PS3+160GB+Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 (56k warning!!! Pics Inside)

I am actually installing Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 as I type/make this thread and will continue to update pics as it goes through the install process.

The first thing I wanted to do is to increase the size of my default 60GB hard drive. For this, I went with a Western Digital 160GB 5400 RPM SATA laptop hard drive.




Here's some shots of the YDL 5.0 install:




And Finally some shots of the YDL 5.0 Desktop and Back to the PS3 OS

Talking about the Hard Drive install, do you void your warranty if you install a bigger Hard Drive in place of the standard PlayStation 3 Hard Drive?

TVR&Ferrari_Fan

Talking about the Hard Drive install, do you void your warranty if you install a bigger Hard Drive in place of the standard PlayStation 3 Hard Drive?

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I hardly doubt it. There is no "Void if removed" stickers, plus there's even install instructions in the PS3 manual. I think it's safe, although if I have to send it in for repairs (hope I never do), I'll be sure to put the 60gb back in.

Pako

I hardly doubt it. There is no "Void if removed" stickers, plus there's even install instructions in the PS3 manual. I think it's safe, although if I have to send it in for repairs (hope I never do), I'll be sure to put the 60gb back in.

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Thanks for letting me know, but at least this now gives me time to invest in a bigger Hard Drive for the European launch.

You will not void your warranty if you put in a new HDD, however, damages caused by a 3rd party HDD are not covered.

How was the little blue screw of death? did you strip it? What size screwdriver did you use to get it out?

Dude, in my experience, WDs get mega-hot. How is the heat when you have it running?

Cool, Pako! Let's see if you can see that other partition...

Pako

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7133/dsc09070cn6.jpg

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Only 10GBs? That's... disappointing.

Also, in the rare chance I install Linux, which distro should I choose: YDL or Fedora Core 5? I just want to do some GBA homebrew...

opendriver19a

How was the little blue screw of death? did you strip it? What size screwdriver did you use to get it out?

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Blue Screw of Death? It didn't strip out if that's what you're wondering. I just used the 'correct' size screw driver.

Omnis

Dude, in my experience, WDs get mega-hot. How is the heat when you have it running?

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Eh, it's not the 7200 RPM version. I almost went with a 100gb 7200 RPM model but heat and possible incompatibility kept me clear of the faster spinning drives.

Jordan

Cool, Pako! Let's see if you can see that other partition...

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Working on it... So far I can only see media drives like the CF, SD, MS etc., but not the partition.

Duċk;2543978

Only 10GBs? That's... disappointing.

Also, in the rare chance I install Linux, which distro should I choose: YDL or Fedora Core 5? I just want to do some GBA homebrew...

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Yeah, I thought it odd I couldn't determine my own partition size. You can pick 10gb for the Other OS, or 10GB for the PS3 with the balance going to the remaining OS. This is why it's important to me able to access the PS3 partition so I can access my media files in that partition.

YDL 5.0 works without any effort. Can't say for any other distributions.

The entire process of updating the drive, and installing the OS took about 2.5 hours. The install really went slow, much slower than I thought it would. As I learn more or find any cool 'tricks', I'll be sure to share my experiences.

Pako please try some games on Linux, and then post some photos up.

[Borat] Great sucess! [/Borat] Nice job Pako!

T&F_Fan,

Did you have a game in mind?

Pako

Eh, it's not the 7200 RPM version. I almost went with a 100gb 7200 RPM model but heat and possible incompatibility kept me clear of the faster spinning drives.

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Well, hopefully it won't be bad, but every WD drive I've owned of all kinds of speeds has been a space-heater.

Good luck.

Pako

Eh, it's not the 7200 RPM version. I almost went with a 100gb 7200 RPM model but heat and possible incompatibility kept me clear of the faster spinning drives.

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From what I've read, using a 7200RPM HDD doesn't really make anything faster, only that it puts out more heat.

Something to note. I used the "Backup Utility" in the GameOS to backup my 60gb before I took it out. It saves all your data in 4GB chunks on your external media, in my case the WD400GB MyBook via USB. When I went to 'Restore' the data onto the 160GB drive, I went to the Backup Utility again and selected "Restore Backup" and then selected the backup set on the USB Hard Drive and hit "X" to continue. As the process started, in the Top Left corner of the screen it said, "Backing Up...." I freaked as it should have said, "Restoring Backup...." but it didn't. Oh well..., I let the process complete and was greeted with a warm "Restore Complete" message. *Whew* So don't freak out and unplug your PS3 if you see this message. Hopefully their dialog becomes a little more clear as more firmware updates mature.

Duċk;2544032

From what I've read, using a 7200RPM HDD doesn't really make anything faster, only that it puts out more heat.

