skyhighmac Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Would you be able to put mac os x on a ps3? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruktsallad Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Would you be able to put mac os x on a ps3? Theoretically yes. The Cell acts as a PowerPC CPU. Reports from Linux users generally show that the PS3 performs on par with a dual G5, but Sony has locked out all access to the GPU (with a hypervisor), so you won't be getting anything very usable until (if) a bypass for this is released. Also, remember that the PS3 has just 256MB of RAM available to the system. So, in essence you've got a G5 with no GPU and 256MB of RAM. Not much of a powerhouse if you ask me. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-418447 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Theoretically yes. But practically, no. It's not going to happen. There was already a thread about this. Don't get your hopes up, there are too many obstacles. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-418484 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackintom Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 I guess you'll have to stick with Linux on your PS3... BTW, I've heard that it was like using a Pentium III or so... anyone have tryed this ? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-418600 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I guess you'll have to stick with Linux on your PS3... BTW, I've heard that it was like using a Pentium III or so... anyone have tryed this ? Unless the software is written specifically to take advantage of the Cell processor, and to work around its limitations, most things will probably run slowly. Almost no consumer level apps can use its 7 cores, and it's slow at certain things like double precision floating point calculations. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-418976 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruktsallad Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Unless the software is written specifically to take advantage of the Cell processor, and to work around its limitations, most things will probably run slowly. Almost no consumer level apps can use its 7 cores, and it's slow at certain things like double precision floating point calculations. True, but no matter how much you want to reach all those cores, Sony has limited the access so that only two cores can be used by any "OtherOS"... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-418983 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 True, but no matter how much you want to reach all those cores, Sony has limited the access so that only two cores can be used by any "OtherOS"... Are you sure about that? I know that for PS3 game development, developers can only access 6 of the cores (the normal Cell has 8, but the PS3 ones only have 7 because Sony wanted to be able to have high yields of the chip, and one core is reserved for the PS3's OS). Are you sure it's not just that any other OS itself is limited to two cores, and other software can access it? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-419066 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Theoretically yes. The Cell acts as a PowerPC CPU. Reports from Linux users generally show that the PS3 performs on par with a dual G5, but Sony has locked out all access to the GPU (with a hypervisor), so you won't be getting anything very usable until (if) a bypass for this is released. Also, remember that the PS3 has just 256MB of RAM available to the system. So, in essence you've got a G5 with no GPU and 256MB of RAM. Not much of a powerhouse if you ask me. True about the 256 mb, but that's fast ass ram. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-419070 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruktsallad Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Are you sure about that? I know that for PS3 game development, developers can only access 6 of the cores (the normal Cell has 8, but the PS3 ones only have 7 because Sony wanted to be able to have high yields of the chip, and one core is reserved for the PS3's OS). Are you sure it's not just that any other OS itself is limited to two cores, and other software can access it? Actually, I was rather sure. I remember reading about some engineers (possibly at IBM) that had actually connected three PS3's in order to get 6 SPE's (or "cores") and show of a demo of some live raytracing that was supposedly really intense stuff. --EDIT: I found the link . However, before posting this, I went to wikipedia and found this: "Sony currently implements a hypervisor restricting RSX access,[101] though the graphics are fast enough for emulation of some old systems. Linux has access to 6 of the 7 SPEs, and IBM provides an introduction to programming parallel applications on the PlayStation" /Wikipedia on PS3 Linux Not sure if that's correct either, though - don't have time to check it out right now. If it is, then maybe Sony has lifted their initial SPE restrictions or perhaps I've been wrong all along!? @vbetts: LOL, yeah that sure is some fast ass ram! It really is a shame there's (currently) no way to put more in there... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-419345 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Actually, I was rather sure. I remember reading about some engineers (possibly at IBM) that had actually connected three PS3's in order to get 6 SPE's (or "cores") and show of a demo of some live raytracing that was supposedly really intense stuff. --EDIT: I found the link . He says "each one of these under Linux gives us access to 6 SPEs," not a total of the 3. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-419351 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruktsallad Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 He says "each one of these under Linux gives us access to 6 SPEs," not a total of the 3. LOL, OK! That's great news, maybe I'll start saving for one anyway... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-419521 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azurael Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Can't you use MOL? Anyway, once the Free60 project has sorted stuff out, the 360 will be a much better Linux box than the PS3 because it uses unified memory rather than separate memory for the GPU like the PS3, you can have much more useful system ram. Not to mention the fact that SPEs really aren't any good for 99.9% of computational tasks and having 3 general purpose CPU cores reflects real world usage situations much better (though even those are optimised for streaming media and won't come near modern desktop CPUs in 'normal' computer tasks.) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/58631-mac-os-x-on-a-ps3/#findComment-438678 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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