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Message 445 - Posted: 12 Nov 2007 | 21:03:36 UTC
Last modified: 13 Nov 2007 | 16:17:53 UTC

After a lot of work we have been able to produce a USB pen which will allow people to boot Linux within minutes on the Playstation 3. We invite people to test it and report any problems in this forum.

It is not as good as a full install, but it does the job for BOINC crunching, browsing the net and so on.

If you have Linux already installed, like most of PS3GRID users, keep in mind that you may need to reinstall your current otheros.bld in order to boot it after testing the pen drive. [Make a backup in case you have important files on your Linux system].

Enjoy.
PS3GRID Live

PS3GRID team

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Message 450 - Posted: 13 Nov 2007 | 11:01:09 UTC

Very interesting!!

When i will find some time, i will try this.

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Message 451 - Posted: 13 Nov 2007 | 13:21:49 UTC

This is most exciting. It would simplify setup for PS3 owners whom many may not be advanced enough, or brave enough, to try to install linux. It is one thing to buy a computer or PS3 already setup with an o/s, but it is beyond them to attempt a setup from scratch.

I just happen to have a couple of spare 2GB USB sticks laying around. I will give this a try soon too. I posted on our team board this news.

Actually I though of getting another PS3 but didn\'t want to go through the long setup process, not that I can\'t do it, I\'m just lazy (sometimes).

Some questions come to mind. I\'m not worried about wiping out linux on my PS3, the only thing I use it for is BOINC. I can save that to a flash card or usb stick.

After setting this up, or even before, is it possible to remove the current install of linux from the hard disk for those of us already installed, so the PS3 can regain that space for game system use ?
Instructions for this would be useful if someone figures out the procedure.

I see a potential conflict with the new 40GB PS3 which only has 2 USB ports, If you need a USB keyboard and USB mouse and the USB stick the user is either going to need a combined keyboard mouse with only 1 USB plug or else a USB hub. I have a wireless USB keyboard and mouse, but the receiver has 2 plugs for the computer side. Possibly you should include this information on the web page.

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Message 452 - Posted: 13 Nov 2007 | 16:19:10 UTC - in response to Message 451.
Last modified: 14 Nov 2007 | 18:11:38 UTC


After setting this up, or even before, is it possible to remove the current install of linux from the hard disk for those of us already installed, so the PS3 can regain that space for game system use ?

It should be possible from the Game OS.

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Message 455 - Posted: 15 Nov 2007 | 13:04:30 UTC - in response to Message 452.
Last modified: 15 Nov 2007 | 13:05:04 UTC

We have uploaded a new version of PS3GRID Live which is only 215MB to download and requires a USB pen drive of just 512 MB.

PS3GRID Team

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Message 457 - Posted: 16 Nov 2007 | 10:55:47 UTC - in response to Message 455.

We have uploaded a new version of PS3GRID Live which is only 215MB to download and requires a USB pen drive of just 512 MB.

PS3GRID Team


Linux newbie here, so a perfect test subject I suppose.

I only get a kboot: prompt

Here\'s the last few lines from the boot screen

udhcpc (v1.3.2)
sending discover...
sending discover...
sending discover...
don\'t understand action \"leasefail\"
No lease, failing
kboot:

PS3 is connected to the net via wifi using DCHP

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Message 459 - Posted: 16 Nov 2007 | 12:48:36 UTC - in response to Message 457.

Hi,

Linux newbie here, so a perfect test subject I suppose.

I only get a kboot: prompt


If you press tab at the kboot prompt, you should be able to cycle through the various boot options (´live´, ´sxga´, ´yuv1080i´, etc). If, instead, the kboot: prompt is repeated, this means that kboot has been unable to find the filesystem on the USB disk and so can´t continue to boot.

This can happen, depending on how your USB disk has been prepared. Briefly, the USB disk must have been formatted as either a superfloppy or as a hard disk, with a single bootable partition. Usually, new USB sticks come prepared with the latter.

It would be most helpful if you could tell us a) whether your USB stick is new and, if so, its type, b) how the disk is formatted, if you know (for this, you can use the Window Disk Manager tool) and c) what sort of system you used to copy the files.

Thanks!

Matt

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Message 467 - Posted: 17 Nov 2007 | 9:59:29 UTC - in response to Message 459.

Hi,

Linux newbie here, so a perfect test subject I suppose.

I only get a kboot: prompt


If you press tab at the kboot prompt, you should be able to cycle through the various boot options (´live´, ´sxga´, ´yuv1080i´, etc). If, instead, the kboot: prompt is repeated, this means that kboot has been unable to find the filesystem on the USB disk and so can´t continue to boot.

This can happen, depending on how your USB disk has been prepared. Briefly, the USB disk must have been formatted as either a superfloppy or as a hard disk, with a single bootable partition. Usually, new USB sticks come prepared with the latter.

