Running linux on a PS3 is a common thing, although Sony does not support this hobby anymore, by the release of the new “slim” PS3.. The internet is full of tutorials on how to install Fedora, Ubuntu, YellowDogLinux, and other distros on the PS3, unfortunately almost all of them discuss installation from a DVD disc.
Since the PS3 i got has a … I mean has NO DVD drive inside (i decided to go for a light and not for the slim version), the installation was a bit more tricky.. :
1) I followed the tutorial from Fabiano Manoel de Andrade written in January 2009, on how to initialize the installation of a netinst debian image by using an USB drive.
2) Then, I arrived to a point, where no package wanted to install any more, because of a magical libc6 bug, with the following error: “libc6 not configured” … Some searching showed that the real problem is this:
“invoke-rc.d unknown initscript “/etc/init.d/-query not found”
So, I was looking for the solution of the invoke-rc.d problem, and found the solution of Pawel Tomulik :
“…there is probably a typo in post-remove script:
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libc6.postinst
about line 166:
invoke-rc.d -query ${service} start ; status=$?
there should probably be two hyphens before “query”:
I’ve replaced that single line, with three as fillows:
set +e
invoke-rc.d –query ${service} start ; status=$?
set -e
…”
3) Now I only only need to find a solution to switch to high resolution (1920 x 1080p), as the Screen Resolution seems to be locked at 576 x 384. Does not matter which boot parameter i choose 
UPDATE: The screen resolution problem was solved by removing the last part of the video mode config line in the config file (see page 6 of the pdf linked from above)..
Orig: video=ps3fb:mode:<video mode ID> rhgb
New: video=ps3fb:mode:<video mode ID>
where the video mode ID is acc to the table in the pdf…
I believe, this short post will help ppl to install debian form a USB stick… If you have some questions, ev. remarks, pls drop a message. Thanks!!
November 14, 2009 at 11:29 pm |
HI.
.
I’m very happy that my tutorial help you install linux in PS3, and your nice tips will help other people to install our loved debian GNU/Linux distribution in this amazing “game machine”
Fabiano.
November 16, 2009 at 8:15 pm |
- one remark on using the ps3 as a media pc:
the ps3 does consume 170-180W even in standby mode ..
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-4.htm
which is not the case of Intel and AMD based systems,
mainly if we speak about machines using “mobile” CPUs.
Playing an mp3 file uses 15-20% of the PPU, while playing a video
gets close to 70-80% in 1:1 scale and to an interesting 120-140%
in case of 2:1 video playback, using vlc…
For heavy desktop usage the PS3 does not seem to be the ideal case,
unless we really do not want to invest into another machine..
but there are definitely cases when the power of the multiCore CPU might be used…
Some projects like Freevec are exactly focusing on hand-optimized code for the Cell processor.
January 5, 2010 at 11:12 am |
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