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

[Jacob Lifshay]

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 00:31 Lauri Kasanen <cand at gmx.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Mar 2020 00:12:40 -0700
> Jacob Lifshay <programmerjake at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Mar 29, 2020, 23:55 Lauri Kasanen <cand at gmx.com> wrote:
> > > 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.
>
> The specs quote 64-bit FPU, so it's not entirely 32-bit.


Normally, the size of a pointer or general-purpose integer register is used
to determine 32 or 64-bit rather than the size of the FP unit since nearly
every processor more powerful than a microcontroller supports 64-bit FP.
even the 8086 (16-bit) supports 64-bit floating point (or even 80-bit) with
the 8087 math coprocessor. Also, recent intel processors support 512-bit FP
registers (the avx512 instruction set), but it's only a 64-bit processor.

Nintendo
> doesn't need to, they have abandoned the console, and in its last state
> it was still hackable, unlike the PS3. Therefore it's safe to buy any
> (NTSC, I haven't checked PAL) WiiU if you intend to hack it, vs very
> careful checking to find that rare low-firmware PS3.
>

>From some searching I found a linux port for the WiiU, however, it only
supports booting 1 core.

https://gitlab.com/linux-wiiu/linux-wiiu#device-support

The main benefit of Power Macs is the software's highly likely to work,
whereas both the WiiU and PS3 are less likely to.


> PowerMacs are fine, though old and power-hogging.
>

yup. :)

Jacob