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+--- Forum: Feature Suggestions (/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Thread: Port XBMC to PS3 (PlayStation 3) to run on Linux ("Other OS") or natively on GameOS? (/showthread.php?tid=21849)
- darkscout - 2011-01-06 05:58
It's not a matter of "IF" it can be done or the legality.
It's the fact that the XBMC developers aren't going to waste their time on it like they're not wasting their time on the Boxee Box. The Boxee box is 10x more open than the original XBOX but in the current state of affairs it's still too closed.
- N3MIS15 - 2011-01-06 06:30
since the fail0verflow guys are working on a custom bootloader to launch linux, woulnt the most feasible way to launch a livecd on boot suited to the ps3 hardware? Therefor there is no risk with lawsuits and such?..
I also understand that its not the cheapest or easiest hardware to work with, but with the install base of ps3s out there im sure there would be quite a bit of intrest (ive been reading thru the ps3 hacking forums and ALOT of ppl are asking if hacking will enable support .mkv and such).
- Robotica - 2011-01-06 06:42
In that case: you are right. Only the guys distributing the bootloader can have (but won't if they are smart enough) a problem. Even there is no need for a livecd (when there is enough storage space); XBMC can be placed on local nand/storage/hd to boot.
See: http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=683083&postcount=7
- darkscout - 2011-01-06 06:44
Until the GPU is "cracked", I doubt you'll get 1080p.
No clue how different the Cell is from normal PPC. But if you can get debian/ubuntu on there. You can start from scratch building stuff.
- N3MIS15 - 2011-01-06 06:48
yea, doesnt need to be livecd, but definatly duel boot. i would still like to use my ps3 for games
i guess we will have to wait and see what comes from the bootloader.. i know that marcan already has linux kernel booting on ps3 with aid of a jig.
- poofyhairguy - 2011-01-06 09:07
darkscout Wrote:Until the GPU is "cracked", I doubt you'll get 1080p.
No clue how different the Cell is from normal PPC. But if you can get debian/ubuntu on there. You can start from scratch building stuff.
Disclaimer: I was really into PS3 Linux when the Other OS option existed
Actually since the GPU in the PS3 is more primitive than the 360's it lacks the ability to really help decode video. The 360 offers modern general shaders like every Nvidia card since the 8xxx series, while the PS3 had a 7800GTX shoved in at the last minute that had dedicated shaders. All the GPU needs to do is have OpenGL support for the XBMC interface. I haven't tried using the open source Nvidia driver on XBMC so I don't know if it will work.
The only thing that can play 1080p on the PS3 is the Cell and its SPUs. The Cell is very weird- instead of something like three equal cores like the 360 or many AMD CPUs have, the cell has one normal core (to Linux) and then this army of half cores that are basic number crunching machines.
A build of Mplayer exists that uses these SPUs, so FFMPEG could do it. I used it back in 08 to play 1080p on there. Couldn't get father than that myself though (and you couldn't use X, that might have changed).
But after thinking about it a lot it would be better if it was an outright XBMC fork. Then instead of having the same release cycle as XBMC (and having to deal with the huge task of bringing the PowerPC code to date) one could fork off an older XBMC that builds correctly, use the Mplayer as an external player, use the most recently available Ubuntu release, stack a super fresh Xorg on that, slap this skin on there, and it might be a slick optimized package.
- N3MIS15 - 2011-01-06 11:08
please correct me if im wrong, but it seems the main thing holding back a ps3 xbmc port is drivers linux or otherwise. from what i can recall there has been a demo using gpu to render 3d images. as primative as it was, this is the fist step yea?
Or am i totaly on the wrong track?
- poofyhairguy - 2011-01-06 11:14
N3MIS15 Wrote:please correct me if im wrong, but it seems the main thing holding back a ps3 xbmc port is drivers linux or otherwise. from what i can recall there has been a demo using gpu to render 3d images. as primative as it was, this is the fist step yea?
Or am i totaly on the wrong track?
Yes, there is a basic SPU X driver:
http://psubuntu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1805
I honestly think that getting the GPU involved is needed considering how demanding the XBMC interface is on GPUs.
- N3MIS15 - 2011-01-06 11:28
Thanks, poofy, but what i was refering to was this: http://is.gd/gkv1e
From what i understand it was run in gameos (without the need for otheros and its RSX restictions)
- poofyhairguy - 2011-01-06 12:30
N3MIS15 Wrote:Thanks, poofy, but what i was refering to was this: http://is.gd/gkv1e
From what i understand it was run in gameos (without the need for otheros and its RSX restictions)
The only driver that can be used for the RSX is nouveau. That driver has basic 3D support thanks to Gallium3D. This driver is at best a fourth as slow as the official x86 Nvidia Linux driver:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nouveau_mesa79&num=2
From my experiments with hardware, I think that is enough to still run the XBMC interface acceptably. The problem then is having nouveau completed to a point where is supports every OpenGL feature the XBMC interface uses.