Make Bill happy, run Windows on your PlayStation 3

by Christopher Grant { Jan 19th 2007 at 11:51AM }

Don't mind Bill's trash talk about the Cell processor; surely he would approve of you running Windows on it! Well, not exactly directly on the Cell processor ... rather through the QEMU virtualization software running in Yellow Dog Linux on the PlayStation 3, as shown at the PlayStation.com forums. Thanks to the ability to install alternative operating systems, curious (and masochistic) gamers can load up all sorts of crazy things on their PS3s. We'd like to see someone load up Windows Media Center and use it to stream video from their PS3 to their Xbox 360. Or maybe, install that x86 build of Mac OS X in QEMU under Linux, then run Windows XP via Parallels under that, and then run VMWare running Linux under that. And then get the hell out of there before your PS3 implodes.

[Thanks, Xenokai]

Tags: Linux, PS3, QEMU, Windows, YellowDogLinux

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Massive Raaacccceeer @ Jan 19th 2007 12:03PM

I was stoked about installing Linux on my PS3 my friends who work in IT have told about how great it was and all the things it can do like run Windows game and etc.

So i install it and was so excited and let down that for all the things linux is capable of there was nothing to do once i installed :/

its a good thing Sony invented an OS though hopefully itll compete with Apple OS X and XP/Vista

Uh_Oh @ Jan 19th 2007 12:05PM

That's funny, IT IS INEVIDABLE, INEVIDABLEEE!!!!

Intentless @ Jan 19th 2007 12:06PM

I'm now very tempted to just get a PS3 for the sole purpose of streaming to my 360... Would that cause a rip in time space/armageddon though? I'm not a strictly 360 guy but still... Its so tempting to do something so... wrong...

Edge of Blade @ Jan 19th 2007 12:12PM

Rule of Thumb: You don't convince people your platform is better by giving them options. Sony's heart was in the right place allowing Linux...I will grant them that...but this is STILL a system that should have focused on games FIRST and all the other crap second.

Scythe @ Jan 19th 2007 12:35PM

It's Wrong.....WRONG!

Alex @ Jan 19th 2007 12:43PM

@ Massive Raaacccceeer:

Sony didn't "invent" anything. They're licensing Linux, a long established operating system, for their own system...

The PS3 won't have any impact on Linux as a whole, except making it easier to load it up with higher technology, and a few more interesting game related applications...

It's limitless in theory...but in theory the PS3 can render at 120FPS in the fourth dimension...So, take it with a grain of salt for now.

Aux @ Jan 19th 2007 12:45PM

That's pretty cool. The person who set this up said that it doesn't run great, but it's emulating win2000 decently enough. It should be pretty interesting to see what other kinds of applications you could get to work at a good pace.

Norm @ Jan 19th 2007 12:48PM

Wait, is PS3 PPC based? if so, why would you need an x86 build of osx? I dunno how this all works, really, but I have a bunch of OSX install disks....

jSn @ Jan 19th 2007 12:52PM

I don't understand why this thing doesn't run Win2k like a 7gigahairz pentium. I mean the CELL is soooo much faster and more capable than anything else out there. How could it possibly be slow?!?!?!?

Evan @ Jan 19th 2007 1:11PM

In all the articles I've read about Linux on PS3, I've never seen a solid benchmark. Running native PPC/Cell code, how does it compare to a PC?

FrankTheCrank @ Jan 19th 2007 1:17PM

MICROSOFT JUST GOT SERVED!!!

Saint Jouten @ Jan 19th 2007 1:28PM

PS3's true colors...Linux Box Linux = No Games!

jgreath @ Jan 19th 2007 1:31PM

@Massive Raaacccceeer:

"So i install it and was so excited and let down that for all the things linux is capable of there was nothing to do once i installed"

You mean nothing other than have a fully functioning computer hooked up to your TV? Linux is an operating system, not an entertainment device. Windows and OSX aren't too entertaining on their own, either.

"its a good thing Sony invented an OS though hopefully itll compete with Apple OS X and XP/Vista"

Are you still talking about Linux? Sony didn't invent that.

SuicideNinja @ Jan 19th 2007 1:35PM

"I'm now very tempted to just get a PS3 for the sole purpose of streaming to my 360... Would that cause a rip in time space/armageddon though? I'm not a strictly 360 guy but still... Its so tempting to do something so... wrong..."

Don't do it. What isn't said here, is that this virtual-machine type installation is slow as sin. If you want a Media Center PC, you have to buy/build one. The PS3 isn't good enough to run Windows XP at normal speeds through Linux. It's kind of like that Windows 98 that someone got to run on the PSP...it's a sweet proof of concept, but totally useless.

