Blackrhino USB install with Kernelloader

Just about prepared to waste the $50 on a refurbished xbox. I am this f**king p**sed. Instead of wasting my time attempting to install damned Linux on a ps2, I can softmod the xbox to do this automatically. Plus it has a newer kernel (2.6 I believe) no configuring of anything. I want it so damn bad right now. But my ps2 is still staying for the games. Nothing more to say, other than ps2 homebrew and Linux sucks. Good fight Sony, the Ps2 is gonna be dead once the games stop coming out.

Anyways if anyone wants to help me out, your help is appreciated.

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Originally Posted by deba5er

As far as better automated installation goes, I am working on the USB version at the moment, and as until recently a hdd-only PS2-Linux user, I'm still finding problems to fix before the automated install will work. I have to modify my distro to work for USB. I did get the single partition FAT USB flash drive to auto-resize (reduce) the FAT partition, create the swap and Linux partitions based on user-selected sizes, then load my distro.

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Nice! Very nice indeed!

But from your first comments I assume that something still bogs down after the basic distro load, requiring even more fixup work before it is ready to meet real-world users. Right ?

Even so, it sounds like you're progressing well with this.
I knew from the start that this would require both time and effort.

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I used Mega Man's 2.4 kernel throughout, with a modified version of his initrd.usb.gz for usb_install and usb_run. I coincidentally am still fixing the shutdown scripts to properly unmount the filesystem so that it won't corrupt. Kind of a show-stopper, but I know I can fix it.

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Good. That obviously needs to be reliable before posting it for use by the general public. But I think you can do it too, and the time it is taking (so far) is no more than I had expected. There was a lot that needed doing, and doing it right is far more important than doing it quickly.

Best regards: dlanor

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Originally Posted by dlanor

Nice! Very nice indeed!

But from your first comments I assume that something still bogs down after the basic distro load, requiring even more fixup work before it is ready to meet real-world users. Right ?

Best regards: dlanor

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I got the shutdown to work nicely, it gets to power off and does not corrupt the filesystems. It took a minor bit of scripting to kill all processes EXCEPT the two usb processes. I have three files I think it would be easier for the user to edit than to write scripts to question the user and build, but I can go either way. I was going to place on the FAT partition - resolv.conf (dns config), interfaces (ip address, netmask, gateway; or dhcp), and "win3" which is TV_MARGINS (_X/_Y) and PAL or NTSC. Users could edit on the FAT partition from notepad in Windows. Is this acceptable?

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Originally Posted by deba5er

I got the shutdown to work nicely, it gets to power off and does not corrupt the filesystems. It took a minor bit of scripting to kill all processes EXCEPT the two usb processes. I have three files I think it would be easier for the user to edit than to write scripts to question the user and build, but I can go either way. I was going to place on the FAT partition - resolv.conf (dns config), interfaces (ip address, netmask, gateway; or dhcp), and "win3" which is TV_MARGINS (_X/_Y) and PAL or NTSC. Users could edit on the FAT partition from notepad in Windows. Is this acceptable?

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Yes, that sounds like a fine plan to me.
Any user incapable of handling that would probably not be capable of using Linux anyway... ;)

And for the real newbs it should still be possible to have some alternate pre-configured sets available for the most common config types. Then they just have to edit the few values they may need to change. Having a just a pair of such sets, one for PAL and one for NTSC, would probably satisfy the majority of users.

Best regards: dlanor

@deba5er

Thanks for all the effort you are putting into this process. Apologies for the smilies but you deserve them:
:applaud: and :highfive:

Getting a usable Linux kernel running on the PS2 without the need for the PS2 Linux kit and a dedicated hard drive is a major achievement.

The people who read this thread and wonder why Linux on the PS2 is 'important' need to understand that a Linux 'computer' is NOT the same as a Mac OSX or Windows machine. Linux cannot match the usable functionality for the day-to-day tasks that most 'consumers' use their desktop/laptop computers for (if you think you will use your PS2 to write your next assignment in OpenOffice.Org think again!).

Linux is slowly improving on the desktop (Ubuntu etc.) but, there are many different types of computers out there and the power of Linux is its ability to scale to almost any of them, from a $20 router to a $20M 5,000 node supercomputer cluster.

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Originally Posted by dlanor

Yes, that sounds like a fine plan to me.
Any user incapable of handling that would probably not be capable of using Linux anyway... ;)

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Quite. We will NEVER see the day when Windows XP is running on the PS2! :chinscrat

That's why I really cannot understand why dlanor is so keen to get Linux on his PS2 yet so reluctant to invest some time to boot his computer from a Linux live CD/USB drive (please try xubuntu or 'Puppy Linux').

