Today, you will learn how to install Ubuntu Gutsy (as a second operating system) on your PlayStation 3 gaming console. For those of you who think for a second (and who are scared) that this will replace their PS3 operating system, well you guys are wrong, because this will NOT erase your PlayStation 3 native operating system (called XMB) and it will run as an alternative OS on your PS3 console. Ready? Are you excited? Let's go!
You should attach the USB keyboard and mouse to the PS3. In a few seconds, you will see 'Ubuntu PS3 KBoot Loader' text on the top of your screen. Insert the Ubuntu PS3 Live CD in your PS3, type. You'll want to start by preparing the PS3 for the install. Grab a USB keydrive (any size will do, since we'll be copying very small files at first) and plug it into your PS3. On the PS3, use the. The XrossMediaBar (XMB) menu of the PS3 allows users to optionally install other operating systems making it possible for Linux to boot from the hard drive, USB, or from a LiveCD. Yellow Dog Linux is perhaps the most widely used distro for the PlayStation 3.
Things needed:
1. An USB flash drive or a Memory Card (PS3 can read only SD/miniSD Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO (Duo) and CompactFlash). Or, as an alternative, you can use a portable hard disk with FAT32 filesystem on it.
2. An USB keyboard and mouse attached to your PS3.
3. Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) PS3 ISO image, which you can always download from Softpedia. You will need to burn this ISO image on a blank CD with your favorite CD/DVD burning tool.WARNING:Be aware that if you continue, all the saved games, game data, bought games, downloaded demos, PlayStation Home settings/installation and any data (music, movies, pictures) saved on the hard drive of the PlayStation 3 will be permanently ERASED. However, the PlayStation 3 settings will NOT be lost. Therefore, we strongly suggest that you back up immediately any saves of your games, hard drive movies, pictures, music or PlayStation Home data on a removable HDD device or USB stick! The bought games or downloaded demos can not be copied, but you will be able to re-download without the need to buy them again, as they are stored on your PlayStation Network account.
Prepare your PlayStation 3 for Ubuntu:
You will need to partition the PS3 hard drive, otherwise you will not be able to install Ubuntu. Power on your PS3, Log in and go to 'Settings -> System Settings', scroll down until you find the 'Format Utility', press X on it and go to 'Format Hard Disk' (last option). You'll be asked if you want to format your hard disk, so press 'Yes' and then you must choose a partition setting for the hard drive. Select the 'Custom' option, then select 'Allot 10GB to the Other OS' entry and do a 'Quick Format'. When it's done, reboot your PS3.
The KBoot installation:
As I don't have an USB flash drive, I've used an external hard drive for this operation, and it worked like a charm. Create a folder, on your USB stick (drive), called PS3, and inside this folder create another one called OTHEROS. Put the otheros.bld (otheros.bld for PlayStation 3) file in the OTHEROS folder. Now, go to 'Settings -> System Settings -> Install Other Os' and hit X to detect and install KBoot.
Boot and install the Ubuntu PS3 Live CD
Are you wondering how to access what you've just installed above? Go to 'Settings -> System Settings -> Default System' (press X) and select 'Other OS'. You'll be asked if you want to quit your PS3 system and start the other OS (of course you do), so choose 'Yes' and wait for the PS3 to reboot. You should attach the USB keyboard and mouse to the PS3. In a few seconds, you will see 'Ubuntu PS3 KBoot Loader' text on the top of your screen. Insert the Ubuntu PS3 Live CD in your PS3, type install and wait for the Live CD to load.
In a few seconds, you will see that sexy wallpaper of Ubuntu Gutsy and the installation wizard will appear. Follow the installation steps from here if you don't know what to do.
Go back to the PS3 OS
To get back to your PS3 OS, restart Ubuntu and, at the KBoot prompt, type:
boot-game-os
and hit enter. Wait for the PS3 to reboot and you'll see the XMB (PlayStation 3 operating system).
Conclusions
Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon has greatly been improved for the PS3 hardware. It can now recognize all the components of your PS3 console, like the Blu-ray unit, the Gelic network card, USB and Bluetooth ports, and the sound system! Even if the installation part takes around 40 minutes (four times longer than on a regular PC), Ubuntu proved to be quite fast on the PS3 console. From the screenshots below, you will see that I can listen to music, watch movies and even transfer files from my BlackBerry, via Bluetooth. However, as I don't have a HD Ready TV, I can't really enjoy Ubuntu on my PS3, that's why the screenshots are so small!
Pros:
- It will recognize all the hardware components of your PS3 console.- It runs quite fast.- Easy to install.
Cons:
- The installation takes too long. About four times longer than a normal PC installation!- When you want to reboot Ubuntu, it will actually shut down. I don't know why it does this, maybe it's a problem that happened only to me.- You must have an HD Ready TV in order to do something useful in Ubuntu. With regular TVs you will have a 576x460 resolution and you will not see the entire window of most applications!
- 3SYSLINUX Configuration
Naming convention
Since Syslinux version 3.73, the following naming conventions are adopted:
The moniker 'The Syslinux Project' (standard proper noun capitalization) shall be used to refer to the project as a whole.
The all-caps form shall be used to refer to a particular loader variant, such as 'SYSLINUX' for the standard disk, or 'ISOLINUX' for 'El Torito no-emulation' bootloader.
