Update 2: 12-12-08
Ibex Intrepid 8.1 alternate install is working fine so far, including wi-fi, on a U.S. 40GB PS3. Kudos to Dan Munckfish for all his hard work, and the rest of the active dev's.
Remember, this is still using the Gnome desktop environment, still known to be much slower than X. I'm looking into making X work with this install, so the performance we have seen with stock ppc Gutsy may be reached again. Xbmc has written a nice performance tutorial for tweaking Intrepid Gnome on
PS3 here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=559Update: 12-12-08
Finally getting around to testing the the new Intrepid release, and hopefully it will obsolete this tutorial, at least as far as wifi is concerned. If wifi is still not working, I'll see if I can figure out what needs to be done and post in a new thread.
Update: 9-03-08
Working with an user who was having the freezing at boot error in both petit and kboot, we realized they had omitted a single apostraphe in this line in step 7):
test='/boot/vmlinux-2.6.24 initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24 root=UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx quiet splash' <----- Make certain there is an apostraphe here, and at the beginning after test='
*Also, very important, make sure to include the entire string to ONE SINGLE line in nano. Due to the forum page, the line is wrapped, however, it needs to be one line with no Return/Enter in the middle of the UUID entry.*
The user had thought these were not important, however, as soon as they added them back, the kernel booted fine. please, try this and let me know if it works. So far I have seen issues with the method regadring foreign PS3's. (I have a U.S. PS3)
As always, I am researching the issue and, through much collaboration, I am hopeful we will get to the root of the issue!
Thankyou everyone again, for your paitence and input, as every detail helps.
UPDATE:
Some are reporting issues with this method still. Though I have tested it on multiple PS3's, It's possible I left something I did out of the tutorial. If you are having issues, please post and include wether you did in fact do it from:
A. A fresh install
B. The Live CD
C. Also what version/model PS3 Are you using
D. Are you using HDTV out or RCA out
This may help me determine the cause of the issue! I look forward to your comments! Thankyou again!
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Instead of download packages from the repo, I have included .tar's of
all files needed here.
Kernel files, wifi-radar, ps3-video-mode:
http://rapidshare.com/files/141944479/ps3Wifi.tarPetitboot bootloader:
http://rapidshare.com/files/141944917/petitboot.tarIf you are experiencing issues, in the install, do NOT download
packages from the repo, and omit the process in step 2) of
running 'sudo apt-get update' (do not do it).
Instead, download all files from above, and run their respective
installers manually. Follow all other steps as normal.
Apparently this may be causing an issue, as I have always installed
these files manually.
You will STILL download the 'alien' package from the repository as
normal, however, remember not to 'sudo apt-get update'
If this is still an issue, I will re-submit the tutorial as including
the 'sudo apt-get update' step, again, with ONLY the alien
package being downloaded.
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(Original Post)
I am fairly certain I have solved the PS3 Wireless Adapter issues for Ubuntu (all builds), through what turned out to be an immensely
frustrating task of pieceing together a lot of sparse information from varied, dare I say incomplete posts, sources and speculation.
I am ready to make a complete, plain-english, noob-friendly tutorial on getting it working in about 20 minutes or less.
Details and tutorial to follow. Please be paitent.
Also, I urge the site admin to update the site a little more at least. I hope you will replace your wifi tutorial with this plain english one, so even google-parsed matches refer to it.
Knowing it will be easy for future seekers of PS3 Ubuntu to achieve these simplicities will make my task all the more enjoyable.
Back after some sleep... <3 to all linux community.
(End Original Post)
[edit]
Sorry, wrote this post on very little sleep and was frustrated at the time. I'm currently working on re-installing xubuntu entirely to get the whole procedure I am using down with all loose ends tied up.
[edit]
Update!
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UPDATE! Wifi Tutorial Alpha 0.3!
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Ok. Here we go. This is based on Marty_McFly 's post and the tutorial on the main site.