Learning a little bit about the Linux 'command line' and editing Linux configuration text files is not so bad, hey, even FCMB/uLE uses a similar system! :D

If you ever get a version of Linux working on your PS2 you are going to have to get used to dealing with the 'weird' world of Linux commands and .conf files if you want to 'use' the system, so why not get familiar with them, on your main computer first!

Personally I use Vista SP2 as my 'desktop' OS (the improvements to file copy/replace make it worth the upgrade over XP IMHO) with Ubuntu as a testbed for Linux apps, and the html, xhtml, mysql, php and perl scripts for my webste.

Also I have a router and a NAS (WD mybookworld) that run Linux, what is amazing is that these low powered, 'always-on', embedded devices can run the latest versions of Linux software, the same as I use on my desktop.

If you are prepared to spend a few hours to learn the Linux basics you can use these simple computing devices to: download podcasts, leech torrents, make backups, serve media (to PS2, Wii, PS3, Xbox, itunes, sling, etc...), make VoIP calls, control your home's power, etc.

This is what I hope can ultimately be achieved for the PS2, a repository of useful Linux applications, compiled for the PS2 architecture, with a usable package manager.

Look at the success of Linux on the Linksys NSLU2, that is a device that has a huge Linux following, yet it has just 32MB RAM, 2xUSB, 1xLAN and a 133MHz ARM processor.

The PS2 has all of this PLUS an integrated video device, DVD player, IR, Firewire, SPDIF, wired controllers and sound hardware, the possibilities are endless!

Linux is not easy to pick up at first but keep trying and it can be worthwhile. Here's hoping that homebrew PS2 Linux can make people want to try!

:cheers:

Well i got the distro from gagaeloel to work fine. However, this is with the stock kernel (2.2.1). If I try to run it with 2.4 it throws a bunch of errors when I startx, about he mouse and so on. Can anyone help?

@peterdcrees:
I've skipped some stuff on which I think you and I already agree, so in this post I mainly deal with some issues on which I think you misunderstood my reasons for taking the stand I did. (Primarily one where I asked for general simplification of the install process.)

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Originally Posted by peterdcrees

That's why I really cannot understand why dlanor is so keen to get Linux on his PS2

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In fact I'm not all that 'keen' on it for my own use. I've already had PS2 Linux on IDE HDD in one of my PS2 consoles, so if that was all I was after you'd never have seen me post on the subject.

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yet so reluctant to invest some time to boot his computer from a Linux live CD/USB drive (please try xubuntu or 'Puppy Linux').

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Of course I can do that, but I don't consider it an appropriate requirement for being able to install PS2 Linux on USB, that every single user should have to perform such adaption work by running Linux on his own PC. This is not just for myself, but for all potential users. It must be far better to eliminate as much as possible of that work, by preparing a better installation package where most of it is already done, like the one deba5er is currently working on.

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Learning a little bit about the Linux 'command line' and editing Linux configuration text files is not so bad, hey, even FCMB/uLE uses a similar system! :D

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I'm not at all unfamiliar with various 'command line' systems myself, having worked with computers for quite a long time, using various OS. Avoiding such command-line complexity completely was never the point of my arguments here, but merely to reduce the complexity of such use required for each end-user installation.

Currently such installation requires an unreasonable amount of PC-based work in a Linux environment in order to produce a working USB setup, and that needs to change. Not because I can't do the work, nor any specific other user, but because it is unreasonable that every user should have to repeat that same work.

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If you ever get a version of Linux working on your PS2 you are going to have to get used to dealing with the 'weird' world of Linux commands and .conf files if you want to 'use' the system, so why not get familiar with them, on your main computer first!

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Doing that properly is not going to work well with just a "Live-CD" environment, but will require a more proper Linux installation. And that is not available to a large number of people who still would like to use Linux on the PS2.

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Personally I use Vista SP2 as my 'desktop' OS (the improvements to file copy/replace make it worth the upgrade over XP IMHO)

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I don't share that opinion of Vista, which I plan to 'skip by' completely.

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with Ubuntu as a testbed for Linux apps, and the html, xhtml, mysql, php and perl scripts for my webste.

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So you're saying that all of this works fine using only a "Live-CD" system, without dedicated discs or anything like that ???

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Also I have a router and a NAS (WD mybookworld) that run Linux, what is amazing is that these low powered, 'always-on', embedded devices can run the latest versions of Linux software, the same as I use on my desktop.

