Linux
Geohot brings back other OS support with PS3 3.21OO custom firmware !
by admin on Apr.08, 2010, under Console Gameing, Linux
Well, Geohot promised a workaround for Sony’s removal of the “install other OS” feature in PS3 firmware 3.21 and now Geohot has delivered. While it’s not available to the public just yet, Geohot’s 3.21OO custom firmware will apparently be simple to install and, as you can see in the video after the break, it works just as you’d expect and simply restores the “other OS” option to its previous place. Geohot even says that the custom firmware might actually enable the other OS feature on the PS3 Slim, but he hasn’t yet had a chance to try it out.
[Thanks, Milo]
By Engadget !
25$ Linux Device !!!!
by admin on Feb.02, 2010, under Handheld Devices, Linux
Today our good friends over at Woot! are selling the Leapfrog Didj, a low cost educational toy aimed at little kids. Lucky for hackers out there, the Didj is actually a linux device, and gaining serial console access is as easy as soldering two wires. The documentation out there is a little outdated, with a number of broken links and stale wikis, but $25 for a portable linux device is a hard deal to beat. A list of sites which might be helpful are listed after the break, as well as the hardware specs of the Didj.
Let us know if you have played around with hacking the Didj before, and if you have any tips for other readers. Don’t forget to tell us what you do with the Didj as well!
Thanks to [Mark] for the tips and the hardware details.
(Possibly) Useful links:
- Embedded Linux Wiki Page
- GP32x Forums mention the device
- GP32x tries to hunt down the chip ID
- Good overview on hardware, etc
- The Didj is also available on Amazon for $49, but unlike Woot’s sale, will be around after tomorrow.
Hardware Specs:
* Processor: 393 MHz Arm 9
* Display: 320×240 resolution
* One 24-bit 2D layer (no hardware acceleration)
* One 16-bit 3D layer
* One YUV video layer (no hardware acceleration)
* Graphics: API OpenGL ES 1.1–A reduced instruction set version of OpenGL for embedded systems
* Main RAM: 32 MB DDRI 131 MHz
* NAND Flash: 256MB for data storage/download content
* Media Cartridge: 64MB
* System Software: Brio–Firmware is built on an abstraction layer called Brio to make OS and hardware transparent to developers. This means all software must be ported to Brio to run on this device.
* Screen LCD: 3.2 inches, 16.7-Million Color TFT
By H.A.D
Rumor: SONY To Bring Firefox to PS3 ??
by admin on Nov.19, 2009, under Console Gameing, Linux, Software, Tech News
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 Now that the new line of PS3s have lost the support for installing Linux, Sony must’ve felt the need to provide an upgrade for its built-in browser. Hot and fresh out of the rumor mill: Sony is in talks with Mozilla about adding Firefox support for the PS3.
Word comes from PlayStation Insider, which reports that they’ve received a tip from “a source very close to Sony.” The informant says that Sony had been in talks with Mozilla lately about providing Firefox for the PS3, but pointed out that it is uncertain if an agreement has been reached. If indeed the PS3 gains support for Firefox and all its plugins, then this will be great news for those who use their PS3s for web-browsing, especially those who bought the new Slim. For now, we wait until more info comes out. By QJ
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Color Correction For PS3 Eye !!!
by admin on Nov.10, 2009, under Console Gameing, Linux, Software, Tech News
[Max] was happy to see that the PlayStation 3 Eye has support in the newer Linux kernels. Having sat in his closet for quite some time, this would give the camera another chance at usefulness. Unfortunately, the driver doesn’t include framerate selection and color correction so he set about writing a patch to control the color settings. As you can see above, his success greatly improves the image quality you get from the device.
We get the feeling that the camera peripherals for Sony’s gaming devices seem like a good idea but don’t have much staying power as a realistic gaming interface. With contributions like [Max's], they can be re-purposed. The PS2 had its own, the EyeToy, which has long enjoyed driver support for Linux. The NUI Group does a lot of work with multi-touch and recommends the PS3 Eye for use with their projects because they’re inexpensive with high frame rates and decent picture quality.
Great work [Max]. It looks like he’s sent this patch upstream to be considered for incorporation into the kernel’s webcam module.
XBMC running on Beagle Board !
by admin on Nov.01, 2009, under High End Tech, Linux, Programming, Tech News
The XBMC team has posted a teaser showing the current state of the ARM port of this popular open source media software. We’ve embedded it after the break where you can see the package boot up and playback HD video. In it we see that the system is decoding the signal well, but image rendering needs some tweaking before this will be ready.