"You certainly are not gonna do everything simultaneously you do now on your pc running it in a VM, but that was not the point here."

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=1072728&view=by_date_ascending&page=3

SuicideNinja @ Jan 19th 2007 1:38PM

Excuse me; I meant Windows 2000...not that it and XP are that different under the surface...they are both NT.

Boss Tempo @ Jan 19th 2007 1:48PM

OMG Finally! The PS3 finally does something worth talking about. Maybe soon it will play games, although its likely that the Zune will play more games than this heap by the end of 07.

jgreath @ Jan 19th 2007 1:52PM

@Evan:

Everything I've read states that Linux on the PS3 does not have access to the SPE's, but only the PPC processor (a PPE). That will likely prevent it from surpassing today's increasingly standard dual-core CPU's used in PC's.

The only benchmark I've seen rated the PS3 (running Linux) at about the same performance as a low end G5 processor.
http://www.geekpatrol.ca/2006/11/playstation-3-performance/

Adam @ Jan 19th 2007 1:52PM

#9

It's slow because although cell might be fast, it's not fast in any way that related to how linux has been programmed. Nor has the emulation software been written for cell.

Those applications were all written for the Power architecture, like macintosh. The cell happens to contain 1 power processor in it (the xbox has 3).

The reason it's so slow is because it's code not optimized for cell, emulating a completely different architecture.

Could the code be optimized to run efficiently on cell? Also probably not.

joe smith @ Jan 19th 2007 1:54PM

Mmm... that sure makes ME want to spend $600 on a game machine.

Mark Felps @ Jan 19th 2007 1:57PM

Until Sony decides to let the linux groups have a stab at both the NVidia graphics chip and the 7 SPEs, Linux is mostly a joke on the PS3. Without access to the graphics card's advanced capabilities, you'll never effectively run games tougher than an NES emulator, and until Sony allows access to the SPEs, the entire affair is going to run like a dog.

midnight_ai @ Jan 19th 2007 2:25PM

Where do people get it from that you cant get access to the SPE's through Linux? with the Yellowdog Linux youeven get the SDK which includes several examples of SPE programming. ( http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-linuxps3-1/ )

As for access to RSX, dont believe everything you hear (including from SOny Execs), you can quite easily access all RSX functions from Linux

h @ Jan 19th 2007 2:42PM

but the Cell is using PowerPC type code, so MUST have and emulator to run x86 code, which will use massive ammounts of system resources.

Emulators are also notoriously bad at running real time code such as video and audio applications, VirtualPC (runs x86 on PowerPC chips, owned by Microsoft) and Rosetta (runs PowerPC on x86 chips, owned by Apple) are both terrible or unsusable in realtime audio and video applications. So no games or video applications will work, or will perform very badly. There are some decent cheap or free emulator out there, but they are not the answer to the problem, they are a temporary solution at best.

Emulators work great for office and web apps however.

Windows = x86
OS X = PowerPC and x86 depending on build
PS3= PowerPC
Most Linux developement = x86

what the PS3 will do is inspire more Linux developers to compile and develop their software for PowerPC processors, since so far most development is for x86, especially the fun kind (as there are plenty of high end PowerPC servers made by IBM and Sun running varieties of Linux and Unix)

It is illegal to run OS X on non apple hardware, and very difficult since you need to bypass a firmware check.

So if you are looking at Linux software to run on your PS3, you need PowerPC (also called PPC) builds.

I think in the next few years we will be seeing some great Linux PowerPC software being developed because of the PS3, but until then Yellow Dog is as bare bones as it ever was for multimedia and fun. When things like MythTV works the PS3 will be a great Multimedia computer.

midnight_ai @ Jan 19th 2007 2:47PM

MythTV already works :) ... http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/turn-a-ps3-into-a-pvr/

Frank @ Jan 19th 2007 2:58PM

Wrong would be running Windows mobile in an iPhone.

J.Goodwin @ Jan 19th 2007 3:16PM

Doesn't Parallels require hardware based virtualization support and a proper x86 processor?

A lot of modern virtualization software does.

Evan @ Jan 19th 2007 3:40PM

@jgreath

Thanks for the link, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Draco @ Jan 19th 2007 4:24PM

I take it the PS3 playes windows2000 better then a Xbox360 does.

it probably runs good enough to get some Divx movies on there, running in HD, that wouldnt require much in the name of RAM, 256 is a terrible setback though, plenty for a game console, but not anywhere near enough for PC.