Re: [Plib-users] Linux on Playstation 2

[Steve B. <sjb...@ai...>]

Steve Baker wrote:
> 
> Paolo Leoncini wrote:
> >
> > >From vis-sim.org for your knowledge -
> >
> > http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020130/tc/tech_sony_linux_dc_1.html

I looked into this in some detail.

There are some juicy details in the bottom 6 paragraphs of this article:

  http://www.execpc.com/~halkun/PS2/

I find it a little depressing.  Sony appear to have crippled the system
in the worst way.  Being unable to read CD-R's is pretty bad, the weirdness
over Sync-on-green monitors isn't good news, 

For $199 you get:

  * A hard drive (40Gb) that's hardwarily hacked so
    you can't put it into a PC or replace it with a
    standard PC drive.
  * A 100baseT Ethernet adaptor for the PS-2.
  * A VGA adaptor - but only for (rare) sync-on-green monitors.
  * A USB mouse.
  * A USB keyboard.
  * A special magic boot DVD that's impossible to copy
    because it's a double-layer disk...and for which source code
    is not provided.
  * A pair of Linux DVD's that include source code - including Xfree and
    a optimised Sony-special gcc version.
  * Documentation.

You have to boot with the magic boot DVD which adds a software layer
*beneath* Linux proper in order to avoid Sony giving away secrets about
their hardware.  Hence the Linux device drivers are really just a layer
on top of the 'real' (and *secret*) drivers that Sony provide.

By the time you add up the cost of the parts ($10 mouse, $25 keyboard,
$80 hard drive, $30 NIC) the Linux distro is costing maybe $50 - which
isn't bad compared to RedHat or SuSE.   I don't think this is a ripoff.

So, for $199+$299 (for the PS-2 itself), you have a Linux box that's
not *great* - but probably usable.  I don't think you'll be able to
write and distribute games that run on regular PS-2's - so only other
Linux-PS2 users will be able to benefit.

You also won't be able to use PS-2 memory cartridges without reformatting
them in a way that makes them useless for non-Linux PS-2 games.

There is some confusion about whether you can drive a TV set from PS-2 Linux.

Biggest problem of all is that I don't *think* it supports OpenGL...I suspect
that you have to talk to the low level registers in the graphics hardware
or something equally nasty.

As a cheap ($499) PC, it's probably not bad - so long as you don't want to
run OpenGL stuff.  Games that only use X-windows should run OK.  Of course
you'll never be able to add a second hard drive, upgrade the RAM, put in
a faster CPU or a better graphics card, add a CD writer...that kind of
thing...that's not good.

So, I think that if you are already a PS-2 owner who'd like to use it for Word
Processing, email, etc then this is a good deal.  It's cheaper than buying
a new PC and it's got all you need right there in the box with no installation
hassles.

But if you are a PC owner who thinks this would be a neat way to get your games
onto PS-2 so you can give them away to all your PS-2 owning friends...forget
it!  Even if you own a PS-2 already, the $200 is probably better spent on
getting a new graphics card and a CPU upgrade for your existing PC.  The PS-2's
CPU is pretty slow and whilst it's graphics aren't bad, they don't come close to
the quality of a modern nVidia card and they are going to be a *bitch* to program
without OpenGL.

On that basis, I doubt that anyone will bother porting PLIB to it unless some
enthusiast gets hardware-accellerated Mesa onto it somehow.

----------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------------
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