Linux on Playstation 3 looks good...

[AJCopland]

Tomas wrote:
Too bad you cannot use the 3d accelration under linux or any other third party OS.

What are you on about? Linux already has 3d acceleration, OpenGL specifically, it has desktop 3d hardware acceleration too, try doing a Google/YouTube search for "Compiz" to see it in action. Or just try installing FedoraCore6 which has it as an option. Alternatively look for anything about GLaux or xgl in Google.

The next releases of Ubuntu are expected to have it enabled by DEFAULT!

If you mean that Linux doesnt have 3D Hardware acceleration then you're just flat out wrong. It'll certainly be available on PS3 just like it was on the PS2 Linux kit!

[AJCopland]

buzz wrote:
he said "The 3d acceleration" meaning the 3D hardware in the ps3 is unsupported in linux.

Ah that's kinda whats confused me. There's nothing i can find about it not supporting the 3D hardware and when they released the Linux kit for the PS2 it supported an OpenGL implementation for the Graphics Synthesizer. I'd be very suprised if they didn't provide access, even if only via libs, for the hardware in the PS3.

Andy

[AJCopland]

You obviously misunderstood me completely. I am using linux with hardware acceleration here..  The point is that Sony has blocked any third party OS from 3d acceleration, in the means of stopping people from using linux or other third party oses to pirate games and similar.

You would not get 3d acceleration even if you knew how to write a driver for the gfx chip.

Yep i totally misunderstood you Tomas, i apologise! Initially I thought you mean't that Linux had no access to 3D Hardware acceleration.

As for the PS3 not allowing access to the hardware, well damn that sucks. I'd hope that an OpenGL layer becomes available eventually, simply because it's so ridiculously simple todo based on their libs. We did something similar at the last place i worked for porting our own libraries to PS3 from PS2/PSP. Ours was an OpenGL "like" internal library but the principles the same.

Andy

[AJCopland]

hardlink wrote:
>> crippled Sony hyper-visor layer

I think bypassing the hypervisor is only way this box would ever be interesting for alternate OS hacking. Sony is using the hypervisor as a 'HAL' so that they can modify the hardware builds in the future and older games will still run.

Having looked into a little bit more now i'm thinking we're actually getting a little ahead of ourselves. Firstly the FC5 version that everyone seems to be seeing running on the PS3 is exactly that, a plain PPC FC5 build that's been patched with the CELL SDk tools.

Secondly, its only the 3rd party "Other OS"s that are unable to access the RSX directly and that dont have driver support, but even on the release above says that situation is only "currently" so could easily change in the future. It dont think it'd ever be an open source driver, but i'd expect a closed binary driver like the Linux nVidia drivers.

I think people should be rightly excited about getting hold of it as several of the SPUs appear to be available as well as the PPC core and that's with a lightly modified linux core.

just my opinion, i personally think that they've really opened it pu like this because their own internally developed tools and libraries are such a massive pain in the arse :-D

Andy