[Cbe-oss-dev] Debian Live for PS3 project dead

[sean finney]

hi everyone,

responding to various stuff on this thread (i get this is digest format,
but it will probably help reduce list traffic to group the replies anyway):

On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 09:40:43PM -0500, thegame4121982 at msn.com wrote:
> Any advantages of using the spufbdev driver instead of the plain fbdev  
> driver in Debian?

it provides an spu-accelerated xvideo extension, meaning you can play 720p/i and
1080p/i video content.  there are still problems with stability, and you may
also need a (as of yet nonexistant) spu-accelarated media decoder if you're
not playing raw video but instead mkv/xvid, but it does work otherwise.

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 03:48:27PM +0100, fgalea wrote:
> I have compiled a recent Linux (2.6.27.5) kernel package, which can be  
> installed
> directly with dpkg, instead of step 5 of the howto. The url of the  
> kernel image,
> header and source packages is:
>
> http://software.prism.uvsq.fr/ps3/kernel/

FYI, the latest 2.6.26 kernels in debian unstable also work without
problem on the ps3.  i don't know if these kernels have made/will make it 
onto the lenny installer any time soon though.  i'll investigate that...

> thegame4121982 at msn.com a ??crit??:
>
>> Hi using official Debian testing media, trying to install Debian using 
<snip>

i'll repeat what george requested about not top-posting.

>> From: "Geoff Levand" <geoffrey.levand at am.sony.com>
>> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 3:10 PM
>>>
>>> I asked the Debian kernel maintainers to enable the powerpc kernel
>>> config options needed for the PS3.  I tested the 4.0r5 DVD and the
>>> testing installer of 2008.11.13, but neither of the kernels in
>>> these worked with the PS3.  Both crashed very early before the
>>> display was working.

yes, 4.0r5 is debian etch, i would not expect the relevant changes/fixes
for the ps3 to make it that far back into a stable distribution.  instead i'd
recommend trying with the lenny installer.

>>> Testing needs to be done to figure out what changes are needed to the
>>> Debian powerpc kernel to make it work on the PS3.  Those changes
>>> need to be given to the Debian kernel maintainers.  I currently have no
>>> time to do this.

i believe your changes were already accepted and included in later
kernel releases.  if there are other missing changes, or unrelated fixes
to other packages (i.e. the installer), feel free to use me as a middle
man.  this is an open invitation to anyone else on the list as well.

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 05:30:34PM +0100, Fran?ois Galea wrote:
> There is not that much difference. In fact, the best procedure would be  
> to follow the howto up to a certain point (boot the debian system with  
> standard powerpc kernel), and then install the ps3 kernel and utilities  
> from a (not existing yet) apt repository, just like what the keshi.org  
> was before being completely outdated.

well, for the *utilities*, there's an existing repo:

deb http://people.debian.org/~seanius/ps3-experimental-packages sid main

i don't have a kernel in this repo because it's not currently necessary,
at least for my needs (and kernel compiling is a PITA if only because of
the time requirements).

> Additional specific details about configuration such as spufs, ps3vram,  
> huge pages or bluetooth sixaxis support would be welcome, too.

there's some discussion regarding spufs earlier in this thread.  i tried
to get my dualshock controllers to pair via usb using the sixlinux stuff, 
but failed--but this may be a dualshock vs. standard sixaxis issue.

> For now I am currently investigating about how to setup my apache server  
> to turn it into a reliable apt repository.

if you want something "simple", you should read the fine manpages for
dpkg-scanpackages and dpkg-scansources.  if you want a "real" repository,
where you can support multiple distributions and archs, have signed
files, etc, then you should use some real package archive management software.
myself, i'm currently using reprepro for the above archive, since it's the
nicest combination of features and simplicity for my needs.


	sean

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