Thread

1. alightsoul · 1790704672 · focus · HN ↗

   Will Linux on the ps5 be back?

   1. app13 · 1790704878 · focus · HN ↗

      God I hope so. Some of my fondest professional memories were my early Navy days, hacking together PS3's into a big ol cluster

      Edit: Reading through the exploit, looks like linux compatability for older (non 13.6) is possible. 13.6 needs a new hypervisor exploit.

      1. FlowingRiver · 1790725010 · focus · HN ↗

         Out of interest, how well did the Ps3 cluster work?

         I say this because the Cell processor was an absolute beast BUT the whole system was so RAM constrained that is felt like, it didn't matter how quick your code was if you simply couldn't get enough data into RAM.

         I just remember some code that would blast through what was available and then just spin for millions, sometimes billions of cycles just waiting for the next chuck to arrive.

         1. tbrockman · 1790732616 · focus · HN ↗

            No first hand cluster experience myself, but quite well if your workload could deal with its limitations. Noteworthy examples:

            * Breaking SSL (finding MD5 collisions): <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hackaday.com&#x2F;2008&#x2F;12&#x2F;30&#x2F;25c3-hackers-completely-break-ssl-using-200-ps3s&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hackaday.com&#x2F;2008&#x2F;12&#x2F;30&#x2F;25c3-hackers-completely-brea...

            * Analyzing high definition satellite imagery for 1&#x2F;10th the cost: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;PlayStation_3_cluster#:~:text=22%5D-,As,23" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;PlayStation_3_cluster#:~:text=...

         2. app13 · 1790859702 · focus · HN ↗

            I was a young sysadmin, so I did not have the insight that I would now on actual system efficacy.

            From a systems standpoint, it worked very well. High uptime and really nice thermals.

   2. hexagonsun · 1790705288 · focus · HN ↗

      this is a kernel level exploit and afaik ps5 linux requires full hypervisor... so not yet, but probably soon.

      1. alightsoul · 1790705746 · focus · HN ↗

         Is there any reason why we need the ps5 software? Is the processor locked to it? Is there a security microcontroller which needs it?

         Edit looks like the answer for both questions is yes

   3. latchkey · 1790706032 · focus · HN ↗

      just get a bc-250...
   4. kklisura · 1790710151 · focus · HN ↗

      I&#x27;m not heavy on gaming so I can&#x27;t justify buying PS5 just for the games, but my god, if I would be able to thinker with it - I&#x27;d buy it in an instant!

      1. Narishma · 1790714310 · focus · HN ↗

         I don&#x27;t think Sony is interested in customers like you.
      2. ehe78qhe · 1790716149 · focus · HN ↗

         My friend bought a used BC-250 (basically a PS5 on a board) and modded it into a gaming PC the other week. Costs like 1&#x2F;3rd the price of a PS5

         <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bc250.info&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bc250.info&#x2F;

   5. keyringlight · 1790711962 · focus · HN ↗

      Going back a few years to covid lockdowns, work from home exploding and a shortage of computers, I thought the mirror image of that was something MS should have tried. Enable a variant of windows on the xbox (probably locked down) so people can plug in keyboard&#x2F;mouse and do some desktop tasks on the recently released consoles, and it&#x27;d also serve to seed a userbase for the gaming side.

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