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Actually that is very much dependent on such software having been compiled for the hardware in question, which is not always the case for all software (obviously). But for cases where it has been done properly I agree that it does allow linux applications to be used in many ways, on many hardware platforms, where similar Windows usage would be completely impossible.

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If you are prepared to spend a few hours to learn the Linux basics you can use these simple computing devices to: download podcasts, leech torrents, make backups, serve media (to PS2, Wii, PS3, Xbox, itunes, sling, etc...), make VoIP calls, control your home's power, etc.

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I am well aware of these facts, but they have no bearing on my earlier arguments in this thread.

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This is what I hope can ultimately be achieved for the PS2, a repository of useful Linux applications, compiled for the PS2 architecture, with a usable package manager.

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I agree, but for maximum spread among PS2 users it also needs easier installation and management than any of the current methods, which have always required either the original PS2 Linux kit from Sony, or extensive work on a Linux-based PC.

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Look at the success of Linux on the Linksys NSLU2, that is a device that has a huge Linux following, yet it has just 32MB RAM, 2xUSB, 1xLAN and a 133MHz ARM processor.

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Which incidentally comes very close to some of the limiting factors of a PS2... :)

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The PS2 has all of this PLUS an integrated video device, DVD player, IR, Firewire, SPDIF, wired controllers and sound hardware, the possibilities are endless!

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Yes. On this we are in full agreement.

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Linux is not easy to pick up at first but keep trying and it can be worthwhile. Here's hoping that homebrew PS2 Linux can make people want to try!

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Here too I agree fully. But I am also sure that a simplified installation method for PS2 Linux on USB drives will prompt many more users to try it, than the older methods ever can. Right now the complexity of the initial installation forms a treshold that few users ever will cross. But if that treshold is lowered, by simplified USB installation, then a lot more users will join the PS2 Linux crowd.

Best regards: dlanor

Btw.: KernelLoader 2.0 is avaiable now. :)

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The new features are:
- Easier setup, just choose "Restore defaults" in "File Menu" to get the best configuration.
- Support for network on slim PSTwo.
- One Linux kernel can be used for slim PSTwo and fat PS2. This is the first Linux released which supports the network on the slim PSTwo.
- To switch between slim and fat, you need to select "Restore defaults" or don't load a configuration from the memory card (e.g. by not inserting a memory card at startup).
- Less USB problems.
- Fixed PAL/NTSC detection on slim PSTwo.

Note: Not all network status information is available on slim PSTwo.

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http://sourceforge.net/projects/kernelloader/files


I believe this will help pushing this project even more.

@tna - thanks for the heads up, just saw this at ps2dev forums. Everyone can thank Mega Man for just opening up PS2-Linux to all PS2 models newer than v12. I've got an alpha working for the usb installer but it is not a quick and easy install yet due to the necessary customization for network, PAL/NTSC. This is mere scripting however, at about 45 minutes per install, testing has been somewhat of a drag (albeit successful installs of late). It is hard to know at this point whether the hard part is yet to come or over ;-)

@peterdcrees
Thanks for the kudos, but I am merely the script kiddie here. Mega Man deserves ALL thanks. None of this is happening without him.

Basically dlanor's point is well taken that most users just want to put in the disc and run or put in the thumb drive and run. Given that PS2-Linux doesn't recognize the dvd/cd, the ability to repartition a single partition FAT-formatted drive to keep the contents of the fat drive and load PS2-Linux onto it is the idea that got me started (thanks dlanor). To get people to learn Linux you have to start somewhere. If it takes an expert to install it, then the command-line stuff will happen only to those few who push through the tough stuff. Most would give up and that's a shame. If the only thing I do is make a ps2 user have a working browser on a stable operating system in less than an hour then I think that is pretty good. If they want to learn more, then great, but just having a basic non-java, non-flash capable browser is good for reading fark in the morning before work and that might be all that some people want. Plus it's a pretty good geek-factor to browse the internet from your PS2 ;-)

Still very much an beta code - http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/8...ng.html?rnd=64

Go to PS2Linux-Distro directory in 4shared. Download and read the (2) ps2linux-usbinstaller.txt file, download the ps2linux_v0.3.zip, unzip onto a single FAT partition USB drive (should be one folder /ps2linux), place the two large .bz2 (base and usrlocal) files in this folder. Follow the instructions in (2) ps2linux-usbinstaller.txt.

Note - this is not ready for prime time, very much a work in progress. This version has not been tested on ps2 slim, but the previous version worked on v12 and DID NOT WORK on v15. So take it for what it is, a beta.