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."
Kit... (Score:2)
But out of serious curiousity -- I wonder how hard it will be to get BSD running on it... Hmm.
Re:Kit... (Score:2)
UGH! That kind of puts a cramp in what you can do with the machine if you can't burn an OS of choice to run on it.
I think that's an arguement for the legality of MOD chips and adapters.
"But I don't want to pirate games, I just want to install a new OS."
Re:Kit... (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, I'm sure that Sony won't allow redistribution of their accellerated X server; otherwise, you might be able to ship pure Linux game packages on DVD-R.
Not on TV, Requires Sync on Green (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not on TV, Requires Sync on Green (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:Not on TV, Requires Sync on Green (Score:2, Informative)
http://lists.debian.org/debian-hppa/2001/debian
Wrong. Once setup, you can use TV (Score:5, Informative)
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)
Re:MAME (Score:2)
On a VGA monitor no less. Dreamcast forever baby !
here is a good question... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re: not really, its old. (Score:2)
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.
Re:here is a good question... (Score:2)
The Entertainment Lifestyle (Score:3, Insightful)
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...
Japanese expression that doesn't translate well... (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Hardware included... (Score:2)
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.
MAME support now possible ? (Score:2, Interesting)
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]
Re:MAME support now possible ? (Score:2)
"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....
Re:MAME support now possible ? (Score:2)
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.
Or... (Score:2)
Nethack (Score:5, Funny)
Alister
Hmmm... (Score:3, Funny)
Just remember, it's for PlayStation (for Play(for PlayStat(for PlayStation 2)ion 2)Station 2) 2!
Re:Hmmm... (Score:2, Funny)
(lambda (phrase)
(cond
((null? phrase) (quote ()))
(else (cons phrase (for PlayStation 2)))))
Sorry, I couldn't resist
Sony maintains control – no ad-hoc DVD authoring (Score:4, Informative)
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]
Re:Sony maintains control – no ad-hoc DVD authorin (Score:2)
It has a NIC. It has a Hard Drive. What more do you neeD?
Re:Sony maintains control – no ad-hoc DVD authorin (Score:2)
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.
No (Score:3, Informative)
Re:No (Score:2, Informative)
Re:No (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry, But I have seen a PS2 that was chipped cold boot to a DVD backup of Kolona 2. It happily booted the DVD and started the game. Only a un-modified PS2 display's this behaivoir... mods that correct these little bugs make everything alright....
but then again.... How the hell does it boot a origional DVD disc when modified to boot from a backup?
Re:No (Score:2)
It is starting to sound like the myth that the PS2 boots off of the 2nd DVD layer is nothing but hogwash.
Benchmarks? (Score:2, Interesting)
PS2-linux URL (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Does it allow access to the DVD Drive? (Score:2, Interesting)
DivX (Score:2, Funny)
Re:DivX (Score:2)
Popular New Service (Score:3, Funny)
Site Statistics
Hosted Projects: 5
Registered Users: 5
Hurray and be registered user 6!
Question (Score:5, Insightful)
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)
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?
Re:Television output -- dual TV/RGB monitor combo (Score:2, Interesting)
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).
Re:Television output (Score:2)
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.
Something about this doesn't feel right. (Score:5, Informative)
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
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)
Why Linux? It's PLAYstation !
Sony abides by GPL (Score:5, Interesting)
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!
They want to sell me my own code? (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think thats quite right.
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:2)
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:2)
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).
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:2)
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.
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:2)
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.
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:2)
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:3, Insightful)
People using the GPL are like all the people donating to the Red Cross, they think they're doing something good (Fighting Microsoft/Saving Lives) when in fact they are not doing anything of the sort. They are acutally being taken advantage of because of their ignorance.
Actually, it did make a difference (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:They want to sell me my own code? (Score:3, Funny)
Sony chose to organize a port of free software to their platform and, then, sell it to recoup their costs
Does anyone else see the irony of this statement? =)
Europe (Score:2, Interesting)
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...
Only for North America ??? (Score:3, Funny)
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.
Oh, come on. You know it's cool (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm still not sure what to make of it (Score:2)
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...
Re:I'm still not sure what to make of it (Score:3, Insightful)
But there are currently no real advantages to playing PSX games on a PS2. If anything, using a PS2 is a disadvantage (as anybody who's ever tried to play Final Fantasy V on it can attest).
The "features" that the PS2 tries to add are faster disc access times (done in a half-assed manner that causes a/v sync problems in many games) and slightly better texture mapping that is either not noticable or makes things generally ugly.
Bleem! and the countless other PSX emulators for the PC, on the other hand, all improve the graphics considerably by not limiting themselves to PSX-quality resolution and polygon rendering. Sony handicapped the PS2 where PSX games are concerned because they and their third-party developers didn't want to see PSX games competing with PS2 games in terms of graphics. Think what would happen if the $19.95 MGS looked as good as the $49.95 MGS2. Consumers be damned. Personally I would have thought that game companies could just write better games that sell on more merits beyond just graphics, but what do I know?