The goal of this tutorial is to provide a definitive way to establish wifi connectivity on PS3 Ubuntu,
in a very friendly and easy to understand way. The tutorial details install from LiveCD.
I am currently using XUbuntu (Xfce) Release 7.10 for powerpc / PS3
(current 'uname -a' = "Linux PS3 2.6.24 #1 SMP Thu Jan 31 16:25:19 JST 2008 ppc64 GNU/Linux")
In my experience with different builds and releases, XUbuntu is BY FAR the fastest Out-Of-The-Box.
If someone can try XUbuntu out with this method, and confirm, or suggest a faster release, PLEASE DO!
First things first, go here:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/ports ... pc+ps3.isoAnd download the liveCD install, and burn it to a disc.
This tutorial assumes that you are able to carry your ps3 to a router for temporary access to download updates and packages.
(I can hardly see where this may be an issue for people, how did you get the CD?)
This method is known to have best results on a fresh install, and I do not reccomend attempting it any other way,
however you may do as you wish.
Step 1)
Install Xubuntu on the PS3. There is a very good guide under instructions on the main page for doing this.
Basically, insert CD, install otheros.bld, and reboot into Other Os. If you were like me, and had a very low resolution once booted,
at request, I will provide a link to the 'ps3-tools' that can be installed in the live session, so you may run
'ps3-video-mode -v xx -f' to change your resolution to make install form LiveCD more enjoyable. Note that doing this will
only temporarily install ps3-video-mode.
Put it on a thumbdrive and save it. You may need it again.
Install without being connected to a network. I have seen issues with builds updating mid-install. Follow the prompts.
Eventually, you will be done installing, and you will need to reboot. Shutdown, and turn the PS3 back on, removing the disc.
Boot to Xubuntu.
Step 2)
Login, and behold, the glory of Xfce. Let the excitement settle, and back to business. If your resolution is low again,
either connect the PS3 to a router again, or hook up the thumbdrive and reinstall ps3-tools and reset your resolution.
For this step, you will need internet access anyway, however what you do is up to you.
Now for updating. All we are doing here is opening a terminal, found under Applications>Accessories>Terminal
In the terminal type: 'sudo apt-get update'
This will update the package listing. Now look for wifi-radar under all. Install it.
Now you will need the wonderful bootloader for ps3 called petitboot.
Download here:
http://ozlabs.org/~jk/projects/petitboot/This can be done in XUbuntu or from another machine, but the step is still the same.
Place otheros.bld on your thumbdrive (or CD), into a folder you create: X:\PS3\otheros\
Once done, do nothing else in XUbuntu, you are done for now. Shut down the PS3. Turn the PS3 back on again to PS3 OS by holding
power untill you hear 2 beeps.
Step 3)
Hook up your thumbdrive and return to the system menu for "install other operating system' and install the new otheros.bld.
Again, tell the ps3 to boot to Other Os and away you go.
You will now boot into a nifty graphical bootloader. Select the disk icon, and click the item labeled: "Linux"
to boot to XUbuntu.
(If you have issues using petitboot to boot your XUbuntu at this point, fear not, simply boot back to PS3 os, insert
you XUbuntu CD, and reinstall the kboot bootloader from the CD, and continue on for now. It should work, however.)
Step 4)
Download the files to patch your kernel.
http://cell.fixstars.com/ps3linux/downl ... img-2.6.24and
http://cell.fixstars.com/ps3linux/downl ... .ppc64.rpmDrop them on the desktop for now.
Step 5)
You will need the program 'rpm2pcio', contained in the package called RPM (redhat package manager). However, DO NOT install
or attempt to install RPM directly.
Instead, we are going to open Synaptic and look for a package called 'Alien'. Install Alien, and RPM will automatically be installed.
DO NOT use the command 'alien' in place of the next step.
