PS3 2.6.21 Kernel ebuild / Controller via Bluetooth

nixnut · Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:34 pm Post subject:

Moved from Gentoo on Alternative Architectures to Gentoo on PPC.
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garlicbread · Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 182

one note to be aware of
I think the default ps3_defconfig defaults to a 64bit setup
so there may be some options to be changed under "make menuconfig" if using under 32bit

styggentorsken · n00b Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 22

I have now got the jstest to work like it should with the sixaxis

This might be of some interest
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=44215

styggentorsken · n00b Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 22

Got the sixaxis to work as a mouse too :-)

http://creber.free.fr/frederic-blain/index.php?n=Main.GentooOnPS3SixaxisAsMouse

EDIT:
Well... almost, except for most of the buttons (only SELECT, L3 and R3 works)

EDIT:
And I have the same problem in snes9x too... since snes9x-1.50 doesn't allow button remapping, just some stupid default

shazow · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:10 pm Post subject: Re: Sixaxis as mouse

Smeagel · n00b Joined: 09 Apr 2007 Posts: 13

For anyone who is looking for more kernel building stuff...

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Make_a_kernel_on_playstation3

This also tells you how to install the new kernel directly to your PS3 flash, so you don't have to mess with kboot anymore.

If you use git sources, bluetooth now installs by default FWIW. I used this to build a new kernel compatible with the new PS3 bios...
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garlicbread · Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 182

That's quite interesting, I've been looking for a way to create a new kboot image, as the existing premade ones from the cell source CD don't seem to work too well with Gentoo (still using 2.6.16 within kexec / otheros)
still if you get one thing wrong then you won't be able to boot back into linux, without re-flashing the otheros area within the PS3 menu from a memory stick

I think it's always best to test a newly built kernel via a menu system of some form (in the case of x86 Grub, or for the PS3 petitboot)
that way you can always revert to an older version to recompile if something goes wrong and it doesn't boot
also you may be limited in what can be included directly into the kernel (I think the otheros area is limited in size but I'm not sure what to)

the general idea is to have a stripped down kernel with an initramfs image attached to the back of it, that has a couple of tools in (e.g. busybox) to get the disks recognized / to find any kernels on the disk / show this via a menu (e.g. petitboot) then switch across to one of these with the kexec tool
the assumption being the kernel within the otheros will always work, but the ones on the disk don't need to, if you can pick more than one from a menu and you know at least one works on the menu
(also it saves a bit of wear and tear on the flash memory, if your writing new ones to the disk instead)

Edit assuming you can get snes9x to compile
button remapping should be possible by placing a file into ~/.snes9x/snes9x.conf
(e.g. if logged in as root /root/.snes9x/snes9x.conf
or I think /etc/snes9x/snes9x.conf will work globaly as well)
there's an example file in the overaly directory which should remap things for the controller called snes9x.conf.ps3
(if you have trouble finding it, just try cd /usr && find -iname 'snes9x.conf.ps3'

styggentorsken · n00b Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 22

You're the best garlicbread. Finaly I can play snes9x on my ps3 with both good sound and joystick :-)

I had to call snes9x with the -conf (specifying config file path) flag, but afterall it worked !!!
I also deleted most of the options in that config file, because I like to have a little bit more control.

The d-pad sometimes get a little bit stuck, but I think it's an emulation issue, and not a sixaxis issue.
The left analog stick always works though.

Thanks again for that last little hint :-)

h41cyon · n00b Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 26

After following the first page of this thread, I tried booting to my new kernel 2.6.23-ps3.

It boots then gets to the following line:

"ps3-ehci-driver sb_05: USB Bus 1 deregistered"

and freezes.

I tried flipping back to my old kernel (2.6.23) and that still boots just fine.

Any ideas?

Odly enough, this issue comes up on an ubuntu forum:
http://psubuntu.com/2007/10/23/upgrade-to-710/

But, I made doubly sure I was using kboot from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/geoff/cell/CELL-Linux-CL_20080201-ADDON/PS3/otheros/

h41cyon · n00b Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 26

garlicbread · Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 182

you've not said where these kernels have come from
you've mentioned an old 2.6.23-ps3 kernel and a new 2.6.23-ps3 kernel
is the new one the one out of the overlay I've setup? (where's the old 2.6.23 from?)

the kernel sources on they're own won't work and still need special patches for this to work on the PS3
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/geoff/ps3-linux.git;a=summary
at the moment the layman overlay I've got going has an ebuild for a 2.6.23, and a git version which should pull the latest 2.6.24 from the above git link (although I can't say how well the latest git will be)

h41cyon · n00b Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 26

garlicbread · Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 182

just noticed the documentation for the install has been updated
http://overlays.gentoo.org/proj/cell/wiki/InstallGentooOnPS3
it looks as if the livecd is now using 2.6.23 which is probably the old kernel

if you manage to get a kboot: prompt where you can type something into
or if you can still boot the old kernel (by hitting tab at the prompt to cycle through the entry's in kboot.conf)
then there shouldn't be a problem with kboot

I'm not sure if your using 32bit or 64bit userland, but this has only been tried with 64bit
make ps3_defconfig should default to a 64bit config for the kernel
but if your using 32bit I think further changes have to be made within "make menuconfig"
to switch some of the 64bit options off (I've not tried this myself)

if your using 64bit userland
another possibility is that it's not finding the initrd or kernel image specified within kboot.conf
assuming you've copied the kernel (vmlinux) somewhere to /boot/
and the generkernel command should have created a file within /boot/
all I can suggest is to check your kboot.conf file and avoid any dashes "-" in the names of files (kboot doesn't like this)

bleep · n00b Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 2

garlicbread · Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 182

I've just noticed your using kboot direct from the cell sources
For some reason and I'm not sure why, the last time I tried that flavor of kboot image it didn't seem to work
(although it's likely it's been updated since then), I was never sure if something needed to be added to the image to get it to work

I'm still using one of the old 2.6.16 kboot based images at the moment (petitboot)
to chain boot across to the 2.6.23 kernel on the disk
I'm aware that there's the original Yellow Dog kboot image which was based on a 2.6.16 version of the cell sources kboot
(although was modified in some way, not sure how)
and there's petitboot (http://ozlabs.org/~jk/projects/petitboot/) which is also still based on 2.6.16 for the initial kboot image

saying that, if the kernel that comes with gentoo on the Live CD etc works, then I can't see a reason why this wouldn't
I'll need to have another look at the kboot image from the Cell sources, as it should be much more uptodate

bleep · n00b Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 2

Great stuff btw garlicbread. Many thanks to you.
I tried petitboot and it hangs as well when I try to load the new kernel. I'll keep it around, though, because it looks a lot nicer than the clunky kboot I had before.

themenace · n00b Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

I'm having some trouble getting dtc installed so I can build a kernel. Here are the messages from portage. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

garlicbread · Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 182

it looks like they may have updated something in portage
I think I'll just need to update a couple of the ebuilds to include a slot setting

pesche · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject:

Any updated on this?
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Pseudonimo · Guru Joined: 10 Mar 2007 Posts: 393

You don't need dtc anymore. recent kernel versions of vanilla or gentoo sources in portage should work.
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