(Not that Nintendo did much better with GBC and GBA backwards compatability, but that's another rant.)
By selling their Linux distro for the PS2 (with gcc, no less!), Sony is opening Pandora's Box. Any control they thought they had over the hardware is out the window, whether they "allow" it or not. The visual gap between PSX and PS2 games will close considerably (if not totally in many cases). And while the Brits can't even get mod chips in their PS2s, I'll be able to play Japanese SATURN games (mmm... Phantasy Star Collection...) on my PS2. Sony's only saving graces here are that the ability to do all this will run the consumers another $200 and won't be playable on a TV (well, until somebody writes a TV driver for the distro).
VNC in lieu of another monitor (Score:2)
Yay!
Why being so excited about this? (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
"free as in GPL"? (Score:2)
Huh? Why not?
W
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't matter whether you decide to believe Sony is profiting on the hardware or the software, it obviously took them some effort (more than making yet another x86 distro) to port this, so quit whining and don't buy it if you don't want it.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:3, Flamebait)
Source included on the disc (Score:2, Informative)
Have you not seen my rants aboutSony blatently [slashdot.org] and knowingly [advogato.org] being in direct violation [advogato.org] of the GPL
Perhaps Sony f****d up with respect to POSE, but not in this case. All the source code for the included GNU/Linux software comes right on the disc.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2)
"
Um, gee, let me think... maybe perhaps to the 40 GB HDD, keyboard, VGA adapter and 100BaseTx NIC that comes with the software? Maybe just a little bit?
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:4, Informative)
Your source doesn't sound very knowledgeable.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:3, Interesting)
It comes with a 40 GB hard drive, network card, 2 Linux DVDs, a VGA interface adapter, a mouse, and a keyboard. This is a competitive rate for all of this stuff. Plus, you have the guarantee of compatibility.
What else were you planning on putting into your playstation? A floppy drive?
This is a competitive product; most applications don't need a powerful processor, and it really is a full fledged computer which even has an edge for gaming with the built-in hardware. Is $300 too much to pay for a fully loaded computer?
I gotta tell you, I'd never buy a playstation for just the games. But I'd buy one that I could use to run games AND a mature operating system.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2)
Playstation II: $90 ?
Linux: $190 ?
From fireboy1919:
Is $300 too much to pay for a fully loaded computer?
Methinks one or both of you is confusing the PS2 with the PSX's successor, the PSone. A New PS2 is still 300 bucks and used they're like $225. The Linux kit is still $200.
The real beauty of this plan is that Sony has ALREADY sold a few million PS2's in North America alone (20 mil worldwide as of a couple months ago). They're still selling like crazy.
For any mon-owner that balks at $500 for a Linux computer/game system/DVD player, there's a hundred or so owners who might consider ponying up 2 C-notes just to play around with something more enlightening than GTA3.
Not that there's anything wrong with GTA3, mind you...
GTRacer
- Where do I send the preorder check?
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2, Insightful)
Umm, no. You can sell GPL software, and make it fairly big... ever hear of a little company called IBM, or perhaps Red Hat? Last time I checked they both sold Linux solutions. And Linux is free as in beer, go to www.gnu.org.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2, Informative)
the software is Free as in GPL and can't legally be sold at a profit.
Actually, the under the GPL license, you can make all the money you want. It's free as in speech, not beer. You just have to make it available to others, including source code.
Where can you find the hacked Debian ? (Score:2)
Just wondering...
Re:Where can you find the hacked Debian ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Sony did LOTS of work on this port - I can hardly belive that you'll get same acceleration of graphics from some 'hacked up' debian distro - not mentioning optimized binaries, heavily modified kernel with USB support (can you compare kernel 2.2.1 USB support to what Sony added there? I doubt)...
Oh, and for $199 you're getting TWO DVD's - one with the source and one is full Linux, which is
Either quit bitching and hack for yourself or go buy it - $199 is not that much for a lot of work they did, plus they give kinda nice hardware...
Re:Where can you find the hacked Debian ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:5, Interesting)
And this is exactly why Linux won't make it bigtime,- there's no money in it. I'm sorry to be so negative (but I'm sure the Karma Police will fix that) but here's a company that's actually doing something kewl, and what do they get? People bitching about 2 hundred fucking dollars.
Have you looked a M$ XP license recently?
I mean, what do you expect? Sony people preparing each individual kit by purchasing used gear from eBay???
Show me an other company selling an add-on kit including harddrive, keyboard, mouse and network adaptor AND an OS for $200,-
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2)
I think what Sony is doing is great, don't get me wrong, but what the hell does XP have to do w/it?
I can only run it on a PS2, I need to get a ton of other hardware, and other than "dork value" even as an avid supporter of Linux I don't see the point.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2)
I was planning on using a computer for DVD/MP3 playback anyway - this would just be cheaper and cooler than what I had planned for in the first place.
If only the mouse and keyboard were wireless. Damn!
