OSX on PS3

[speakerwizard]

ok, i know there was a lot of hubbub about this when the ps3 was announced to use the cell but i havnt heard much about it of late, i know a cell isnt the same as a ppc but remember Sony themselves did state the ps3 could potentially support osx (pressue on apple to licence it at the time?) anyway, so the console is out now, and with linux being installed already i wondered if anybody had heard anything yet? also, with ps3 using openGL also, i wonder how much effort to port a ps3 game to a G5 (quad) with memory and best gfx card available would be?

i realise all this isnt a simple task, but im just curious from someone more knowledgable than myself, not from flamers though

 

[Catfish_Man]

It'd be very difficult.

 

[jamesi]

maybe you can put os x on a PS3 but i dont think you should bet on being able to play the games in os x

 

[Nermal]

The PowerPC version of OS X has very little copy protection, and it's trivial to get it running on generic PPC systems. The two main stumbling blocks on a PS3 would be licensing, and drivers for the specialised hardware. The core OS would probably run without any compatibility issues.

 

[speakerwizard]

The PowerPC version of OS X has very little copy protection, and it's trivial to get it running on generic PPC systems. The two main stumbling blocks on a PS3 would be licensing, and drivers for the specialised hardware. The core OS would probably run without any compatibility issues.

hhmm, very interesting, i wonder how easy it would be to 'port' the linux drivers as they get written also.

 

[Compile 'em all]

The PowerPC version of OS X has very little copy protection, and it's trivial to get it running on generic PPC systems. The two main stumbling blocks on a PS3 would be licensing, and drivers for the specialised hardware. The core OS would probably run without any compatibility issues.

Running OS X on the cell architecture is not trivial as one might think. The cell architecture emphasizes computational throughput over simplicity of program code and your OS must be coded to fully utilize the PPE and attached co-processors. btw, since March Linux 2.6.16 already (officially) supports the cell microprocessor .

 

[speakerwizard]

ok, so its probably possible but probably hard, and maybe wont be very efficient once done, but ill be keeping an eye on hackaday etc for sure anyone out there got a ps3 and wanna try out the install disk anyway see how far it'd get

 

[EricNau]

Doesn't Apple use TPM chips to ensure OS X will not run on any hardware other than Apple's?

 

[Compile 'em all]

Doesn't Apple use TPM chips to ensure OS X will not run on any hardware other than Apple's?

You didn't hear of this then .

 

[speakerwizard]

also, isnt tpm just the intel macs, we're talking ppc osx

 

[Catfish_Man]

http://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter10/tpm/ <-- read it, learn about the TPM, and how it is (and more importantly how it isn't) used in OSX.

 

[speakerwizard]

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/19/fedora-linux-up-and-running-on-playstation-3-with-video/

if anyone wants to see linux on ps3, sony makes it very easy to install os's

 

[speakerwizard]

any more opinions / information?

 

[twoodcc]

The PowerPC version of OS X has very little copy protection, and it's trivial to get it running on generic PPC systems. The two main stumbling blocks on a PS3 would be licensing, and drivers for the specialised hardware. The core OS would probably run without any compatibility issues.

this was my thoughts on the subject as well

 

[mgmktx]

Wouldn't the Wii have the same possibility of running OS X because it uses a PPC chip like the PS3? The only thing holding the Wii back would be no hard drive...

 

[speakerwizard]

the wii has no HD and the playstation is sold as an open system, it is designed to have OS's installed, i think sony even tried talking to apple about licencing a cut down OSX for it, but instead opted to go the endorsing linex path, flogging a dead horse trying to get apple to licence anything lol

 

[jhu]

the wii has no HD and the playstation is sold as an open system, it is designed to have OS's installed, i think sony even tried talking to apple about licencing a cut down OSX for it, but instead opted to go the endorsing linex path, flogging a dead horse trying to get apple to licence anything lol

they could have just used darwin and accomplished the same thing that they have with linux

 

[speakerwizard]

do you mean sony? i dont think apple would like that

 

[GFLPraxis]

Doesn't Apple use TPM chips to ensure OS X will not run on any hardware other than Apple's?

Only on the Intel builds.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Wouldn't the Wii have the same possibility of running OS X because it uses a PPC chip like the PS3? The only thing holding the Wii back would be no hard drive...

The Wii would actually be better; the PS3 uses the Cell processor, of which one part is a PPC chip, and it's a very stripped down processor that doesn't even do out of order execution.

The Wii basicly has a high-end G3 like the ones used in the last iBooks, with some tweaks to make it better for gaming.

In fact, if you could install OS X on an external USB hard drive and hook it up, OS X would probably run perfectly after you hack the Wii to get it to boot. Although compared to a desktop the Wii has a pitiful amount of RAM (less than 128 MB IIRC).

 

[speakerwizard]

hhmm, cool, doesnt the PS3 also only have about 256 ram? i think i read, still, enough to run osx given the chance. one of these hacks has gotta turn up sooner or later

 

[AHDuke99]

i read on cnet that the wii has 512MB of ram.

 

[ChrisA]

....wonder how much effort to port a ps3 game to a G5 (quad) with memory and best gfx card available would be?

A "platform" has two components: (1) A hardware architecture and (2) and Operating System. Notice that a given hardware architecture might be able to run several operating systems for example the Intel i386 (aka x86) can run Windows, Mac OX, Linux, Solaris and others and also some operating systems can run on several hardware architectures.

So.... as it turns out in the real world it is not hard at all to "port" software between hardware architecture provided the operating system remains unchanged. What's hard is porting between operating systems.

Conversly it is often triveal to port software to a new hardware on the same OS. For example if something runs on Linux/SPARC it will likely run with not much effort on Linux/Intel

Porting from Sony's game OS to Mac OS would basically be a re-write. In practical terms the fact the two systems have the same CPU inside means nothing in terms of how easy a "port" would be. You want to look at the operating systems and see how closly related they are. If the OSes are close or the same then a port is mostly easy. For example Linuix to Solaris or Mac OSX is easy as all three are UNIX based and can use the X11 diisplay system.

 

[Nermal]

Only on the Intel builds.

While some Intel systems have a TPM chip, OS X apparently doesn't use it. The latest MBPs don't even have the chip.

 

[bloodycape]

The Wii basicly has a high-end G3 like the ones used in the last iBooks, with some tweaks to make it better for gaming.

In fact, if you could install OS X on an external USB hard drive and hook it up, OS X would probably run perfectly after you hack the Wii to get it to boot. Although compared to a desktop the Wii has a pitiful amount of RAM (less than 128 MB IIRC).

where did you get that number from if may ask?

I was told the wii runs at like 1.1ghz or so and cnet said this just an upgrade version of what we saw in the Game Cube. What was the fastest G3 chip out?