Hey Ed,

> The reason NetBSD doesn't support the memory cards (yet) is because the
> driver shipped with Linux isn't a real default 'filesystem on top of a
> block device' setup. I looked in the source some time ago (trying to
> patch the latest 2.4), but it seems that the 'ps2mc' and 'ps2mcfs'
> drivers are mangled together. I guess the real Playstation 2 Memory Card
> Filesystem code is handled by the Playstation 2 Linux Runtime
> Environment (not sure though).

And I guess the Playstation 2 Linux Runtime Environment's source isn't
available, is it ?

> - Port Linux 2.4.31 to the Sony Playstation 2
> - Patch a recent toolchain to support the Sony Playstation 2
> - Build a Linux From Scratch install

Wow, that already represents much work :)

> - Patch the native NetBSD toolchain to support the Sony Playstation 2

I'm still a newbie to NetBSD : what do you mean by "native toolchain" ? I used
the toolchain to build a NetBSD/playstation2 system from an i386 machine, and
it worked (I precise I had to edit some code from /usr/pkgsrc/cross/mips* in
order to compile).

> - Improve some NetBSD drivers if possible
> - Port Linux 2.6 to the Sony Playstation 2
>
> Well, I hope there are any guys out there who are planning the same as
> me. I could really use some help (I'm just an IT student).

Well, I'd like to help but I have no experience about programming for an
Unix-like system (drivers...)

Yours,

tastalian

Quoting Ed Schouten <ed@fxq.nl>:

> Hey Naopic,
>
> * Naopic Tastalian <tastalian@free.fr> wrote:
>> I recently bought a Linux Kit for my PS2 in order to install NetBSD on
>> it. First of all, I was surprised to see that only a snapshot for an
>> old NetBSD-1.5ZC was available online, and as it didn't work very well
>> I decided to compile a new release from NetBSD-2.0 branch.
>>
>> As I'm mostly a newbie to NetBSD it took me a day, but I managed to
>> make it and put it on my local FTP server. Installation worked and,
>> apart from a few problems, I can boot and use my system. So, I'd like
>> to propose you a tarball of my releasedir, as it might help others to
>> install a more recent version of the system.
>
> Wow, that's great to hear that the port still works (I still need to
> find myself a Sync-on-Green capable display, so I still have to use
> Linux for the time being).
>
>> And, it's not *really* a problem, but as NetBSD can't read or write
>> Playstation 2 Memory Cards I'd like to make a dualboot "Linux/NetBSD"
>> on the machine ; but it's not possible as NetBSD's installation seems
>> to erase my MBR.
>
> The reason NetBSD doesn't support the memory cards (yet) is because the
> driver shipped with Linux isn't a real default 'filesystem on top of a
> block device' setup. I looked in the source some time ago (trying to
> patch the latest 2.4), but it seems that the 'ps2mc' and 'ps2mcfs'
> drivers are mangled together. I guess the real Playstation 2 Memory Card
> Filesystem code is handled by the Playstation 2 Linux Runtime
> Environment (not sure though).
>
> That dual-booting isn't supported is also stated on the website. I guess
> I'll look into it if I'll ever find a Sync-on-Green display. My current
> todo for Playstation 2 Linux/BSD is:
>
> - Port Linux 2.4.31 to the Sony Playstation 2
> - Patch a recent toolchain to support the Sony Playstation 2
> - Build a Linux From Scratch install
> - Patch the native NetBSD toolchain to support the Sony Playstation 2
> - Improve some NetBSD drivers if possible
> - Port Linux 2.6 to the Sony Playstation 2
>
> Well, I hope there are any guys out there who are planning the same as
> me. I could really use some help (I'm just an IT student).
>
> Yours,
> --
> Ed Schouten <ed@fxq.nl>

--
http://tastalian.free.fr/