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One of my other friends that has a PS3 says he going to but a 10K RPM one in his. He thinks it will write faster

I hope some of the opensouce guys come out with an OS that is just intended for PS3 use. It would rock:tup:

Pako

T&F_Fan,

Did you have a game in mind?

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I don't use Linux, but I let you decide that for yourself.

Pako

T&F_Fan,

Did you have a game in mind?

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Eh..It's not gonna be anywhere near a gaming system with Linux. For one, you aren't going to have any 3D acceleration because the graphics card is pretty much locked without a driver to utilize it. Same goes for the Cell. Once some programmers spend some time working out a more PS3 friendly distro we may see the real power.

Pako, is the system as slow as they say in Linux? Can it output to 1080p?

I'm using it right now and it's fairly good at 1080i, however the text is pretty small and may move it back to 720p for a friendlier experience. The windows do flicker when dragging them at 1080i whereas at 720p they are a lot smoother. I really wish I was better at Linux as it would help me navigate better and know where to find codecs and programs etc...

If you get the chance, could you try out some of the screensavers? I've only used Ubuntu, but there should be some screensavers that are somewhat 3D. When I used the generic "nv" nVidia driver it could barely animate those screensavers even with my 7900GT. With the fully enabled nVidia driver it performs as it should. I'm interested in how much of the video card is being used.

Sure thing.... You might have to step me through it though. The screen saver I'm using now works brilliantly. The screen goes black, and when I touch the mouse, the desktop comes back on. Not exactly cutting edge graphics.

Ebiggs

Eh..It's not gonna be anywhere near a gaming system with Linux. For one, you aren't going to have any 3D acceleration because the graphics card is pretty much locked without a driver to utilize it.

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I don't think we're expecting full blown games, more like GBA games, NES games, etc. 2D stuff.

Pako

I'm using it right now and it's fairly good at 1080i, however the text is pretty small and may move it back to 720p for a friendlier experience. The windows do flicker when dragging them at 1080i whereas at 720p they are a lot smoother.

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That's why computer monitors use progressive scan.


[/captain obvious]

Ebiggs

If you get the chance, could you try out some of the screensavers? I've only used Ubuntu, but there should be some screensavers that are somewhat 3D. When I used the generic "nv" nVidia driver it could barely animate those screensavers even with my 7900GT. With the fully enabled nVidia driver it performs as it should. I'm interested in how much of the video card is being used.

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I believe Sony locked out the GPU from Linux, so I think you're out of luck.

Hey, we can hope!

I read somewhere today that IBM and Terrasoft Solutions are having a "Hackers" party to help develop YDL apps that will better utilize the Cell specifically. I'm having a heck of a time finding codecs for the Video/Audio, but so far so good. It's pretty cool! I see the ram gets eatin up pretty quick though, 5 Firefox screens and IM running on a few virtual desktops and it just about comes to a stop.

Well, its supposedly only detecting 192MB of RAM. It should be detecting 256MB of system RAM and 256MB of video RAM, but since the video card is locked it isn't finding that. Who knows about the rest of it...Good luck to the hackers!

Here's a desktop screen shot. Also, those with WIFI only connections, some people are having hardware issues connecting to the net. I'm hard wired so I can't confirm or deny.

Wow, this thread caught me off guard. I guess I should read up more on the PS3 before I get one because I had no idea you could load an OS and use it as a regular computer. Or is the only benefit of an OS computer-like web browsing? What op systems can te PS3 run? At the moment that stuff sounds a little advanced for me, so I'd probably stick the old computer for doing...computer stuff.

Duċk;2544350

I don't think we're expecting full blown games, more like GBA games, NES games, etc. 2D stuff.

That's why computer monitors use progressive scan.


[/captain obvious]


I believe Sony locked out the GPU from Linux, so I think you're out of luck.

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I remember someone played Quake 3 on Linux installed on there PS3.

@ Pako Why on earth did you pick that wallpaper for?

Keef

Wow, this thread caught me off guard. I guess I should read up more on the PS3 before I get one because I had no idea you could load an OS and use it as a regular computer. Or is the only benefit of an OS computer-like web browsing? What op systems can te PS3 run? At the moment that stuff sounds a little advanced for me, so I'd probably stick the old computer for doing...computer stuff.

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You can do more than just web browsing. Do some searching on Linux and what it can do. This will give you some idea what the PS3 can do for you with Linux installed on it. To name a few applications right out of the box you can:
This is just my humble noob Linux experience with the PS3. I also have access to the shared documents on my other PC's and Mac so I can access their files from the PS3 as well.

TVR&Ferrari_Fan

I remember someone played Quake 3 on Linux installed on there PS3.

@ Pako Why on earth did you pick that wallpaper for?

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It's cold outside and it fit the animated snow flakes that fall across the screen. The background changes from color to monochrome over the course of a few minutes. It was also one of the defaults to choose from.