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2)
Anything they've made on their own may be legally kept propritary. No doubt, what they've done is necessary for Linux to work on the Playstation2. As for the Debian CD, I'll believe it when I see it.
Re:Don't fret the $199 (Score:2)
Re:First freeloader post (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:ps2 (Score:4, Funny)
Re:ps2 (Score:2)
And I wonder why people ask if I have a "large" zit problem.
Seriously that button always gets turned on and next thing I know the fucking Detriot Lions sack Warner. Umm, no.
Re:ps2 (Score:2, Interesting)
I wonder how well emulation would work on a PS2 for systems like the N64,dreamcast, and or an X86 based PC?
Re:few questions? (Score:2, Insightful)
Reuters article on News.com http://news.com.com/2100-1040-825762.html [com.com]
As to comment on pricing, sony purchases in huge quantities for their computers as it is... those prices are significantly lower than what we pay in retail... how else would xbox cost $300-$320 to produce? If 199$ (or 299$) is right for sony addon, then XBOX should cost 799$ by any means since it has much more hardware in it...
(keep in mind that I dont own XBOX or plan to own one)
I understand this is
Re:few questions? (Score:2)
Re:Windows games on PlayStation then? (Score:2, Funny)
BWUHAHAHA!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Nope.. sorry. too slow and windows is way to bloated for the memory spec of that machine , especially as a guest OS.
Also, VMWARE is i386 only (binary remember).
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2)
Unfortunately, you're going to have a hard time with a lot of normal Linux apps on one of these bad boys, given the extremely limited (and poorly expandable) RAM.
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2)
A sage signature considering WINE (thus Lindows) require an x86 processor.
Bochs would work, but very slowly. Cheaper to make a real PC for the $$ of a PS2 and get more performance to boot.
No (Score:2, Informative)
>> would efficiently run on this now.
Nope.
Wine only runs on x86 CPU's, Wine does not provide a CPU emulator.
Below is quoted from the Wine FAQ:
>> Wine is being developed specifically to run
>> on the Intel x86 class of CPUs under certain
>> UNIXes that run on the x86 platform.
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2)
Even if it was ported to PS 2, you would probably have trouble running existing Windows-binaries.
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2)
The PS2 already plays DVD's. Maybe someone could do a DeCSS "port" that uses the tables and functions already built into the firmware.
The first-ever twenty-byte DeCSS binary. Heh.
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2, Informative)
The idea of perhaps running Bleem or some other emulators on the PS 2 would be great.
Hmmm. Bleem is a PS1 emulator. The PS2 actually runs PS1 games in HARDWARE. So, while it might win you some geek-points to run a PS1 emulator, on top of a windows emulator, on top of linux on your PS2, those of us who like playing games at more than 5fps will probably just insert the PS1 CD in the drive before we power up our PS2s ;-)
But then... since when has Linux been about doing things the easy way?
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2)
Re:Imagine a beo......!!!! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Yuck! (Score:2)
If you really want to, you could just go the NetBSD route.
Re:Yuck! (Score:2, Insightful)
>this kit wouldn't be horribly out of date.
>glibc 2.2.2?
Since when is glibc 2.2.2 horribly out of date? I can see the kernel being mentioned as out of date (2.2.1 from what I saw), but the C library? Sure, it's been out for a year, but there have only been 2 point releases since then, nothing more.
>gcc 2.95.2?
Uhm. What does 2.95.3, or 2.95.4 offer that 2.95.2 doesn't? (And don't even try telling me about 3.0.x.) And how often to you use those features?
>XFree86 3.3.6?
OK, so that might be just a little out of date. But it works. And I really doubt that you'll be doing a whole hell of a lot of 3D on it to begin with; if that were the case, I wouldn't doubt that Sony would release a new version with XFree 4 or something like that in it.
So... what exactly was this about completely out of date software?
Re:This could be an interesting gave dev platform (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:My mother always said... (Score:3, Insightful)
You can code for fun. Coding on an PC has become boring. The machine ist not interesting, you have to take care to be "compatible" with all sorts of crap hardware, etc. Game consoles are interesting: powerful small processors, where coding in assembly pays, interesting graphics hardware where you can do cool effects with skill istead of brute force. It's fun.
That said, I doubt, Sony will ever release information about the interesting bits. The vector processors of the emotion engine are top secret, and so ist the graphics processor. That makes it kind of pointless.
17 USC 109: Now illegal to rent PS2 games (Score:2)
Now that this is no longer merely a game console, but rather an OFFICIAL "general Purpose Computing Device" because the vendor is offering Linux or allowing linux to be used on it, it is LEGAL TO MAKE BACKUPS OF GAME MEDIA you own!
But it also makes it unlawful to rent PS2 games in the US without the permission of each game publisher. According to 17 USC 109(b)(1) [cornell.edu], it's an infringement of copyright to rent computer software that's not designed for a "video game console" without permission of the copyright holder. This could add up to a lot of red tape for each independent rental shop.