Now, we're going to open a terminal again, and type: rpm2cpio
Do not press enter just yet. To make this easy and make sure it works, enter a space after rpm2cpio,
then drag the icon for 'kernel-2.6.24-20080131.ppc64.rpm' form your desktop and drop it into the terminal.
It will output the directory line and filename for you.
After you have 'rpm2cpio kernel-2.6.24-20080131.ppc64.rpm' in the terminal, enter a space and: | cpio -idmv
The whole line will appear like:
'rpm2cpio kernel-2.6.24-20080131.ppc64.rpm | cpio -idmv'
The " | " is made using 'shift + \' (usually the key right above middle return key)
Press enter and watch the magic happen.
A new folder will appear in you home folder, or you will see a folder called /lib/ and a folder called /boot/.
Step 6)
Now, in your terminal, we're going to copy some files. This must be done manually through the terminal.
Drag and drop will not work.
Type the command: sudo cp -v
And end with a space. Do not press enter yet.
Now we're going to drag and drop some files into the terminal again, to make certain
the folder paths are correct.
Drag 'initrd.img-2.6.24' from the desktop, and drop it into the terminal, enter a space.
From the /boot/ folder, drag and drop vmlinux-2.6.24, enter a space, and
also from the same folder, drag and drop config-2.6.24, and a space.
Now type: '/boot' after the three filenames, and press enter. Enter your password, if prompted.
The files will copy and tell you when completed.
Now, browse to the new folder again, and find /lib/. Inside is /modules/.
Again in the terminal, we're going to type something slightly different to manually copy the whle folder.
Type: sudo cp -Rv
And end with a space. Do not press enter yet.
Drag the folder called modules into the terminal, and enter a space.
Now type: /lib (the folder you are copying them to)
And press enter. Enter your password. The folder will be copied.
Step 7)
Now we're going to have to edit our /etc/kboot.conf.
Again, to do this, we're going to open a terminal.
In the terminal, type: sudo nano /etc/kboot.conf
It will open to a line editor, similar to notepad.
Where the text ends, start a new line, and enter this:
test='/boot/vmlinux-2.6.24 initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24 root=UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx quiet splash'
You need to replace the X's with the UUID for the drive you are using.
To do this, open another terminal, and type the following command: blkid
Press enter and you will get an output of about 2 lines. Locate the line that has 'LABEL="/"' in it.
and copy the entire alphanumerical sequence, including the dashes.
It will resemble: ca6m4d0e-ac2b-1234-a5f2-3945bd06b7e0
Now, close this terminal window, and in the other terminal, where the x's are, erase them, and paste your UUID
in its place.
You're done editing. Press Ctrl+o, and press enter. This will save the file. Now press Ctrl+x to exit.
Step 8)
Now, we're back at a terminal prompt. We need to type 2 more command strings. They will be exactly as follows:
sudo update-initramfs -k 2.6.24 -u
Press enter.
sudo depmod -a
Press enter.
Ignore the errors shown mentioning Firmware, they are irrelevant.
Step 9)
Reboot! (If you are still using the kboot otheros.bld at this point, reboot back to the PS3 OS and attempt to install petitboot once more. Reboot back to Other OS.)
Once you PS3 comes back up to the Petit boot menu, there will be a new entry,
that you made, called Test.
Select this entry, and away you go!
Step 10)
Guess what? You're done. Once you get back into XUbuntu, click Applications>System>Network.
You should now see an entry called Wireless Connection. Check the small box next to it.
Go ahead and set up your wifi.
Test it out, try browsing the web. If you need advanced wireless settings,
you can use 'wifi-radar' which we installed at the beginning, however, attempt to connect using this menu first.
And that's it! You now have an awesome PS3 running Ubuntu! Enjoy Linux and enjoy Wifi.
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Questions? Comments? Post away!
More tutorials to follow, such as flash video in Firefox, utilizing Gnash.
Also, I am in the process of compiling a VRAM enabled kernel,
with wifi support.
I know everyone appreciates this, and I will continue to improve / clarify
the tutorial!
