As many of you might have read in other posts on the net, Sony’s firmware 3.21 update aims to stop the research about hacking the console, which is lead mainly by GeoHot. Sony claims  users have the option to update or not but if you don’t, you won’t be able to enjoy the platform’s services, like downloading demos, buying at the Store, trophies, online gaming, etc.

But there is still hope, because GeoHot is working on a hack for firmware 3.21 that will put back the OtherOs option as it was on version 3.15 and previous ones. I’m really interested in this firmware 3.21 hack because:

1. I bought the console because I knew I could installed Linux from an option provided by the system. It was a feature I paid for and Sony removed it without refunding me part of my money or even asking me.
2. If sceners have total control over the console, they could disable the hypervisor completely, so Linux could have access to all hardware, I mean, to the 6 disabled SPU, Video RAM or the video RAM itself. Result? A better performance of Linux on the console (let’s be honest, it’s a little slow on the PS3).
3. Homebrews. It would be interesting to have some emulators like NES, SNES, Sega Génesis…or even Wii (yes, maybe I’m dreaming but it could be done by using Move, because the PS3 is more powerful than Wii). Piracy? The right thing is to own the original game in order to play a backup. Even though some titles not longer exist, you have to consider that someones have been relaunched by Sony and Nintendo at its respectively stores.
4. More homebrews. Not everything is about emulators. We have seen some games launched on the PSP. Even though they can’t be compared with titles like God of War, they looks likes the Minis. Other applications can be developed that exceed those supplied by Sony (browsers, multimedia players, instant messaging, VoIP, etc). And thinking a little bit, it comes to my mind that Sony can take advantage of the Scene if they weren’t short-sight. Just imagine if Sony provides a SDK for third-party developers so they can certifies and sell those applications through its Store,  of course, charging for every purchase…where did that brilliant idea came up? Apple, Android, Nokia, etc?

For now we have to wait and don’t update to firmware 3.21…even though Sony claims is a required update, as you can see on the above picture.

People say that one way of gauging a PC’s performance is by measuring the kernel compilation time, because it implies the usage of memory, disk and CPU.

So, I decided to measure the compilation time of the new kernel 2.6.31, that has some enhancements on swap management, using the platform’s standard options, i.e., a .config file generated with make ps3_defconfig, and here are the results:

real    46m52.802s
user    34m17.999s
sys    9m44.375s

Xfce was running on the PS3 and the only application opened was Iceweasel with this blog’s page.

Before updating to Sony’s firmware 3.0, I wondered whether or not this new version would let me to use my already installed Linux partition, and the answer is…yes!!

Of course I have a PS3 “fat” (80 GB edition), but on new PlayStaion 3 models that option its not available…Sorry for you guys, but at least you will have a cheaper PS3!