding a monitor they can borrow for the first set-up. Sony has also made distributing the games a little difficult, with the CD/DVD player apparently not being good reading non-factory disks; they're probably not too enthused about turning customers into competitors with their own games division. However, it doesn't sound like they blocked downloading games from the internet.
  • by Hal-kun ( 12486 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @04:53AM (#2924131)
    After I wrote my Playstation Documentation Project [execpc.com] I have had to dance with Sony playing the intellectual property game with me and Connectix. I've taken up a hobby of watching Sony pretty closely when it comes to them protecting thier I.P. and tend to become even more intrested when they start becoming "generous" like this. It's hard to think that there are no strings attached. Allow me to give you a little history.

    When Sony released the "Net Yaroze" (A grey PSX painted black for hobbiests), there was a very restrictive licence in the contract you had to sign. This included a "all programs created with the Yaroze are property of Sony" clause. They also popped in an NDA for good mesure too. It was a little too resticting for me.

    When I was halfway though my Doc, I let my e-mail show up on a PSXDev mailing list informing them of the Doc I was working on. I almost immidiatly got an e-mail from Sony of Japan(!) asking if I spoke Japanese. When I answered that I did, I got a real nastygram in Japanese basicly saying that if I even think about publising any of the libary commands to the PSX I'd be up the proverbial estuary without means of locomotion. A few months later I published, had a little tussle about the BIOS hooks, and now I'm here.

    I haven't played with the Japanese Linux for PS2, but it still stinks. I used to live in Japan and know first hand that they have very restrictive intellectual property laws. (Like music CDs that are made for rental and others that you can buy, but they have to be at a sold at a particular price set by the company.) I can tell you right away, If you are thinking of doing anything that reqires accessing the CD/DVD-ROM, such as DVD Playback, reading files files from a disk, or even finding something in /dev you are going to be sorely disappointed. If you can access the CD-ROM, color me suprised.

    Be aware that were will probably going to be proprietary drives/libs that you will not be able to reverse without Sony calling the lawyers. I know you will have *ZERO* access to the bootloader. Once again, if this isn't the case, I'll be pleasently suprised again.

    Finally, I doubt that you will be able to play PS2 games/DVDs out of the moniter adapter. If you do, if I remeber, you will only get the green channel to show up.

    I'm also sure that if you make a copy of the Linux disk for some sap with a hacked harddrive and a modchip, Sony will be knocking.

    Just a heads up.

    -Joshua Walker
  • Play (Score:2, Funny)

    by dostick ( 69711 )

    Why Linux? It's PLAYstation !
  • Sony abides by GPL (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jgarzik ( 11218 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @06:12AM (#2924237) Homepage
    The press release nor either of the PS2 web sites appeared to mention source code, as far as I could see. So I asked for a clarification.

    Color me impressed. Not only did I receive a reply within minutes, but they are indeed fully abiding by the GPL.

    This forum message [playstation2-linux.com] contains the reply with a bit more info.

    Thanks, Sony!
  • by thogard ( 43403 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @06:13AM (#2924239) Homepage
    I've been contributing to open source projects for 15 years and now these jokers want to sell me that code back?

    I don't think thats quite right.
    • Isn't it amazing that with all the posturing and screaming, that the GPL doesn't make one ounce of difference in the real world.
      • by SpinyNorman ( 33776 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @09:41AM (#2924765)
        Sure it does - the GPL means that if you choose to buy the product you will also have complete source code for the GPL'd portions of it - complete with Sony extensions.

        Also note that your $199 buys you a hard drive and ethernet adaptor as well as the Sony extended PS2 supported versions of gcc and XFree86...

        How come you find $199 for this a rip off, yet don't complain about RedHat or SuSE selling Linux without hard drives and network adaptors thrown in?