It would be most helpful if you could tell us a) whether your USB stick is new and, if so, its type, b) how the disk is formatted, if you know (for this, you can use the Window Disk Manager tool) and c) what sort of system you used to copy the files.

Thanks!

Matt


Made some progress. Used an HP utility to create a bootable USB stick (it\'s a 1GB stick made by Run disk). This now boots Linux (although XP reports it as being FAT not FAT32...), but I get an error when booting about over current draw for the USB keyboard... So no keyboard when I get into Linux - I\'ll buy another tomorrow to see if it solves the problem. I also have no internet connection I presume this can be setup from within Linux.

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Message 468 - Posted: 17 Nov 2007 | 10:38:19 UTC - in response to Message 467.


Made some progress. Used an HP utility to create a bootable USB stick


That\'s great! Are you able to post a link to it?



I also have no internet connection I presume this can be setup from within Linux.


The PS3GRID Linux expects to be able to aquire an IP address via DHCP. Although it will still boot without an address, you will not be able to participate in PS3GRID until the network has been manually configured.

Note that the wireless ethernet isn\'t supported.

Matt

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Message 469 - Posted: 17 Nov 2007 | 18:58:53 UTC - in response to Message 468.


Made some progress. Used an HP utility to create a bootable USB stick


That\'s great! Are you able to post a link to it?



I also have no internet connection I presume this can be setup from within Linux.


The PS3GRID Linux expects to be able to aquire an IP address via DHCP. Although it will still boot without an address, you will not be able to participate in PS3GRID until the network has been manually configured.

Note that the wireless ethernet isn\'t supported.

Matt


You can get the utility here http://h18002.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/23839.html

Hmm the no wireless support is going to be a bit of a show stopper for me. No possibility of it being added at some point?

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Message 473 - Posted: 18 Nov 2007 | 13:32:28 UTC

Here are some notes on what I did.

This was not at all that complicated. It went smoothly with no boo-boo\'s.
Hopefully this will ease any fears from anyone who has not done this yet.

All is running along smoothly again except I\'m now running from the USB drive. I will refer to this as a USB drive to avoid confusion, here in the USA we have several names for them like Thumb Drive because it is about the size of some-ones thumb. Some call them \'sticks\' and there are some other strange names.

Here\'s what I did.
Setup USB drive as in instructions steps 1 (formatted as fat32< this worked ok on a WindowsXP) and 2 (install the downloaded files from PS3GRID, again I did this from my WindowsXP system).
on the PS3 set all projects to no new work, wait for all work to finish and report. Be sure tasks/work tab is empty.
Shut down boinc core client and boinc manager. (in Advanced view Advanced / Shut down connected core client then File / Exit )
Plug in the USB drive
Copy current BOINC folder from hard drive to USB drive. I renamed folder to something like \'saved_boinc\' on the USB drive so when you first boot with the USB drive it can setup however it wants and will not overwite any saved data. I did this because I had the feeling the old install would not be available as a drive to the new install, and it was not, at least I could not find it under listed \'computer\'.
Reboot to PS3 system (from kboot: boot-game-os) and install other-os on USB drive as in step 3.
Reboot with other-os selected.
When BOINC comes up, select advanced view, then shut down connected core client and then file/exit boinc_manager.
Next copy files from saved folder into the new install folder.
-I copied the entire projects folder, overwriting new files.
-I did not copy slots as I had no work running, but if you had shutdown your old boinc with any work running or pending, you should also copy the old slots over the new slots.
-I did not copy locale
-I copied most files in the main directory from the saved to the new, except install.sh, anything boinc### or run_#####.
run the install.sh script to restart boinc core client and boinc manager.
You now are all setup with your accounts and projects just as before. :-)
Re-enable work and off it goes.

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Message 498 - Posted: 26 Nov 2007 | 7:19:37 UTC - in response to Message 473.

Ok, I\'ve now setup a wireless bridge, which works fine with the ps3. But I don\'t use DHCP and am struggling to setup linux with a static ip address.

Someone throw me a bone please! :)

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Message 504 - Posted: 28 Nov 2007 | 0:22:09 UTC - in response to Message 498.

Success, turned on DHCP in my router with a starting address outside of the rest of my PC\'s to avoid a clash. PS3 is now crunching data.

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Message 505 - Posted: 28 Nov 2007 | 7:45:38 UTC - in response to Message 504.

Success, turned on DHCP in my router with a starting address outside of the rest of my PC\'s to avoid a clash. PS3 is now crunching data.


Are you using a wireless now or wired connection?
g

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Message 508 - Posted: 28 Nov 2007 | 20:56:12 UTC - in response to Message 505.


Are you using a wireless now or wired connection?
g


Wired I\'m afraid with a wireless bridge back into the network. Easy and cheap enough.

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