PS3 partition dump on external machine

[gemini420]

Hi there,

Has anyone has pulled the HDD out of their PS3, and mounted it to another (external) Linux box? Since the external machine does not have the Hypervisor hardware, wouldn't the external machine be able to see the whole PS3 HDD? If so, this would seem like an appropriate way to look at the internal PS3 game OS.

I don't know if anyone *really* knows if the GPU and Wi-Fi are restricted from other-os by the Hypervisor, or only because the Linux drivers are not publicly available? If someone knows 100% for sure, please educate me.

Anyways, I am really anticipating the GPU being accessed from other-os. The PS3 OS is some form of PPC Unix/Linux variant ritght? So wouldn't the drivers be pretty similar to what was needed for Linux to run also?

This is my only complaint about the PS3 (and it is a big complaint.) Where is the hardware support now that I have Linux installed? I feel like I am being teased by getting a new toy, but no proverbial 'batteries' are included.

In addition, I noticed that there are FTP, POP3, and SMTP ports open when I boot into the PS3's game OS? Connections can be opened, but with no reply. I wonder if Sony is planning on marketing PS3 apps? Or maybe there are plans for a PS3 Mail & FTP ability?


Gemini420

[adam24367]

Its not very smart to do that. and if you are asking if Linux can use wifi the answer is no In order to have linux wi-fi you need to hook up a PS2 Wireless adapter to your ethernet port on your PS3

[gemini420]

I know that Linux can't use the GPU and Wi-Fi, I am interested in why they can not access either, and how to fix that ...

I wonder if mounting the PS3 harddrive in another machine would bypass the Hypervisor (for PS3 partition access at least)

If so, then that would be an easy to:

a) put files into the the PS3 partition for the XMB to access
b) view the files currently in the PS3 partition

Hopefully this would help learn more about how to move files to and from the PS3 partition without removing the HDD. As I mentioned in my previous post, it looks like the Game OS opens up an FTP port ...

It would be useful information to know what was in the PS3 partition, in what formats, file structure, etc. There could also potentially be drivers made for the PS3 game os for GPU, WiFi, and partition access, etc ... right?

Right now you have the Game OS , then the Other OS ... other than importing select files via removable media, there is no connection between the Game OS and the outside world. It would be nice to fix that too.

Gemini420

[adam24367]

sry you cant do that right now but who knows it may be possible someday
-= Double Post =-

Originally Posted by adam24367

sry you cant do that right now but who knows it may be possible someday

but hey Im new here so idk

[dwmyers]

Originally Posted by gemini420

I don't know if anyone *really* knows if the GPU and Wi-Fi are restricted from other-os by the Hypervisor, or only because the Linux drivers are not publicly available?
Gemini420

I can tell you with 100% certainty that NO wireless support of any kind has been compiled into the 12/8 Linux kernel provided by the Add on CD.

This is true even for wireless cards that you would plug in via the USB port.

David.

[go do that]

my router logs always show UDP port 3658 being opened from the ps3.
I haven't done tests to see if it's the game os or other though.

could that be the network update? or maybe the chinese hackers got me again =\

[gemini420]

Originally Posted by go do that

my router logs always show UDP port 3658 being opened from the ps3.
I haven't done tests to see if it's the game os or other though.

could that be the network update? or maybe the chinese hackers got me again =\

Disable UPnP option in your PS3 Game OS => Network Settings. This should prevent the Game OS from opening up incoming ports in your Router.

If you are playing online games this setting may need to be 'enabled' to allow incoming connections from the game network. If you are not gaming online, then you can 'disable' the option to keep Sony from poking their nose in your stuff.

Originally Posted by go do that

I can tell you with 100% certainty that NO wireless support of any kind has been compiled into the 12/8 Linux kernel provided by the Add on CD.

This is true even for wireless cards that you would plug in via the USB port. =\

Yes, I figured as much. But that is a non issue. Re-compiling the kernel is not a huge issue. I've done this before to migrate from 2.4 to 2.6. Or if we are lucky there could be a kernel module released to smiply plug-in Wi-Fi support to the existing kernel.

Keep up the good work investigating the Wi-Fi hardware support. I can't imagine why Sony would want this locked down? So I am betting Wi-Fi support is just a matter of time.


The biggest unresolved hardware issue in my mind is the lack of accelerated graphics in Linux. In additon, it sucks that there is no ability to move files to/from the PS3 partition via the network.

Gemini420

[dwmyers]

Originally Posted by gemini420

Keep up the good work investigating the Wi-Fi hardware support. I can't imagine why Sony would want this locked down? So I am betting Wi-Fi support is just a matter of time.

Turns out you can recompile the stock kernel with CONFIG_NET_RADIO=y and you get generic wifi support. No drivers though. I'm playing with the zd1211 vendor driver and it isn't compiling just yet.

David.