Ps3 Linux

[8-Ball]

I'm considering buying a PS3, but first i would like some info.

Does linux run at good speeds on the ps3? as fast as a 3.0ghz pc with 1gb of ram?

And does it allow any linux distro to be used on it? Internet work on it? Allow anything that would run on a normal linux distro to run on the ps3 linux? (more or less)

Thanks

[Betamax]

Not sure about the speeds 'cos I don't own a ps3. However as long as the distro has a powerpc version (in some cases it may be referred to as the apple mac version) available then it should work fine AFAIK.

Yellowdog springs to mind as a distro designed specifically for powerpc machines. ( download page. )

[Mad]

I think i saw on some youtube video a version of fedora running on the PS3.
And on that video, the person runned windows inside QEMU on linux

[8-Ball]

The os i would prefer to use on it would be Ubuntu.

As if i buy one, i plan on using it as a pc and gaming console.

Thanks for the responses so far

[Betamax]

Well if you're after ubuntu:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3

[8-Ball]

Originally Posted by Dr Betamax

Well if you're after ubuntu:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3

Great Now i only need to know the speed and compatibility

Thanks Mate

[runawayprisoner]

Speed of Linux on PS3? Well, not really comparable to a 3.0Ghz Intel processor with 1GB of RAM running Linux. In fact, I'm thinking somewhere between a P3 800MHz to a P4 1.5GHz. That's one thing... the second is... multi-tasking may be a bit terrible, there's no hardware acceleration support for anything but sound, very few applications actually run... and most of them are useless...
You can, however, use the PS3 to edit images, listen to music, movies, play a few emulators, browse the web... and uhh... yeah... that's it. There's no Flash support, also.

[8-Ball]

Originally Posted by runawayprisoner

Speed of Linux on PS3? Well, not really comparable to a 3.0Ghz Intel processor with 1GB of RAM running Linux. In fact, I'm thinking somewhere between a P3 800MHz to a P4 1.5GHz. That's one thing... the second is... multi-tasking may be a bit terrible, there's no hardware acceleration support for anything but sound, very few applications actually run... and most of them are useless...
You can, however, use the PS3 to edit images, listen to music, movies, play a few emulators, browse the web... and uhh... yeah... that's it. There's no Flash support, also.

Thanks very much for the answer That would suit my needs

Btw i noticed in your sig that you overclocked your pc from 3.2 to 4.2ghz. is it possible that i could overclock mine to 4ghz?

Thanks again

[runawayprisoner]

Depends on what CPU you have. I have a Celeron D... which, for some reason, overclocks really well, and the performance gain is quite worth it. I'm only using stock cooling with it, too.

[8-Ball]

Yeah its just the ordinary pentium 4 proccessor 3.0ghz.

Is it done via a dos program?

and yeah i would plan on using stock cooling too, as its a 4 year old pc now and im not planning on spending a cent on it tbh.

[NexXxus]

Linux on PS3 works over an Emulator like VMware with emulated graphic card.
There are not any specific drivers for the graphic card, so it takes CPU and ram Power to emulate the graphic card.

Sony throttled the CPU speed, and ram memory has been decreased to 215MB instead 256MB !

the result is it runs fast like a Pentium 2 266mhz with 128MB

[8-Ball]

Originally Posted by elitegamer

Linux on PS3 works over an Emulator like VMware with emulated graphic card.
There are not any specific drivers for the graphic card, so it takes CPU and ram Power to emulate the graphic card.

Sony throttled the CPU speed, and ram memory has been decreased to 215MB instead 256MB !

the result is it runs fast like a Pentium 2 266mhz with 128MB

Thanks for the info

[chipsugar]

Originally Posted by elitegamer

Linux on PS3 works over an Emulator like VMware with emulated graphic card.
There are not any specific drivers for the graphic card, so it takes CPU and ram Power to emulate the graphic card.

Sony throttled the CPU speed, and ram memory has been decreased to 215MB instead 256MB !

the result is it runs fast like a Pentium 2 266mhz with 128MB

Not quite true. PS3 Linux works under a HYPERVISOR not an emulator and the graphics card is not emulated either. The hypervisor works by limiting access to hardware. The graphics use framebuffer modes on real hardware which is a slow memory hog of a way of doing things but not as slow as emulation.

Still I've not heard anyone say that PS3 linux feels fast to run and if it has only 215mb memory it isn't gonna go fast no matter what cpu you put in it.