Saturday, January 6, 2007

PS3 install .. on a normal TV

Just received a viewers question about hooking up the PS3 to a normal TV.

The issue is how to boot linux on a NON HDTV. To simply the issue .. assume its a screen resolution problem. Technically there is more to screen resolutino when comparing analog TV to the new hi-def digital tv .. but lest keep it simple.

HDTV can do up to 1920x1080 (lets ignore progressive vs. interlaced please).
SDTV which is the digital equivalent to analog TV resolution is 704x480. (Technically analog TV's could do 640 x 480 .. but analog signal integrity issue usually skewed the real resolution to much less).

So .. in order to boot the PS3 on a normal TV .. you need to tell Yellow Dog Linux to use a SDTV resolution instead of the HDTV default.

See http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-linuxps3-1/ 's "Post install setup" section for more details.

Also .. Red Marine sent me this link .. it looks good too "YDL on SDTV" (http://ps3wiki.qj.net/index.php/YDL_on_SDTV)

To do so edit the file (as root) /etc/kboot.conf

Change the line "default=ydl" to be "default=ydl480i".

This will tell Yellow Dog Linux to use a lower resolution and should then produce a more readable output to the TV. Do remember that even with S-VIDEO output .. analog TVs are NOT computer monitor .. so the picture will appear fuzzier and harder to read.

Please post any success / failures to the comments sections so others can see how well this works!

Thursday, January 4, 2007

An introduction to Linux on the PlayStation 3 by IBM

This Slashdot article references a great article by IBM on Cell processor programming.

Its called "An introduction to Linux on the PlayStation 3" if the link doesn't work its http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-linuxps3-1/

Enjoy.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

PS3 Yellow Dog Linux Install Videos

Thanks to "Red Marine" for this link to a Yellow Dog install video.

http://fatpenguinblog.com/?p=798

Sunday, December 31, 2006

What is a "Cell" Processor

Probably the trickiest concept when comparing the Tri-Core XBox 360 to the PS3 (technically a single core) processor is understanding the "Cell" processors that the PS3 uses. Technically the PS3 is a High speed PPC processor with 8 Cell co-processors .. of which 6 are available for general gaming use. (I don't have the link, and will dig it up .. but I read one cell is dedicated to the Sony OS and the other is a "spare" used to take the place of the other 7 cells should a defect occur).

Wikipedia has a good overview of the cell processor with a picture of the die. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(microprocessor)).

Here is an a great overview document explaining the cell architecture by a guy named Nicholas Blachford. Its http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell0_v2.html

IBM Research page has two pages discussing the broadband cell processor and its architecture.