By Nate Heasley (Nheasley) on Friday, April 26, 2002 - 02:12 pm:

Okay, I'm really on the fence about the Playstation 2 linux kit, which is available in the US and will ship on March 22. It's $199, and comes with;

1) 40 gig hard drive
2) Ethernet adapter
3) USB keyboard and mouse
4) Linux for PS2

There are some advantages to getting this system now, since it seems to be targeted at developers and actually seems reasonably priced. My goal is to turn my PS2 in to a total home entertainment unit, with a portion of the HD used for MP3, another bit used for recorded tv programs (will need USB tuner) and maybe some other stuff I haven't even thought of yet that I could do by hooking up my USB CD burner, a web cam or whatever.

My problem is that I know nothing about Linux. I'm more than willing to do a bit of learning, but I'm afraid that it will be over my head. Should I go buy a linux book and the kit and just play around? Or should I wait for Sony to release the hard-drive expansion for PS2 consumers that will undoubtedly be less flexible for doing stuff like MP3 jukeboxing?

By Gareth Branwyn (Gareth) on Saturday, April 27, 2002 - 10:48 am:

What build of Linux is it? Can you use regular Linux apps?

By John Massaglia (Mrklaw) on Saturday, April 27, 2002 - 02:56 pm:

You could use just about any app for linux, but you would have to recomile everything from source.

I have enough experience with Linux to know that I am pretty clueless. Compiling seems to rarely work for me.

By Joel Westerberg (Tux) on Sunday, April 28, 2002 - 05:01 am:

it's a piece of case with source rpms.

By Joel Westerberg (Tux) on Sunday, April 28, 2002 - 05:02 am:

cake i mean!

By Mark Crane (Mecran01) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 07:46 am:

Yeah, rpms are just like windows installs in terms of ease.

I have a redhat server, but don't use it as a desktop because it just feels weird and sort of slow compared to win2k. There goes my last shreds of geek cred.

By Nate Heasley (Nheasley) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 09:02 am:

What John said; I think you have to recompile. I assume (?) that once developers start getting these things, they'll release PS2-specific linux code. There are only going to be 10,000 released in the first shipment, so the developer pool won't be large, but my guess is that it'll be fierce.

I just found out that there are some limitations to the kit; the OS doesn't permit ripping of any sort from the CD/DVD. That's understandable from Sony's perspective, but a real bummer from a consumer perspective. It'll play MP3s (if you load the appropriate software) but under no circumstances will you be able to rip directly from the CD to the HD. The only way to get the MP3s in to the PS2 is to use the ethernet connection - either to another PC or to the Internet. Ironic, isn't it, that Sony's version of limiting piracy is to prohibit ripping (where you actually have the legitimate source) but not downloading?

Anyway, that puts a damper on a simple MP3/movie jukebox for the moment. Obviously it's still possible, but just more of a hassle.

The PVR would be even more of a hassle, but it's still a possibility too - I found some links to the linux based open-source PVR. I can't tell what stage it's at, but it looks promising.

I'm not comforted by Mark's comment about redhat being wierd and slow - if there's anyone in this group who I'd have thought would be a supporter of linux it would have been Mark (or Timmy or Bruce). But if even the *real* geeks here aren't whole-hog about linux as a user-friendly interface, I might just have to let this one go...

By John Massaglia (Mrklaw) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 10:20 am:

I boot into Linux for email, some web browsing, instant messaging, and stuff like that.

I boot into Windows for game playing (AOE2), and web browsing when I need more plugins (I haven't gotten mylinky.com to work with Netscape on Linux and I am totally addicted to mylinky).

I noticed that on the EffecTV web page they mention getting a USB webcam and EffecTV working on a PS2. EffecTV is a real-time video effects program that does some really cool things.

By Timmy Tuner (Tatertot) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 10:41 am:

I think the idea of Linux on the PS2 is neat, I'm just not sure it's that useful if you're not the sort who wants to attempt to develop games on it. The OS limitation on ripping CDs is BS for sure, but I'll bet someone codes a way around that soon. I'm still waiting on MAME for the Xbox. I've decided to not bother with the Dreamcast, after John's comments about the quality of MAME there....

By Nate Heasley (Nheasley) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 11:19 am:

Yeah. It really is a developers tool, aimed at those who want to code for PS2. I would probably be better off waiting for Sony to release the PS2 HD/Ethernet combo -- tho nobody's sure when that's going to be released.

I'm sure that those who are getting the PS2 linux kit are going to be developing simple software for MP3 playback and stuff for the PS2, since that seems to be the point of the kit - maybe they want to get people to develop games, but I think it opens up the platform for more than that.

All I know is that I want the kit real bad and I don't know why...

By Joel Westerberg (Tux) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 12:51 pm:

I run an all Linux box right now, I got the nimda virus, and finally decided to kick windows out. It's a perfect station for what I do most, ssh, java programming, web browsing (with Galeon - kick's ass), and the fine email program kmail (just like old eurora 1.3 or something, I like it a lot). The only caveat is that it sucks scrolling text on linux.

By John Massaglia (Mrklaw) on Monday, April 29, 2002 - 01:08 pm:

My main beef with Linux right now is the lack of consistency across applications. With the terminal emulators, I can't figure out how to copy text and paste it into another window. Maybe it's just the terminal emulator I'm using. I'm thinking about switching to kmail or some other mail client.

By Joel Westerberg (Tux) on Tuesday, April 30, 2002 - 12:44 am:

mark the text in one window, klick with the middle button anywhere to paste, only works if you got the third button enabled, either as a 3-button mice or a scroll mice.

By John Massaglia (Mrklaw) on Tuesday, April 30, 2002 - 08:59 am:

Thanks Joel. I'll try that.

By Craig Pearl (Agent86) on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 02:00 am:

Hi all, I was hoping somebody here may be able to tell me whether or not a PS2 Linux kit purchased in the U.S. will be compatible with a PS2 which is set up for the Australian power/voltage format.

It is my (limited)understanding that the standard household wall-socket voltages are different between America and Australia, and it occurred to me that if I purchased a Linux Kit which is design for the Amercian voltage standard that I could be in for some trouble when I attempt to fire up the HDD in my Australian voltage formatted PS2.

Can anybody confirm or deny this?

Down here in Australia there were only a very limited number of PS2 linux kits made available and there may not be any more to come. Purchasing one e-tail may be my only hope.

I apologise in advance for my crude terminology.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

By Jay Townsend (Artdog) on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 10:00 am:

I would assume that if you have the proper power converters connected correctly, you should be able to run everything without any problems.

I don't really know much about PS2 units, but a lot of electrical devices (like stereo equipment) have built in switches for different types of voltage. In addition, there are plenty of external converter boxes with different plug adapters that you can purchase. You have to read the instructions that come with those converter units, though because the wrong settings and plugs can cause serious damage to your hardware.

By Nate Heasley (Nheasley) on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 04:58 pm:

I agree. since the linux kit is entirely internal to the PS2, whatever power converter you have for the PS2 already will handle the power for the linux kit as well. In other words, Sony makes just one Playstation for worldwide audiences. When they sell it in different regions, they bundle the PS2 with different adapters for that locality. they probably even just use the same adapter, and change the kind of plug that goes with it - since most adapters for these kinds of electronics convert 100/220v to whatever the PS2 needs.. The linux kit just draws on the interior power source, so theres no conversion problem.

OTOH there may be an issue about the region-encoding on the linux disk, though I doubt it.. you may want to check with the linux dev boards before committing to it, just to make sure.