What happened to PS3 version & support?

Author	Message
Rick A. Sponholz Send message Joined: 20 Jan 09 Posts: 52 Credit: 2,518,707,115 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 13535 - Posted: 13 Nov 2009, 14:22:26 UTC I was about to buy a used PS3 so I could complete additional PS3/GPUGrid workunits, and then I found all mention of PS3 was removed from the website. What happenned? Can we still use PS3 to crunch? ID: 13535 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 9 Jun 08 Posts: 1050 Credit: 37,321,185 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 13536 - Posted: 13 Nov 2009, 15:22:34 UTC - in response to Message 13535. I was about to buy a used PS3 so I could complete additional PS3/GPUGrid workunits, and then I found all mention of PS3 was removed from the website. What happenned? Can we still use PS3 to crunch? No. Sony made a change to the firmware that would prevent the use of an OS other than the native one. Since Linux was required to be installed and the machine booted into the "foreign" OS to run BOINC this change would prevent that from happening. Not being an owner of a PS3 I am not sure why this change was made ... though I would suspect that it is another misguided attempt to lock people into a particular mode of operation ... Anyway, end result, no more PS3 support by GPU Grid ... ID: 13536 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Rick A. Sponholz Send message Joined: 20 Jan 09 Posts: 52 Credit: 2,518,707,115 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 13569 - Posted: 15 Nov 2009, 23:55:52 UTC - in response to Message 13536. Thanks for the answer Paul. Sony just lost another customer because they were stupid. ID: 13569 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 9 Jun 08 Posts: 1050 Credit: 37,321,185 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 13591 - Posted: 17 Nov 2009, 20:28:20 UTC - in response to Message 13569. Thanks for the answer Paul. Sony just lost another customer because they were stupid. Well, it is like BOINC projects being stupid... :) Sadly, they will never notice because for the most part they will never look at the consequences of their decisions ... And sadly, one, or even several thousand unhappy customers matters little to them ... It is one of those flaws in the concept of capitalism ... that smart decisions are always made ... The good news is that GPU Grid is working on a CPU version and an ATI version so they are making an effort to "branch out" some to attract, or at least be available for more participants ... sadly the OpenCL API is even rockier than BOINC is ... ID: 13591 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

The_Bad_Penguin Send message Joined: 16 Dec 07 Posts: 23 Credit: 9,286,325 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 14197 - Posted: 14 Jan 2010, 22:27:38 UTC - in response to Message 13536. Very sorry to learn of PS3Grid's demise. It is only with the "new" Slim PS3's that Linux can't be installed. It still can be installed on the "older" Fatty's, even with most current firmware. I have 4 Fatty's, and just purchased a dozen more, for a grand total of 16. Installing YDL on all of them. Would have been nice if PS3Grid were still available, as the Fatty's are still available... Sony made a change to the firmware that would prevent the use of an OS other than the native one. Since Linux was required to be installed and the machine booted into the "foreign" OS to run BOINC this change would prevent that from happening... Anyway, end result, no more PS3 support by GPU Grid ... ID: 14197 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Rick A. Sponholz Send message Joined: 20 Jan 09 Posts: 52 Credit: 2,518,707,115 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 14295 - Posted: 23 Jan 2010, 17:29:01 UTC - in response to Message 14197. I wish I could get my hands on the PS3GRID software, and give the instalation onto a "fatty" a try. How can I tell a "fatty" from a "slim"? ID: 14295 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

Toni Volunteer moderator Project administrator Project developer Project tester Project scientist Send message Joined: 9 Dec 08 Posts: 1006 Credit: 5,068,599 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 14946 - Posted: 3 Feb 2010, 8:47:55 UTC - in response to Message 14295. The original PS3 is quite a bit larger and has the "playstation" silver lettering on it. The slim one has "PS3". There is a (deceivingly photoshopped) pic on wikipedia. ID: 14946 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote

bigtuna Volunteer moderator Send message Joined: 6 May 10 Posts: 80 Credit: 98,784,188 RAC: 0 Level Scientific publications	Message 16929 - Posted: 9 May 2010, 16:41:01 UTC - in response to Message 14946. Last modified: 9 May 2010, 16:41:47 UTC Couple of things... I've got a "slim" PS3. While the "slim" evidently can not be used for CPUGRID a "slim" can be used for Folding (which is similar as far as I know). Sony calls Folding "Life With Playstation", in case anyone is interested in Folding with a PS3 slim... I've heard that the 3.21 release of "fatty" firmware kills any option to use Linux. As I recall users were advised to not upgrade firmware if they want to retain the ability to use Linux... PS3 Firmware 3.21 will be available this Thursday. It will disable the “Install Other OS” feature that was available on the PS3 systems prior to the current slimmer models, launched in September 2009. This feature enabled users to install an operating system, but due to security concerns, we’re now removing this feature. http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/03/29/ps3-firmware-3-21-coming-april-1st/ http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/6851.html ID: 16929 · Rating: 0 · rate: / Reply Quote