does anybody have it or know anything about it, any info would be helpful, i need something else to toy around with

i was thinking of getting the kit for the PS2, just because of the plug and playability, but not having an x86 processor would really limit what i could do PS2 Link

or mod the living hell out of an xbox with a bigger hard drive and stuff and it would be pretty much like a computer, but it would be harder to do and cost a little more but be alot more useful
linux on xbox
xbox modding info

I think you can get a better computer than an Xbox for $200. It would be a lot less trouble.

The Playstation is nice, but it only has 32 MB of ram. This is fine if you want to use it as a database server or something, but the lightest WM's run very slowly, so it's not very good as a personal computer.

I suggest you go with a normal computer.

If you just want to do something weird, you could spend your time trying to run Linux on an iPod, or you could make a server powered by a hand-crank, or you could try MIT's exokernel OS, or just settle for turning a teddy bear into a 5-port network switch.

Agreed.

I bought a Gateway ( I know...not the best) 700MHz box and I have 384MB of RAM in it and a Geforce 2MX card in it. I bought this PC on ebay for $75 without a HD.

Dang does it work fantastic I threw 2 80 gig drives in it, more RAM, better vid card and I still have less than $230 in it. I use this PC every day

I'm all for mods, but why support MS when they're fighting tooth and nail to destroy Linux? That's the only real variable, as I see it. Xbox could have 10 gig of ram, 2 terabytes of HD space, cost $20, and I'd still think twice about buying one for that reason.

<why support MS when they're fighting tooth and nail to destroy Linux>

It was my understanding that Microsoft sell XBoxes at a loss. This, I believe, is normal with games consoles. The manufacturers recoup the money, and more, from the vast game licences. If you bought an XBox, somehow stuck Linux on it and never bought any games for it, Microsoft would be out of pocket!

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/

Check this out and read the results of the test......This will tell you everything you want to know about the power of a PS2....Compared to a computer...

From PlayStation to supercomputer

By John Markoff
The New York Times
May 27, 2003, 7:16 AM PT

As perhaps the clearest evidence yet of the power of sophisticated but inexpensive game consoles, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has assembled a supercomputer from an army of Sony PlayStation 2 devices. The resulting system, with components purchased at retail prices, cost a little more than $50,000. Researchers at the supercomputing center believe the system may be capable of a half trillion operations a second, well within the definition of supercomputer, although it may not rank among the world's 500 fastest supercomputers. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the project, which uses the open-source Linux operating system, is that the only hardware engineering involved was placing 70 of the individual game machines in a rack and plugging them together with a high-speed Hewlett-Packard network switch. The center's scientists bought 100 machines but are holding 30 in reserve, possibly for high-resolution display application. "It took a lot of time because you have to cut all of these things out of the plastic packaging," said Craig Steffen, a senior research scientist at the center, who is one of four scientists working part time on the project.

I guess I would Have been more impressed if they would have used 70 xbox systems the output would have been far better. Little more space required...


I guess I would have been more curious to see if it took 70 xbox's to equal that of a super computer...

I bet only 40 or 50 units would have been needed...hmmm...curious....


The Xbox is a legacy-free PC by Microsoft:
Intel Celeron 733 MHz CPU
hard disk: 8/10 GB
Bits: 128
Ram: 64MB
Polygons: 300M/ps
Media: 5x DVD-ROM, 24x CD-ROM
Video Card: nVida GeForce 3MX
Video Ram: Unknown
Ethernet: Yes (built in)
Modem: 56K (optional)
Controllers: Up to 4 (comes with 1)
Audio Channels: 64


PS2
CPU: 294MHz MIPS
Bits: 128
Ram: 38MB
Polygons: 66M/ps
Media: 4x DVD, 24x CD-ROM
Video Card: Sony Graphics Synthesizer
Video Ram: 8MB
Ethernet: No
Modem: 56K (optional)
Controllers: 2
Audio Channels: 48
Architecture Features Vector processing unit
Memory / Storage
RAM technology Direct Rambus (Direct RDRAM)


Hope thats enough of the facts....

Funny the gamecube is more powerful...But only if we could get linux on it...

CPU: 485MHz IBM/Micron 0.18 copper
Bits: 128
Ram: 40MB
Polygons: 6-12M/ps
Media: 3" DVDs (1.58GB)
Video Card: Unknown
Video Ram: Unknown
Ethernet: Yes (optional)
Modem: 56k (optional)
Controllers: 4
Audio Channels: 485

well good nigt

Xbox has a 32 bit processor.

In addition to the CPU, the Playstation 2 has two "vector units," which have a theoretical output of 4.8 Gflops. That's what makes it fast. However, it only has 32 MB of ram (not 38 as you say). This makes it run GUI's slowly.

Also, as I recall, the Gamecube's processor is based on the Apple G3 (which is also a 32 bit processor), and it doesn't have any vector processors. I'm pretty sure the PS2 is more powerful.

You should see the fights on game-related forums regarding the "bits" of those three systems.

I believe one of the main reasons to mod the consoles is their graphics capabilities, so the worth depends on your use.

Good point.

I agree with all your points....

Travis86 made me get educated on the power of the PS2 with the vectoring / Emotion Engine.

Waiting to see the direction Sony picks for the Playstation...

Either Gaming Console or both Gaming/Home computer...

I know its stated sony has the PS3 at 400mhz and the PS4/PS5 at 500mhz....

I own a PS2 didn't realize it would preform better then all six of my computers in the house.

If I would have known that I would have saved some money and finished by buying the Linux package for PS2...

I might just wait know for the PS3 and see if there is any improvement...

Well got to run...
later...

Thanks for the education in PS's

Well, it's not quite as nice a it sounds. While the theoretical speed is 4.8 Gflops - not 6.2 as I previously stated (I edited it above) - you can't get the full power. The memory transfer slows things down to below 1 Gflop. See http://arrakis.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ps2/using_vector_units.php for more info.

I haven't measured the speed, but I figure with that kind of a processor, the PS2 would be able to handle many requests at the same time, and I'm trying to get it up as a server. It serves the default Apache index.html to itself at about 300 pages/sec (using Apache 1.3). With Apache 2.0 it's 200 page/sec (I haven't cleaned out all the modules I don't use, yet). However, most of the time I'm having my usual luck with Linux, that is, nothing works.

I was able to get Apache 1.3 and 2.0 running, but MySQL 4.0, 4.1, and several other programs won't install. I think it's the compiler, but the binary release of the GCC 3.0.3 suppled by playstation2-linux.com won't work either. I'm still working on it.

Good luck,

Let me know how it turns out....I figured you could do more requests then that..

Hmmm....

later

Keep in mind that you can no longer run Linux on an Xbox if your connected to Xbox Live. They sent a patch a few weeks ago that disabled that ability.

There might be a work around, but they don't like the idea of "they're" consoles being used for Linux.