5.1 – DOES THE PS3 SUPPORT HOMEBREW GAME DEVELOPMENT?
Sort of. As with the PS2, the PS3 supports running the GNU/Linux operating system. Unlike the PS2, no kit is necessary to run GNU/Linux; all you need is an installer CD or DVD.
The Linux kernel on the PS3 gets full access to the system’s CPU and I/O ports. There are only two drawbacks. Hardware OpenGL support is not supported by Linux on the PS3. Also, since one of the CPU cores is reserved by the OS, six of the eight CPU cores are available (the other missing core is always disabled as a quality control measure).
5.2 – WHAT GNU/LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS WORK ON THE PS3?
The only GNU/Linux distribution that intentionally targets the PS3 is Yellow Dog Linux. Some people have gotten Fedora Core, Debian, and even Ubuntu to work on the PS3, but it requires a little bit more work in order for it to work correctly.
Technically, the PS3 is a PPC64-based operating system, so any distribution that is available for the PPC64 ought to work on the PS3. But I strongly recommend you just use Yellow Dog Linux unless you really know what you’re doing.
5.3 – HOW DO I INSTALL GNU/LINUX ON THE PS3?
First of all, back up your hard disk. Installing GNU/Linux on a PS3 requires reformatting and repartitioning the hard disk, which will cause you to lose all data on the drive. See 8.x below if you need help with backing up.
Once you’ve done that, choose to “install another OS” in the system preferences in the PS3’s XMB. You’ll be given a choice on repartitioning the drive:
- Dedicate the whole drive to the other OS
- Dedicate 10 GB to the PS3, and the rest to the other OS
- Dedicate 10 GB to the other OS, and the rest to the PS3
- Dedicate the whole drive to the PS3
Choose option 4 only if you have an existing GNU/Linux distribution, you want to uninstall it, and you don’t care about installing another one. Choose option 1 only if you will never use the PS3 to actually play games, since just about all PS3 games use the hard disk in some way or another. Most people will choose option 3. Whatever you choose, choose it wisely.
Once the repartitioning is done, then you can put the installation DVD in the drive and begin the installation.
5.4 – HOW DO I RETURN TO THE PS3 XMB ONCE IT’S RUNNING GNU/LINUX?
If you’re using Yellow Dog Linux, then when you see the “kboot” prompt while starting up, then type “boot-game-os” and press Return to return to the XMB.
If you’re not using Yellow Dog Linux, then you’re going to need to download a few tools from Sony, including the “boot-game-os” tool, in order to return to the XMB from GNU/Linux. Search Google for more information.
5.5 – HOW DO I GET THE GUI WORKING IN GNU/LINUX?
You need to have a multi-resolution connection (e.g. component) to a monitor in order for the GUI to work in most cases. If you have one, then the GUI will automatically run in the highest supported progressive scan resolution supported by your monitor. If you’re using S-Video or a worse video connection, then you may be stuck with the CLI.
5.6 – CAN I RUN WINDOWS OR MAC OS X SOFTWARE ON MY PS3 IN GNU/LINUX?
No. Although there is a Windows compatibility environment for GNU/Linux called “WINE”, it will not work on the PS3 because Windows software is built for Intel x86-based CPUs, whereas the PS3 uses a PowerPC CPU. You could always try using an emulator, such as Bochs, but it’ll be really slow, and you can forget about trying to play games with it.
And although most Mac OS X software does run on PowerPC CPUs, Mac OS X uses a completely different ABI than the Linux kernel, and even if it didn’t, it uses a proprietary set of libraries that are not available for GNU/Linux.
