Looking to learn about game development? Are you a Linux enthusiast looking to test the claim that "Linux runs on everything"? Perhaps you are a software developer who is looking to release for multiple architectures, and you don't have another MIPS Little Endian machine on-hand for testing your programme. Whatever your situation there are a surprising number of reasons to install Linux on a Playstation 2, even sixteen years after it's release (boy do I feel old all of a sudden.), yet an equally surprising lack of documentation about it or how to install it.
Now don't get me wrong, if you want to use the original Sony Linux Kit, or one of it's updated open source releases on a fat PS2 with a network adapter and an IDE hard disk you can find plenty of info. However this requires the acquisition of several things, and can be quite expensive, especially when it comes to the Sony Linux Kit itself. This guide will cover some basics about the PS2's native hardware, and it's hardware compatibility, and then we'll move on to how to install Linux on a wider variety of PS2.
What CPU does the PS2 use?
The PS2 uses a single core "Emotion Engine" CPU, clocked at 295MHz in the original fat models, and 299MHz in newer slim models. The Emotion Engine is a 64-bit MIPS Little Endian CPU, with support for 128-bit addresses.
How much RAM does the PS2 have?
It has 32MB RDRAM and 4MB of eDRAM.
What kind of GPU does it have?
The PS2 uses the "Graphics Synthesizer" GPU clocked at 147.4MHz, and is capable of outputting up to 1920×1080 graphics at 60Hz in 32-bit color.
What external storage does it support?
An unmodified PS2 supports Audio-CD, Video-DVD, and up to two memory cards of up to 128MB in size for game saves. A PS2 modified with a software exploit also supports two memory cards of up to 128MB for general file management and storage, and browsing files on data-CD/DVDs via a 3rd party file manager such as uLaunchELF, as well as some USB 1.1 disks, with support for USB 2.0 disks being available on newer slim models via software support. A PS2 modified with a modchip has added support for data-CDs and DVDs without a 3rd party programme.
Now on to the Linux installation: (a quick side note, if you just want to test or play around with Linux on your PS2, you can simply burn the image found here: [link] (https://sourceforge.net/projects/kernelloader/files/BlackRhino%20Linux%20Distribution/Live%20Linux%20DVD/PS2%20Live%20Linux%20DVD%20v3/ps2linux_live_v3_ntsc_large_no_modchip.7z/download) to a DVD and run this programme [link] (https://sourceforge.net/projects/kernelloader/files/Kernelloader/Kernelloader%203.0/kloader3.0.elf/download) via uLaunchELF from a flash drive or memory card with no setup required. Now on with the Linux!)
Best Answer
First of all there are several prerequisites for installing Linux on your PS2, please note that this guide is aimed at installation on a slim PS2, if you have a fat PS2 you should download and install the copy of Sony's PS2 Linux here: [link] (https://sourceforge.net/projects/kernelloader/files/Sony%20Linux%20Toolkit/) Also note that the machine used to test this guide was a PS2 model SCPH-79001 (silver special edition) and thus it is safe to assume this should work on any model of PS2 lower than SCPH-90000 (the model SCPH-90000 and later cannot be softmodded, and thus you will not be able to launch a Linux bootloader.)
Now, to install Linux on your PS2 you will require:
Once you've met these prerequisites go ahead and proceed with the installation steps as follows:
The base installation is now complete. Any other customization you want to make can be done as you would with any other Linux distro. If you want to install the PS2SDK for developing PS2 specific software you can find the source here: [link] (https://github.com/ps2dev/ps2sdk) If you try to compile it on the PS2 it will run out of memory and hang, so make sure to set up the build environment on your main machine, and copy files to the Debian USB manually or via a network in order to get them on the PS2 for testing. The PS2 controller will not work as a mouse, so I recommend a USB hub for both the mouse and keyboard (if that is not an option mousekeys can be activated as usual with
Alt+Shift+Num Lock
). Thanks for reading, and I hope this helped someone looking to install Linux on their PS2. I had tried for months to get this working, and have very recently done so, thus decided to try and make it easier for others wanting to do the same.