        It's Linux whiners and cheapskates like you that put Loki out of business.
        • <blockquote>Sure it does - the GPL means that if you choose to buy the product you will also
          have complete source code for the GPL'd portions of it - complete with Sony
          extensions. </blockquote>Only extensions you will get the code for are the ones that are source-integrated with previously GPLed programs. Things like kernel modules (ala. TiVo) don't have to be released. The ISO Image is still copyrighted if nothing else is, making duplicating it illegial, and any programs they built from scratch are not GPLed. (Likely several of their own propritary programs are required to make the CD work.<blockquote>How come you find $199 for this a rip off, yet don't complain about RedHat or SuSE
          selling Linux without hard drives and network adaptors thrown in? </blockquote> First, I never said I find it a ripoff... I'm merely bringing a little reality to you GPL zeleots. However, the difference is that you can get Redhat, SuSE, and any other distro for free (downloadable, infintely copyable, unlimited useage, etc). <blockquote>It's Linux whiners and cheapskates like you that put Loki out of business. </blockquote>Oh so many problems with that last sentence. 1. I am a BSDer, I very much dislike Linux/Gnu. 2. I'm not a cheapscate. I've established that I don't care about the $200 price tag. I've bought several OpenBSD/FreeBSD CDs, and accessories such as ThinkGeek carries. 3. I'm not a gamer, and I don't run Linux. If I was a gamer, and I ran Linux, and I liked the games Loki ported, I wouldn't mind buying them (but that's a lot of "IF"s).
          • So you find it a problem that the GPL allows people to write commercial software such as TiVo for Linux?

            Note that Redhat etc allowing free downloads of their software, even of ready to burn ISOs(!), is not a requirement of the GPL, which only requires that they provide source when you *BUY* their product. Free downloads are just part of their business model, and frankly are probably a bad idea since they have convinced so many people such as yourself that anything Linux related should be free and that Linux software has no value.
            • <blockquote>So you find it a problem that the GPL allows people to write commercial software
              such as TiVo for Linux? </blockquote><p>No, I've mentioned I'm a BSDer. I think ANY use of Open Source code should be permitted. It doesn't hurt me to have TiVo NOT contribute code back into the tree. It should be a choice, not a compulsion.<p>
              My problem is that the GPL is not an Open Source license... It is a "Free Software" license as Stallman has so repetitively pointed out. The GPL's intentions, and it's proponent's intentions, are to force developers to release their code for free (such as RedHat does).

              My sole reason for spotlighting the situation is simply that people release their code under the GPL thinking that they are somehow ensuring that Microsoft and other companies will have to turn into software hippies if they every use that GPLed code. I don't have a problem selling it. I have a problem with people that don't have a grip on reality, which is in turn a detriment to the Openm Source community.
              • I applogize for the formatting. It won't be happening again.
      • You may have missed it, but the kit includes two DVD's, one of which is all the sources.

        I don't know about you, but I don't recall hearing about Windows shipping with a source CD.

        The fact that Sony's charging for it is not the point of the GPL. The point is that even though they're charging for it, they still have to release the source. The GPL has never been against selling software.
    • I don't think thats quite right.

      It is right. Sony chose to organize a port of free software to their platform and, then, sell it to recoup their costs and possibly make a profit. Most free software licenses clearly allow this. Just be thankful that there is yet another platform on which free software is available.

      If you don't like the facts that the PS2 is proprietary, DVDs are controlled by megacorporations, and you have to buy the Linux DVD for the PS2 from Sony, then just use another platform (such as a comparably inexpensive PC) to run the same software. You are not forced by anyone to pay for your own code.
      • This is actually kind of funny =)

        Sony chose to organize a port of free software to their platform and, then, sell it to recoup their costs .... Just be thankful that there is yet another platform on which free software is available

        Does anyone else see the irony of this statement? =)
  • Europe (Score:2, Interesting)

    by JohnFred ( 16955 )

    Given the recent modchip and regional liscencing case, this leaves Europe (SCEEurope's teritorry) as the only region you can't run Linux on the PS2.

    So can Alan Cox be arrested for running Linux on his PS2 in the UK? Hmm. Also, you will note, Blokman Trading [runix.ru] the guys who did the "privateer" Linux port to the Playstation have appeare to have dissapeared off the web. What happened to them?

