Some Information on PS2 Linux. Cheap Linux Box or Just a Fad?

[Mingtea]

http://playstation2-linux.com/faq.php

This is the official US FAQ this is as much as i can find.

As far as i can read it will available late march with a Ethernet adaptor, hard drive, keyboard, Mouse and a linux Distro

So linuxy types, discuss what do you reckon this will end up like?

personally i have been told that it does not use ther power of the emotion engine. how much this will hinder performance i dont know, but it would be interesting to see.

[JeRkY]

i want it....i want it now :D

and i wouldnt mind that ps2 linux thing either

[KermitTheFrag]

a) it doesnt use the EE chip apart from as a framebuffer. Thats slings 99.9% of its usefulness down the pan.

b) the main CPU is a MIPS R5900 V2.0 with no cache worth mentioning, which means "it aint that fast". It does have an FPU though which aint too bad.

b) it has 32Mb of RDRAM, which aint that much (its usable tho and quite fast - not ideal for unix tho). If it has to swap to disk, you're SERIOUSLY fecked due to:-

c) it has a VERY slow USB hard disk. Most unixy types know that USB cant maintain any sort of performance on block devices.

d) most of the apps have to be recompiled on MIPS for PS2 (due to slightly modified MIPS CPU core) to work properly. Unless you know a reasonable amount of C, then I wouldnt go near it....

e) oh and the VGA only sync's on green which could be a problem for some monitors.

Its cool but useless.

[Mingtea]

http://playstation2-linux.com/Linux_kit.jpg

the hard drive uses the internal bay to connect, so it uses a simular ide interface.

Can I use the HDD as an IDE drive in my PC?
No. Although the HDD provided in the Linux (for PlayStation 2) kit is based on IDE technology, special changes have been made to the drive for use with the PlayStation 2. Use of the HDD with a PC may cause problems with your PC and may make the HDD in-operable with the PlayStation 2.

[TelexStar]

can i ask why anyone would want to do this?

[Mingtea]

a cheap workstation possibly?

[TelexStar]

but its a console! :confused:

[KermitTheFrag]

Originally posted by TelexStar
but its a console! :confused:
its a box with a CPU and IO. The application determines its a console :)

[Mingtea]

/me directs TelexStar to http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/ - and you thought people where going crazy with Linux.

[Bar]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2006000/2006855.stm

Slightly late but there eventually