The hardware used is a Beagleboard which runs a 600 MHz ARM processor, has OpenGL 2D/3D acceleration, puts out HD via a DVI port, and is selling for about $150. The 3? by 3? board can be connected to a network using a USB WiFi dongle. Although integrating XBMC by hacking TV firmware is a long way off, we’d consider velcroing one of these to the back of our HDTV and getting rid of the hulking PC behind the entertainment center.
Can’t wait for this version to hit a stable release and don’t mind using hardware that is just a bit bigger? Check out this guide for setting up XBMC on the $200 Acer Aspire Revo.
Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
by admin on Oct.30, 2009, under Linux
Today is the official release of the latest version of Ubuntu, the most popular Linux-based operating system. Someone mentioned that there had been a new release of the Windows OS recently and if you’re thinking of going with that one, we feel you should a least give Ubuntu a try. Now in its 11th official release and codenamed Karmic Koala, this version of Ubuntu continues the traditional six month development cycle by succeeding Jaunty Jackalope which was released in April of this year.
We’ve been running the beta release of Ubuntu Netbook Remix for several weeks now. It cut boot time down to between 5-10 seconds and WiFi is already connected by the time the Desktop loads. Speed isn’t the only new feature, graphics have been redesigned, there is a new app store that serves as a front end for the extensive free software repositories, and the newest kernel and software versions are included.
We’ve been using this open source operating system since its third release, Breezy Badger. We love it for the quality, convenience, and the fact that we can get our fingers into the code and hack around a bit.
Chrome OS real images?
by admin on Oct.17, 2009, under Linux, Software, Tech News
We’ve seen many, many fakes about this OS from Google, and some of them were pretty well made, but looks like this will be for real.
You can see here how this images have been leaked, showing a simple UbuntuNR-like desktop with (of course) Chrome, a mostly Linux compilation, with different themes, logos, and open-source after all.
Well, what do you want me to say. If this OS when it’s out runs better than Fedora/Debian (not on the first release, of course) and most of you might say “and if it allows me to play Games as on Windows! lolz!”, I bet that it will be a pretty though competition against Microsoft. You know, almost all what Google touches comes into gold. Ask that to the stock market investors.
Gentoo 10.0
by admin on Oct.08, 2009, under Linux
After almost one year without any stable releases, the guys behind Gentoo Linux have released a new version, 10.0, as an special anniversary live DVD to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this distribution, with a huge list of new packages, using still a patched kernel 2.6.30.
Want to know more? Indeed it’s a huge DVD, but anyway it’s just a Live DVD, therefore don’t expect to install it with this.
For downloading this Live Anniversary DVD, click here, or you’d might like to take a look at the weekly builds for installing.
By Alek
Enabling root login on Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 5
by admin on Sep.12, 2009, under Linux
Just a quick note. I’ve been playing with VirtualBox for some stuff that i had left to manage and post here, and i decided to install Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 5 to check, by the way, the new kernel release. Strangely, and as it’s reported, “Login Window” preferences under System>Preferences has completely disappear. More on, after installing and tweaking a bit, i haven’t been able to even found the proper gdm.conf file to make all those changes by hand. Therefore, here’s a quick tip: For enabling root login on Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 5, you will just have to set your root password as you wish, # sudo passwd root , and just click on “Other” when prompted at login screen. Use “root”, and your new root password, and ta-da! Solved. However, this doesn’t solves some further Login Window customizations and other stuff that could be done if that preferences disappear. Hopefully, it will be added on the latest version. Even though, Alpha 5 works pretty fine!
By Alek / Sceners
Linux Kernel 2.6.31
by admin on Sep.11, 2009, under Linux
I’ve just seen that a new Linux Kernel was released a couple of days ago (2.6.31), and today it has been released the 2.6.31-git1 snapshot and the linux-next next-20090911 patches.
The interesting stuff about this new kernel update are as follows:
- Support for USB 3.0 devices, and xHCI hardware (drivers/usb/host/xhci*) – This feature is ok, but as there is no hardware like that on the market, it’s still an untested driver.
- CUSE is now allowed and implemented as an extension of FUSE (so you can create character files), and it’s implemented with OSS Proxy as an OSS emulation to differ from ALSA drivers. Pretty interesting.
- Memory optimization for desktop users, just the thing you wanted to work without any problem when you are short of RAM so there is no effect when there is memory or swap pressure.
- “ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Setting support”. This is one thing that i was looking for, in order to use with my laptop. However, it’s not implemented yet for HD* cards. (as on earlier kernels were for Intel cards)
- Kmemcheck and Kmemleak as two debugging features so you can check for uninitialized memory or kernel memory leaks.
And many other features and drivers updates. Time to update.
Seems like Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 5 has this kernel implemented; so i’ll try it on a VBox; so i can prepare other stuff i had pending for the blog…
By Alek Sceners