The all-lower-case form should be used to refer to a particular installer, such as 'syslinux-mtools' for the mtools-based installer for SYSLINUX, or the 'extlinux' command for EXTLINUX.
'Syslinux' (initial upper-case) refers to 'The Syslinux Project', or to a generic term for the user to replace with one/some/any/every/all bootloader variants of the Syslinux family.
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- It will recognize all the hardware components of your PS3 console.- It runs quite fast.- Easy to install.
Cons:
- The installation takes too long. About four times longer than a normal PC installation!- When you want to reboot Ubuntu, it will actually shut down. I don't know why it does this, maybe it's a problem that happened only to me.- You must have an HD Ready TV in order to do something useful in Ubuntu. With regular TVs you will have a 576x460 resolution and you will not see the entire window of most applications!
- 3SYSLINUX Configuration
Naming convention
Since Syslinux version 3.73, the following naming conventions are adopted:
The moniker 'The Syslinux Project' (standard proper noun capitalization) shall be used to refer to the project as a whole.
The all-caps form shall be used to refer to a particular loader variant, such as 'SYSLINUX' for the standard disk, or 'ISOLINUX' for 'El Torito no-emulation' bootloader.
The all-lower-case form should be used to refer to a particular installer, such as 'syslinux-mtools' for the mtools-based installer for SYSLINUX, or the 'extlinux' command for EXTLINUX.
'Syslinux' (initial upper-case) refers to 'The Syslinux Project', or to a generic term for the user to replace with one/some/any/every/all bootloader variants of the Syslinux family.
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Note: There is still a chance that some official document or some page in the official Syslinux wiki might use inadequate naming / casing. To report typos, or when in doubt, please contact The Syslinux Project.
New users
For newbies to Syslinux, the following links might be helpful as an introduction / learning curve into The Syslinux Project. There is no need to read them all; practical experience and specific interests might suggest what to read / search for.
- Configuration Directives
- About Library modules
- Using Special keys while booting
- The Simple Menu System
There are many additional wiki pages; use the 'search box'.
Several Linux distributions also have their own documentation about Syslinux and Syslinux-related packages.
Please add more HowTo's here. We can start with the questions, and later fill up the answers.
SYSLINUX Configuration
- How to write the config file for {PXE/ISO/EXT}LINUX?
- How to create the simple menu system?
- How to create the graphical menu system?
Links
- Menu Example with sub-menus (not only for PXELINUX)
installing syslinux / how to create a bootable..
- How to create a bootable floppy?
- How to create a bootable iso?
- How to create a bootable usb?
How to Create a Bootable USB: Windows XP and Vista
STEP 0:Your motherboard (BIOS) has to support boot from usb (usb-key or usb-hdd). You don't need to know which of these types your media is though, your BIOS recognizes the usb controller in the device, and this determines usb-key or usb-hdd type.
In case your motherboard does not support booting from usb, the PLoP Boot Manager might be a solution.
Doerr emerson electric motor lr22132. STEP 1:Download the latest copy of Syslinux and extract it.
STEP 2: Open a command prompt and cd to your 'syslinuxwin32' folder. Run syslinux.exe -m -a X: replacing X with the drive letter of your media. This will install suitable MBR code into your flash drive and mark the partition on it as active.
STEP 3: Copy a Linux kernel image (like vmlinuz) to the root (X:) of your media.
STEP 4: Lastly, create a 'syslinux.cfg' file in the root of your media (X:) and
enter any configuration options you need/want.
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You can also use RMPrepUSB to format your UFD and to install SYSLINUX.
How to Create a Bootable USB: For Linux
STEP 0:Your motherboard (BIOS) has to support boot from usb (usb-key or usb-hdd).
You don't need to know which of these types your media is though, your BIOS recognizes
the usb controller in the device, and this determines usb-key or usb-hdd type.
STEP 1:Download the latest copy of Syslinux and extract it.
STEP 2: Open a command prompt and cd to your 'syslinux/linux' folder. Run ./syslinux -i /dev/sdX1
replacing X with the device node of your media.
STEP 3:Ensure the usb drive is bootable. For that, we need a working MBR code and an active partition.
Open a command prompt and cd to your 'syslinux/mbr' folder. Run the following two commands,
replacing X with the device node of your usb drive:
This will write the Syslinux mbr code (mbr.bin) into the master boot record of the drive,
and mark first partition as active (bootable). For the second task, you can use fdisk or other
disk partitioning tools.
STEP 4: Copy a Linux kernel image (like vmlinuz) to the root (/dev/sdX1) of your media.
STEP 5: Lastly, create a 'syslinux.cfg' file in the root of your media (/dev/sdX1) and
enter any configuration options you need/want.
Creating bootable images
How To Install Linux On Ps3 With Usb 3.0
- Creating DOS floppy images.
- Creating Large floppy images.
- Creating Hard disk images.
- Disk image for FreeBSD 'bootonly' install ISO.
- How to boot into these images? See MEMDISK for instructions.
- Accessing MEMDISK arguments from DOS.
Booting
- How to boot an Iso image?
No native BIOS support
Full Linux Install On Usb
- Possible to boot from CD if there is no native CD support in bios?
- Possible to boot from USB if there is no native USB support in bios?
How To Install Linux On Ps3 With Usb Adapter