    Sony are in the same class as Microsoft: they seek to create a monopoly by proprietary lock - in, and regional liscencing, so this is the equivalent of MS Linux coming out.

    Yet everyone celebrates...
  • by Salsaman ( 141471 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @08:19AM (#2924511) Homepage
    This doesn't do me a lot of good.

    Does anybody know if Sony has any plans to release the kit for European Playstations ?

    I'd definately be up for buying one if they did.

  • A lot of people are miffed that Sony's asking $200 this and so and and so forth, but I think it's an okay deal - think how much a 40 gig hd costs (~$100) and an ethernet card (~30). Throw in a great os that has been ported for the first time to a completely foreign architecture (~ $$ who knows?), coupled with the fact that this stuff is not off-the-shelf but has to be tested and repackaged to fit the exacting specs of the PS2 and I think you've got a pretty good deal. Add the $300 for a PS2 plus the $200 for this kit and maybe another $200 for a decent monitor (if you don't have one already), and you've got yourself an incredibly compact, inexpensive graphics workstation with the added bonus of being able to play PS/PS2 games! Everyone who reads slashdot knows that it won't be long before people start writing stuff - utlilities, games, workarounds - and you've got a new platform. So Sony says the PS2 can't read anything but PS/PS2/DVD discs. Then get a usb CD drive and go to town. I think this is a great opportunity to get another big company behind Linux and actually foster support towards the whole user-empowerment idea. Of course they don't want to release the source code, but we'll stick RMS on 'em. Heh. Njord
  • $200 would have been very steep if all it came with was the software, but it doesn't seem so bad when you throw in the 40 GB HDD, the NIC, and the keyboard and such. Heck, might be worth it just for the hardware (finally get my PS2 on my LAN, just like my Dreamcast).

    Also, the kit includes two DVDs. One of the DVDs is supposedly source code, so that still leaves one full DVD for executable code. So either DVDs are now cheaper to make than CDs, or there could be a !#@%$-load of stuff on this disk.

    Third, while Sony has a history of fighting for control of their IP tooth and nail, they aren't so stupid as to believe that they're going to have a strangle-hold on development for PS2 software after the release of this OS. If they wanted to avoid, say, Bleem! being played on the PS2, the only way to avoid that is to just not release Linux (no matter how much they think they've crippled it). So either Sony is being really stupid by releasing the software and trying to lock it down as bes they could, or they're acknowledging the inevitable and letting programmers pretty much do as they will.

    I'm a little miffed by the requirement for a monitor (as if I didn't have too little desk space already), but I'd consider buying it for the ability to play emulators alone. Mark my words: By this time next year you'll have most Linux-based emulators (including even maybe an N64 emulator) ready for use on a PS2 running Linux, complete with full controller port support. And then finally my PS2 will be able to play my PSX Final Fantasy games with the picture quality they were supposed to have...
  • I can't wait to get my PS2 linux kit. I'll be porting my TombRaider 1-5 ( PC ) engines reimplmentation to PS2 linux. I don't want to buy another monitor right now, so I prob use VNC.

    Yay!
  • by pinkpineapple ( 173261 ) on Wednesday January 30, 2002 @01:38PM (#2925958) Homepage
    I am not flaming just trying to understand after having read most of the feedbacks on /.

    Why being so excited about Sony putting up with Linux on PS2. Granted this will probably bring some visibility and increased credibility to the Linux OS (is it good and does it need that really?) The only positive thing is for Sony to get the eggs out of the golden goose, the same way as Red Hat does.

    They are the people behing DRM, DMCA, MPAA, and all the ugly things that EFF and other great folks (some of them slashdot readers) are fighting against. Come on, the company is evil, so why are the replies so enthusiastic about this?

    If some people just decide to turn to Linux because Sony supports it on their PS2, does the community really needs these people?

    I want to understand.

    PPA, the girl next door.

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