Opening Up the PlayStation 2 with Linux
by Howard Wen03/21/2002
The bout between Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft with their video game consoles could become even more heated when Linux enters the fray this spring. Sony will sell online the "Linux (for PlayStation 2)" Release 1.0 in the U.S. in May 2002. (A European version will come out that month, too, and the Japanese version earlier in April.)
This kit will include a Linux distribution on DVD that runs on the PS2 hardware, additional software, documentation, a 40GB hard drive, an Ethernet adapter, a USB mouse, a USB keyboard, and a computer monitor cable. The package will cost $200. (The PlayStation 2 is sold separately, though.)
While Linux has been brought to other consoles (such as the SEGA Dreamcast) by hobbyist programmers in the Linux community, this is the first distribution officially released, sold, and supported by a major hardware manufacturer for its game console. Since the demonstration of the kit in January this year at LinuxWorld, over four thousand people have registered at the Linux for PlayStation 2 Community Web site. The site offers discussion forums and file space to help Linux PS2 developers coordinate with one another on projects.
Besides the sheer geek thrill of being able to do it, there's a practical reason for running Linux on a PlayStation 2. A lot of people expressing interest in this kit are hobbyists looking to gain experience in developing for a major game console. The Linux PS2 distribution makes home-brew game programming and experimentation on the PS2 platform affordable for such individuals. The only other alternative is to become a professional, licensed developer and lease a PS2 development kit from Sony--and the professional license and development kit cost many thousands of dollars.
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(Almost) Full access to the PS2's capabilities
The PlayStation 2-specific libraries will be released under the LGPL; there are no proprietary licenses involved. Sony's distribution of Linux is based on Kondara Linux, which in turn is based on Red Hat Linux. The documentation with this kit will give all the same information about the PS2 hardware that Sony provides its licensed game developers (but it won't give access to the system's anti-piracy mechanisms). This will include full details on the PS2's proprietary Emotion Engine core instruction set, the Graphic Synthesizer, and the Vector Processing Units. "The idea was to simply provide a functional and complete distribution of Linux on the PlayStation 2, while also giving access to the PlayStation 2's unique hardware," says Sarah Ewen, who works for Sony as one of its Linux engineers responsible for supporting the kit.
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Physics for Game Developers |
Those interested in buying and playing around with the PS2 Linux kit should be aware of some things before getting it: Access to the PS2's DVD drive is restricted so that only official PlayStation discs can be read; and CD-Rs and DVD-R discs won't work in the drive. However, the USB ports on the PS2 are standard, so some USB external CD and DVD drive models that are supported under Linux could be used with this kit.
In terms of programming, the following graphics libraries are provided: libSDL (a fast, 2D graphics library), mesa, and ps2gl (a simplified GL clone, which makes use of the PlayStation 2's hardware). Ewen says, with these tools and enough effort on a programmer's part, it is possible to create games with graphics that are comparable to those of commercial PS2 games: "So the limitations really are few. You have almost unfettered access to the [graphics] hardware. There is nothing stopping programmers from coding 'right to the metal' using the Linux kit."
As for the portability of code from Linux on a PC system to the PS2, most applications
written on a PC will compile on the PlayStation 2 with little or no modification. The
significant difference is having to pass the --host option to the configure
script. The kit supports languages typical to a Linux distribution, like C, C++, Perl,
Python, Ruby, and Tcl. The only one missing is Java, although Kaffe has been ported by
others in the Linux PS2 community.
"Porting between Linux on the PC and Linux on the PS2 is very easy. Both the PC and PS2 use the same endianness, the same word sizes, et cetera," says Sam Lantinga, a software engineer at Blizzard Entertainment (makers of the Diablo and Warcraft game franchises). With the kit, he ported to the PS2 his Simple DirectMedia Layer, a cross-platform library he created for handling access to graphics and sound, that is mainly used for helping to develop Linux games. "The only kind of code that I can think of that wouldn't run on the PS2, if it ran on a PC, would be either very memory-intensive applications or applications like WINE that require an x86 CPU core."
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Open source, open possibilities over the competition?
For Sony, there is no plan to make this kit a significant revenue source. The company won't be advertising it through the usual methods since it doesn't want to confuse consumers who have no interest in Linux or programming. "We're definitely not trying to enter the desktop PC market [with the Linux PS2 kit]," says Ewen, who points out that Sony already sells its own brand of PCs.
Regardless, there could be benefits for the company if the PS2 is seen as more than just a game console. Lantinga predicts that this kit, with its inclusion of an Ethernet adapter and hard drive, could spur the development of online applications and services, things that could give the PS2 platform an edge over Microsoft's Xbox. "Linux is the natural choice for Sony to leverage the vast amount of non-Microsoft expertise available around the world," says Lantinga.
Then there's the advantage for Sony that more games will inevitably appear for the PS2, thanks to this kit. Lantinga easily ported Maelstrom to the PlayStation 2 and played it with the console's game controllers on a television set. "That was very cool. Any other 2D game [made with Simple DirectMedia Layer] that uses 640x480 or lower video resolution should run just fine on the PS2," he says. "So I expect that when the Linux kit ships in the U.S., there will be a number of games almost immediately available for it. It should be fun."
Howard Wen is a freelance writer who has contributed frequently to O'Reilly Network and written for Salon.com, Playboy.com, and Wired, among others.
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Showing messages 1 through 23 of 23.
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Sony won't sell PS2 Linux in the US!!
2004-10-14 14:07:15 diceman [Reply | View]
What is the deal....I was reading your comments. Sony is stating on the playstation web site that they are no longer selling the Linux kit to users in the US..Anyone know why? -
Sony won't sell PS2 Linux in the US!!
