Linux for PlayStation 2 (or PS2 Linux) is a kit released by
Sony Computer Entertainmentis a video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a full subsidiary of Sony. The company was established on November 16, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan prior to the launch of the original PlayStation video game system...
in 2002 that allows the
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The PS2 console is the sequel to the original PlayStation console. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game...
console to be used as a
personal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
. It included a
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
-based
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
, a USB keyboard and mouse, a VGA adapter, a PS2 network adaptor (
EthernetEthernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks . The name comes from the physical concept of the ether...
only), and a 40 GB
hard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile storage device that stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, "drive" refers to the motorized mechanical aspect that is distinct from its medium, such as a tape drive and its tape, or a floppy disk...
drive (HDD). An 8 MB
memory cardA memory card or flash memory card is solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device capable of storing digital contents. These are mainly used with digital cameras, handheld and Mobile computers, mobile phones, music players, digital cinematography cameras, video game consoles, and other...
is required; it must be
formattedDisk formatting the process of preparing a hard disk or other storage medium for use, including setting up an empty file system. A variety of utilities and programs exist for this task; pictured to the right is the iconic FORMAT.COM of MS-DOS and PC-DOS.Large disks can be partitioned, that...
during installation, erasing all data previously saved on it, though afterwards the remaining space may be used for savegames.
Linux for PlayStation 2 (or PS2 Linux) is a kit released by
Sony Computer Entertainmentis a video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a full subsidiary of Sony. The company was established on November 16, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan prior to the launch of the original PlayStation video game system...
in 2002 that allows the
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The PS2 console is the sequel to the original PlayStation console. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game...
console to be used as a
personal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
. It included a
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
-based
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
, a USB keyboard and mouse, a VGA adapter, a PS2 network adaptor (
EthernetEthernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks . The name comes from the physical concept of the ether...
only), and a 40 GB
hard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile storage device that stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, "drive" refers to the motorized mechanical aspect that is distinct from its medium, such as a tape drive and its tape, or a floppy disk...
drive (HDD). An 8 MB
memory cardA memory card or flash memory card is solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device capable of storing digital contents. These are mainly used with digital cameras, handheld and Mobile computers, mobile phones, music players, digital cinematography cameras, video game consoles, and other...
is required; it must be
formattedDisk formatting the process of preparing a hard disk or other storage medium for use, including setting up an empty file system. A variety of utilities and programs exist for this task; pictured to the right is the iconic FORMAT.COM of MS-DOS and PC-DOS.Large disks can be partitioned, that...
during installation, erasing all data previously saved on it, though afterwards the remaining space may be used for savegames. It is strongly recommended that a user of Linux for PlayStation 2 have some basic knowledge of Linux before installing and using it, due to the command-line interface for installation.
The official site for the project will be closed by the end of
OctoberOctober is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name after July and August, after Julius and Augustus Caesar respectively; when the calendar was originally...
2009 but communities like ps2dev still remain active.
Capabilities
The Linux Kit turns the PlayStation 2 into a full-fledged computer system, but it does not allow for use of the DVD-ROM drive except to read PS1 and PS2 discs due to piracy concerns by Sony. Although the HDD included with the Linux Kit is not compatible with PlayStation 2 games, reformatting the HDD with the utility disc provided with the retail HDD enables use with PlayStation 2 games but erases PS2 Linux, though there is a driver that allows PS2 Linux to operate once copied onto the APA partition created by the utility disc. The Network Adaptor included with the kit only supports Ethernet; a driver download is available to enable modem support if the retail Network Adaptor (which includes a built-in V.90 modem) is used. The kit supports display on RGB monitors (with sync-on-green) using a VGA cable provided with the Linux Kit, or television sets with the normal cable included with the PlayStation 2 unit.
The PS2 Linux distribution is based on Kondara MNU/Linux, a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese distribution itself based on
Red Hat LinuxRed Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
. PS2 Linux is similar to Red Hat Linux 6, and has most of the features one might expect in a Red Hat Linux 6 system. The stock kernel is Linux 2.2.1, but it can be upgraded to a newer version such as 2.2.21, 2.2.26 or 2.4.17.
Open-source applications
The Linux kit's primary purpose is amateur
software developmentSoftware development is the set of activities that results in software products. Software development may include research, new development, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products...
, but it can be used as one would use any other computer, although the small amount of memory in the PS2 (32MB) limits its applications. Noted
open sourceOpen source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations...
software that compiles on the kit includes Mozilla Suite, XChat, and
PidginPidgin is a multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple. Libpurple has support for many commonly used instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to log into various different services from one application.The number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over 3...
. Lightweight applications better suited to the PS2's 32MB of
RAM-Ram, ram, or RAM as a non-acronymic word:As a non-acronymic word Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:-Animals:*Bighorn Sheep, A North American mountain sheep species*Sheep, an uncastrated male of which is called a ram...
include
xvxv is a shareware program written by John Bradley to display and modify digital images under the X Window System.While popular in the early 1990s , no official releases have been made since December 1994...
,
DilloDillo is a minimalistic web browser particularly intended for older or slower computers and embedded systems. It supports only plain HTML/XHTML and images over HTTP; scripting is ignored entirely. Dillo is available for Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X. Due to its small size, it is the browser of...
