Starvin’ Marvin

Well, I can’t get a new device without trying to put Linux on it. The same happened to my PS3. And before I forget how I did it, I’m posting here my instructions with all the twists and turns.

First of all, lets see the pre-conditions:

• As we need to reformat PS3 hard disk, you need to backup your stuff: you don’t want to loose you save game in level 837 where the mythic bad ass boss appears with a BF287 blaster that you’re trying to get though for three week, do you?
• A USB keyboard and mouse - I bought a cheap(est) wireless combo.
• A burned CD (or DVD) with Ubuntu OS - use this image (Ubuntu Playstation 3 Desktop PC iso file)

That’s it. Ok, now the good clean fun. The first thing you need to do is to format the PS3s hard disk:

• Go to [Settings] > [System Settings] > [Format Utility]. Choosing [Yes] here will not format everything, it will take you to the next screen - don’t worry, trust me.
• Choose [Custom] and [Allot 10GB to the Other OS] - it’s more than enough.
• Choose [Quick Format] and confirm - here we go! I hope you didn’t forget to backup the save games, now it’s to late.
• When the format is completed, press X to restart the system. Restart didn’t work for me, I had to physically unplug the power on my PS3.
• Check everything is OK - you should be in XMB again with no save games.
• Load the burned CD or DVD in the tray and restart by pressing [Yes] at the [Default System] > [Other OS] prompt.
• If everything turn out ok, you should have something like this in your TV.

This is an Ubuntu Live CDROM
If in doubt, just press Enter.
kboot: _


• Just obey and press enter.
• Probably your monitor resolution will not be detected. Live with that. (TIP: Simply hold down the keyboard Alt-key while you click and drag the mouse to position the window so you can see the Forward buttons on each screen.)
• Just follow the instructions, it’s as simple as installing Ubuntu on a Desktop PC.
• Go grab a snack - it will take a while.
• When the installation completes, click the Restart now-button. The CD will be automatically ejected. Press enter.
• Again, it won’t reboot. Just use the normal I/O button to force a shutdown. I/O again to power it up.
• You should be on kboot again. Hit Enter. Wait for a while, and you will soon be greeted by the Ubuntu login screen. Congratulations, you have successfully installed Ubuntu on your PS3.

For now, this is all I have. You’ll probably be very disappointed with the resolution and performance (GNOME will eat all your RAM), but I promise that I’ll post some tweaks that worked nice for me.