2004-12-03 11:09:58 hector_sosa [Reply | View]
The ps2 linux kit was officially discontinued June '04 - it sounds at if that's a worldwide thing, so you're stuck paying the high dollar on ebay if you want a kit. BTW: don't lose any parts that are proprietary to the kit - my monitor cable came up missing after a linux expo - don't think I'm ever gonna find another one.
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Porting games
2004-07-27 11:25:22 Tiberius183 [Reply | View]
Is it possible to port games in ROM format to PS2 format and burn it to disc or DVD-R format and play it on your PS2 (via an external DVD drive)?
For example, with the release of the Linux kit, I've been having "wet dreams" about maybe downloading the ROMs for classic arcade games that have never been ported to console (The Simpsons, and the X-Men sidescroller for example) and porting them to PS2 for my own personal use. Would that be possible, and if so, how would I go about doing that?
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need help finding some ps2 stuff
2004-02-27 13:07:21 ferrariman24 [Reply | View]
i no the linux has all that stuff in the kit i jus nedd the hard drive and the linux cd, and the vga cord. Where can i buy this stuff seperate without buying all that other stuff?
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need help finding some ps2 stuff
2004-12-03 11:13:35 hector_sosa [Reply | View]
From what I understand any IDE hard drive will work - just gotta make some tabs to fasten it into the drive bay. I'll send you a pic of mine if the page will let me post a pic. As for the software dvd's, find someone who's got the software and get them to burn a copy - cross your fingers the install finishes as the dvd drive becomes restricted by the software so that cd-r and dvd-r discs won't work. As for the official sony hard drive and vga cable, you're not gonna find them without buying used - sony doesn't even list part numbers for them. -
need help finding some ps2 stuff
2004-03-11 02:26:42 crdigits [Reply | View]
thats the thing...like Microsoft with the Xbox....sony formats the HD and adds their own little bit of information so that when you install the PS2 linux it communicates with a section of the HD to verify its the one from the kit and not one you went out and bought...its how sony justifies the price acting like its a special HD...when its not...its a crappy Maxtor HD...i know casue i have that same crappy HD lying around somewhere -
need help finding some ps2 stuff
2004-10-12 03:52:42 Sarah_of_PS2Linux [Reply | View]
I'm afraid you're incorrect there.
There are many, many, of our users who are using a standard IDE PC HDD in their PlayStation 2 to run Linux. We don't support doing it, but it appears to work for many people.
The reason you can't buy the discs individually is purely operational - it's a lot of cost and work to break up the kits, and we'd be left with a lot of spares if this happened. It'd make more sense to drop the price of the kit, which we've already done once this year.
Sarah Ewen, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
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GNU Step works really well, gnome doesn't
2003-09-01 23:26:26 mxmaldo [Reply | View]
I recently installed the Linux kit for PS2, It's fun to use.
The monitor part is tricky though. I had to get an special adapter to make it work with my Flat Screen monitor (check the FAQ at Playstation2-linux.com).
GNU Step works like a charm. Gnome is slow (although the kit doesn't come with the latest gnome release).
Well I'm not planning in developing games for PS2 yet. I just would like to install Linux on any device that comes to my hands. Until now: a PS2, a Psion 5mx and an iPAQ.
Why? It just keeps my Linux knowledge sharp (I have 8 Linux servers at my company, but they never fail, so I only do maintenance and monitoring on those).
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pay for linux?
2003-08-10 00:14:41 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Sony must release this linux distribuition for free!
Why pay for linux on ps2?
Sony's executives must get real! -
pay for linux?
2003-08-15 00:27:34 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
linux IS free, but the hd, cables, keyboard, etc. costs money. plus linux is on a disc. think about it. -
pay for linux?
2004-03-11 02:21:12 crdigits [Reply | View]
true you do have to factor in the HD and what not...ut still its a crappy 40gig 5400 2mb cache Maxtor HD...you can get that for 50 or 60 bucks...and since its sony it would probally cost them half that since they would buy in bulk and what not...the KB and Mouse...probally logitech.....price for us....15 bucks each...price for sony...5 bucks each...the cable....probally 10 bucks...whcih if i knew then pin out of the PS2's video port...i could go to radio shack and make one....and yes...i doubt that sony is giving Linux for free thats probally another 50 bucks to them...so yes you should pay for the kit...of course you should...but 200 bucks...c,mon...be real -
pay for linux?
2003-09-05 17:00:38 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
FREE ? Ok. Where is I can download it for FREE ? ;) -
pay for linux?
2003-10-17 13:04:40 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
linux is free at about half a million sites you idiot
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graphics
2003-06-19 01:31:37 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
what are the limitations on the graphics programming ,3d accelleration ect ...
can one use opengl ,has anyone written any games for the ps2 on linux ???
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Sell it for ps3 as well!
2002-12-26 03:33:00 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I'm seriously thinking about getting this kit and I do hope sony makes an updated version available for the Playstation 3. Onwards!
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Connection refused at US PS/2 Linux site
2002-12-19 07:28:05 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Apparently there is quite some interest in this topic, or there are network problems at the US PS/2 Linux site. I can't connect.
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Linux For The PS2
2002-10-11 13:03:05 slipcode4life [Reply | View]
I think it is tight that they are putting an OS on the PS2, I think Linux is the OS perfect for the PS2 since a micrisoft windows OS is out of the question because of the Xbox. I'm definitely going to but the linux kit for my PS2, I just want to find more info on the OS for Ps2, find out the differences between the PC version and PS2 version, and anything else. If anyone has info i could use email me at: slipcode4life@msn.com