,
TedTed is a word processor for the X Window System environment, which runs on Linux and other Unix-like systems. Developed primarily by Mark de Does, Ted is a lightweight yet full-featured word processor....
, and
AbiWordAbiWord is a free and open source software word processor. It was originally started by SourceGear Corporation as the first part of a proposed AbiSuite. Development stopped when SourceGear changed their focus to Internet Appliances. AbiWord was adopted by some Open source developers and AbiWord...
. The default window manager is
Window MakerWindow Maker is a window manager for the X Window System, allowing graphical applications to be run on Unix-like operating-systems. It is designed to emulate NeXT's GUI as an OpenStep-compatible environment and has been described as "one of the most useful and universal window managers available."...
, but it is possible to install and use
FluxboxFluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons...
and
FVWMThe F Virtual Window Manager is a virtual window manager for the X Window system. Originally a twm derivative, FVWM has evolved into a powerful and highly configurable environment for UNIX systems.- History:...
. The
USBUSB is a way of setting up communication between a computer and peripheral devices. USB is intended to replace many varieties of serial and parallel ports. USB can connect computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal...
ports of the console can be connected to external devices, such as
printerIn computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a hard copy of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most newer printers, a USB...
s,
camerathumb |right|Cameras from Large to Small, Film to Digital A camera is a device that records images, either as a still photograph or as moving images known as videos or movies...
s, flash drives, and
CDA Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982...
drives.
With PS2 Linux, a user can program his/her own games that will work under PS2 Linux, but not on an unmodified PlayStation 2. Free open source code for games are available for download from PS2 Linux support sites. There is little difference between PS2 Linux and the Linux software used on the more expensive system ("Tool") used by professional licenced PlayStation game programmers. Some amateur-created games are submitted to a competition such as the Independent Games Festival's annual competition. It is possible for an amateur to sell games or software that he/she develops using PS2 Linux, with certain restrictions detailed in the End User License Agreement. The amateur cannot make and sell game CDs and DVDs, but can sell the game through an online download.
Distribution
As of 2003, this kit is no longer officially sold in the USA due to the entire allocation of NTSC kits being sold out, but it is available through
importAn import is any good or service brought in from one country to another country in a legitimate fashion, typically for use in trade. It is a good that is brought in from another country for sale. Import goods or services are provided to domestic consumers by foreign producers...
or through an auction site, such as
eBayeBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. A majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include...
. Some incorrectly speculate it was used as an attempt to help classify the PS2 as a computer to achieve tax exempt status from certain
EUThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
taxes that apply to game consoles and not computers (It was the
YabasicYabasic is a free and open source BASIC interpreter for Windows and Unix platforms. Yabasic was originally developed by Marc-Oliver Ihm, who released the last stable version 2.763. Currently, version 3 is developed by a team centered around Pedro Sá and Thomas Larsen...
included with EU units that was intended to do that). Despite this, Sony lost the case in June 2006. The kit was released in the spirit of the earlier,
Net YarozeThe is a development kit for the PlayStation video game console. It was a promotion by Sony Computer Entertainment to computer programming hobbyists in 1997. Yarōze means "Let's do it!"....
PlayStation and Sony continued their support of hobbyist programmers with the support of Linux on the PlayStation 3.
Model compatibility
The original version of the PS2 Linux kit only worked on the Japanese SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000 and SCPH-18000 Playstation 2 models. It came with a PCMCIA interface card which had a 10/100 Ethernet port and an external IDE hard drive enclosure (as there is no room inside the unit). This kit cannot be used with any later model PS2 (which includes all non-Japanese models) because these models removed the PCMCIA port.
Later versions of the PS2 Linux kit use an interface very similar to the HDD interface/ethernet sold later for network play (the later released Network adaptor was also usable with the kit, including the built-in 56k modem.) This kit locates the hard drive internal to the PS2, in the MultiBay. With this kit, only the SCPH-30000 model of PlayStation 2 is officially supported. The kit does though work equally well with models newer than SCPH-30000 with the exception that the ethernet connection tended to freeze after a short period of use. Thus the newer SCPH-50000 PlayStation 2 model will only work correctly with PS2 Linux with an updated network adapter driver, which must be transferred to the PlayStation 2 HDD by using either an older model PlayStation 2 to transfer the driver or a Linux PC with an IDE port. Both methods involve swapping HDDs, and the latter method requires opening the PC's case. This is due to the inability to use USB Mass Storage devices with the relatively old kernel (version 2.2.1) shipped with the kit.
The slim SCPH-70000 PlayStation 2 model does not work with PS2 Linux at all, due to the lack of a hard drive interface, though a very few early models in this revision had solder pads of an IDE interface on the motherboard that could be used (but required modding of the console, thereby voiding its warranty.) Even so, it is possible to network boot from a PXE server
PS2 Linux install DVDs are region encoded, as are all other PS2 game discs. A European/PAL disc will be rejected by an NTSC PlayStation 2 game system, however this is only at boot time: if you have a legal mod that allows you to load a PAL disk, then the PS2 Linux boot loader supports both PAL and Linux (read the documentation to determine the button presses), so once you are past the "DVD not supported", you can boot Linux and then later start X Window in NTSC mode.
External links