This is a presentation I gave to our local Linux Users Group a while ago on how to run Linux on the Sony PlayStation3. Unfortunately Sony has removed this feature in the latest iteration of their console (the Slim PS3); however the feature is still present (for now at least) on older (non-slim) PlayStation3's, which are still pretty easy to find in used shops, eBay, etc.

2. PlayStation 3
• Released November 2006
• Successor to the highly popular
PlayStation 2
• Arguably one of the most powerful
Gen.7 gaming consoles on the market
• Sales as of 1/08: 3.25M (USA), 10.49M
(worldwide)

3. PS3 Hardware
• CPU: Cell Broadband Engine (IBM
POWER-based) @ 3.2 GHz, 7 SPE cores
(6 user-accessible)
• Graphics: NVIDIA G70 (NV47)-based
“RSX” engine, 550 MHz.
• RAM: 256 MB main, 256 MB graphics

4. More hardware
• Disk: 20-80 GB (3.5” SATA)
• Optical disk: BD-ROM (BluRay); can
also read DVD/DVD+/-R/CD.
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 802.11b/g WiFi (not all models)
• USB 2.0 (2-4 ports)
• HDMI, component, composite video

5. Performance
• Total floating point: 2 TFLOPS
• CPU only: 204 GFLOPS single precision
float, 15 GFLOPS double precision float

6. Standards Based!
• HD is standard SATA, easily user
upgradable
• Bluetooth 2.0 - headsets,
keyboards/mice
• USB 2.0 - webcams, keyboards/mice

7. Linux on the PS3
• “It was fully intended that you, a PS3
owner, could play games, watch movies,
view photos, listen to music, and run a full-
featured Linux operating system that
transforms your PS3 into a home
computer."
• Was to be pre-installed with Linux

8. Linux on the PS3
• Officially supported as of kernel 2.6.21
• Yellow Dog 5.0 - official PS3 distro
• PSUbuntu
• Fedora
• others...

9. What You’ll Need
• PS3 (duh)
• TV or monitor (HDMI, DVI work. For
HDMI/DVI, must support HDCP.)
• USB memory stick
• Linux distro burned to CD
• Optional: larger USB stick or hard drive
(if you want to back up your PS3)

10. How to install Linux
• (Optional) Back up your PS3
• Partition it (dual boot or single boot)
• (Optional) Restore your PS3 backup
• Boot from USB stick containing
OTHEROS.BLD file
• Install Linux as per your distro’s
installer

11. It’s Demo Time!

12. So why would you
want to do this?

13. A supercomputer in your
living room

14. or... a superCLUSTER in
your living room!!!

15. Who’s using these?
• Astrophysicist Dr. Gaurav Khanna
replaced time used on supercomputers
with a cluster of eight PlayStation 3s.
• http://tinyurl.com/28wv44

16. Who’s using these?
• Computational Biochemistry and
Biophysics lab, Universitat Pompeu
Fabra, Barcelona, “PS3GRID” for
collaborative computing based on the
CellMD software, the first one designed
specifically for the Cell processor.
• http://www.ps3grid.net/

17. Folding@Home
• Distributed Computing to calculate
protein folding
• Over 1 PFLOPS from PS3 owners alone
• Compare that to BlueGene/L @ 280.6
TFLOPS
• Takes my PS3 about 3 hours
Takes my desktop over 1 day

18. PS3 Homebrew
• Make your own games
• Access to (almost) all PS3 hardware
• Networking
• Controllers
• Audio
• Graphics (sorta)

19. Caveats
• No access to graphics
• Everything runs in a hypervisor
• There is experimental graphics access;
don’t upgrade past firmware 2.10

20. LINKS

21. For More Information
• Wikipedia has great entries on:
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation 3 hardware
• Cell (microprocessor)
• RSX ‘Reality Synthesizer’
• Linux for PlayStation 3

22. PS3 Linux Distributions
• http://psubuntu.com/
• http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products
• Fedora Core 5 on PS3:
http://tinyurl.com/yknkfp

23. Programming the Cell
• Georgia Tech workshop (with slides
and video): http://tinyurl.com/2wkllf
• More links on Cell and PS3 Linux
entries at Wikipedia
• http://tinyurl.com/23auvg
• http://tinyurl.com/qvn4h

24. The End