PS3 OtherOS FreeBSD 14.3 [my project]

[Low_Plankton_3329]

With almost 20 years since the PS3's release, I was wondering if OtherOS is still available. So I built FreeBSD 14.3 (released June 2025) for the PS3, and lo and behold, it works.
Of course, it won't run at realistic speeds. The single-core PowerPC processor is completely outdated for generic use. There's no GUI, and you should know CLI to use it.
However, considering that the Nintendo Wii can host static websites on NetBSD, it's likely the same can be done for the PS3.
You can find a guide and download an ISO on GitHub. You'll need CFW to use this.
Download: https://github.com/LowPla3329/ps3-freebsd-iso

 

[Berion]

What is that folder in XMB on last screenshot? A loader to reboot into OOS or something else?

a small savefile that allows FreeBSD to access the PS3's HDD.

How so?

 

[Low_Plankton_3329]

What is that folder in XMB on last screenshot? A loader to reboot into OOS or something else?

How so?

This folder is the Game Data Utility. For example, games such as GT5 installed from disc are located in this folder.
/game/FREEBSD00/USRDIR is mounted as the root directory on FreeBSD.
This directory is created when the user first installs a package, and this file will then appear in the XMB.

 

[Berion]

Mounted filesystem as is, or mounted disk image placed there? If you using UFS2 (dev_hdd0/ using it, game dir is there) for FBSD usage, then you should know it is not full safe. Because UFS used by PS3 have some differences.

Anyway, that is very cool project. ^^

 

[aomsin2526]

Looks complicated than it should be, Because I already upstreamed all required patch for it to work since late last year.

For 14, simply apply this patch: https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/commit/754bc3dcd3c42c0342978eb9fb5143b6fce2b33c

Then burn iso into usb, then install it through installer normally into another usb or oos hdd region. Then it should work exactly like on pc.

In my own install, I even use zfs as root. But it require zfs built into kernel (not module) and lot more command when installing.

Also there is a regression of ppc code where it crashed randomly (mostly at boot), this is caused by optimization that works well on new cpu but broke older ones.

Revert: https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/commit/3f24b5056
See more: https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=271826