Petitboot

Petitboot is a graphical bootloader for the PlayStation 3. It's based on the existing kboot project, plus the twin windowing system for the GUI.

At present, petitboot is very much a work-in-progress, but works on our test PS3.

This project is licensed under the GPL v2.

Requirements:

· libtwin

Installation:

1. Put your otheros.bld file on to a USB disk, in a file called /PS3/otheros/otheros.bld. Assuming your USB disk is mounted at /media/usbdisk:

[jk@pokey ~]$ mkdir -p /media/usbdisk/PS3/otheros
[jk@pokey ~]$ cp otheros.bld /media/usbdisk/PS3/otheros/

If you don't have a USB disk, you can use any sort of media that the PS3 can read - CDROM, DVD, compact flash, etc. Just make sure that the file is called /PS3/otheros/otheros.bld.

2. Plug the USB disk into your PS3, and navigate to System -> System Settings -> Install Other OS. The PS3 should find the new file on the USB disk, and install it.

3. To boot with petitboot, just set your default operating system to "Other OS" (System -> System Settings -> Set Default OS), and reboot.

Usage:

When petitboot starts, it will try to find existing Linux installations, by looking for /etc/kboot.conf, /etc/yaboot.conf or /boot/petitboot.conf files on any storage device connected to the system. Each discovered device will appear on the left-hand pane of the screen, and bootable options appear on the right.

You can navigate the boot options with the arrow keys (if you have a USB keyboard connected), or the D-Pad on the PS3 controller. If you're using a PS3 controller, you will need to have it connected via the cable; wireless controllers aren't supported (yet!).

If you only have a blank screen with no device icons, then petitboot has not found any bootable options. You can flip to a text console (using Alt+F1) to investigate.

The keys available are:

Keyboard PS3 Controller
Function Up, Down, Left, Right Navigate between boot options
Enter Circle Select boot option
Delete / Backspace Square Boot to GameOS
1 Switch to 720p mode
2 Switch to 1080i mode
3 Switch to 1080p mode
Alt+F1 Switch to text console (Alt+F2 to switch back)

Console

If you're using the petitboot console (either by hitting Alt+F1, or logging-in over the network), you have a fairly standard Linux system available. Some notes:

· Discovered storage devices are mounted under /var/tmp/mnt, named by their device. For example, /dev/ps3da1 is mounted at /var/tmp/mnt/ps3da1.
· To boot a kernel, use kexec: kexec -f --append="root=/dev/ps3da1" /var/tmp/mnt/ps3da1/boot/vmlinux .