[libre-riscv-dev] PPC on Talos and Playstation 3

[Jacob Lifshay]

On Sun, Mar 29, 2020, 23:55 Lauri Kasanen <cand at gmx.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 29 Mar 2020 20:17:49 +0000
> "Immanuel, Yehowshua U" <yimmanuel3 at gatech.edu> wrote:
>
> > So I was wondering how to run unit tests for the PPC FPU. We can
> obviously do this on the Talos server, but also playstation 3.
> >
> > I have some old PPC Macs, but they are 32 bit not 64 bit.
> >
> > Sony’s playstation 3 however is ppc64. Also, Sony officially supported
> Linux on PS3 FAT models only which you can pick up on eBay for $50 - $70.
> >
> > So I think this is a good route to explore if anyone needs
> immediate/direct access to PPC64 for unit testing. I’m considering ordering
> one myself.
>
> Remember that Sony blocked OtherOS in a specific firmware version, and
> newer firmwares were required for running newer games. So finding a PS3
> that can be used will be hard.
>

> However, WiiUs are a viable option for recent-ish power hw for cheap.
>

The Wii U is a tri-core 32-bit PPC with 2GB of ddr3. Additionally, Nintendo
is not likely to support installing custom software.

I personally think Power Macs are probably the best option since they can
use standard PC hardware (eg. ram, sata disk, pci cards (maybe pcie?),
external display, usb, ethernet), they actually are designed to be able to
install your own OS, they have 1, 2, or 4 core 64-bit Power processors, and
they are relatively inexpensive -- I saw one for $100 last I checked.

Jacob