sems.org | Installing Linux on PS3

Installing Linux on PS3

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It had first gotten my attention over a month ago, under the System settings, there was "Install other OS". I tried it, it complained about there was no other partition and I didn't bother too much.

Well, I finally took the leap and tried it out today. First thing you'd have to do, is attach a USB drive, and run backup. Then format the PS3, which will ask you partitioning, I went with 10 GB for other OS. Then restored my data, which worked perfectly fine, all my saves and downloaded games were back and it did not touch the partitions, restoring it to the PS3's 50GB partition.

I downloaded the Yellow Dog Linux 5.0. Yellow Dog (www.terrasoftsolutions.com/) has been releasing their Linux distros quite some time for the PowerPC platform and it is one of the fan favorite on Mac users (if you have an old PowerPC based Mac, like a G3 or G4, give it a try). The download is free. Sony has chosen them as one of their partner. There will be PS3s shipping with Yellow Dog Linux preloaded in the future.

The install process so far has been smooth, I am waiting it to complete. The steps were (if you need, instructions are available at http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ydl5.0_ps3_guide.pdf):

1. Download from http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/downloads.shtml the latest iso image, burn to a cd.

2. Copy two files to a USB key:

a. otheros.self which can be found at http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/data/otheros.self
b. the kboot file (otheros.bld) which can be found at www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/installation/ps3/otheros.bld

They have to be in a folder named \PS3\otheros

3. Boot PS3, insert Yellow Dog Linux cd, insert a USB keyboard and mouse and insert the USB key.

4. Go to Settings===>System Settings===>Install Other OS, follow the on screen instructions. It will start booting the Yellow Dog Linux installer.

5. If you have at least 720p resolution and connected via component or HDMI, the graphical installer will run. If not it will use the text installer. I am running 1080p, so I am using the GUI.

6. I followed the defaults. There is a scary warning that it will delete all the linux partitions. Just hit yes to two questions and it will start the installation.

7. So far it has been 45 minutes and counting, I'll keep you all posted.

Sems

ps. For those who want to use Debian, there is a live CD installation available at: http://www.keshi.org/moin/moin.cgi/PS3/Debian/Live, also you can find info on the net about Ubuntu installs.