SETI on PlayStation3 ?

[jadjur]

I haven't yet bought a PS3 but have heard that it is quite easy to install Linux on it. This brings me to the question related to the SETI@home programme (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence): is it possible to install Linux on PS3, to then install and run BOINC on Linux PS3 (the software to run the calculations) and take advantage of PS3's CELL?

For those unfamiliar with SETI@home and other BOINC projects (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing), you can use your computer to help teams calculate raw data for everything from satellite radion data to weather simulations...
You can get more details here: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

So does any of you use your PS3 to run BOINC calculations and help science move forward?

 

[Graham]

My understanding is that Seti @ home for the PS3 is currently in an early alpha state, but is compiled to take advantage of the SPEs (I may be wrong through)...

google:
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=39910

 

[Bohdy]

Do you really want to hasten our destruction at the hands of malevolent aliens??

 

[-tkf-]

Chess

I thought about Chess online.

Not just Human vs Human, but Humans vs Deep Blue (or whatever it´s called)

Chess players all over the world could play Deep Blue, perfect PR stuff, espcially if Deep Blue was Cell based

On the same note, wouldn´t a distributed Chess Engine be the most powerfull Chess player ever? If it´s possible to do that of course. I don´t know how the chess algorythms work.

 

[zed]

good idea, i remeber reading recently a comp had solved checkers (i think)
now no doubt they could do the same thing with chess (no idea how long it will take), though of course this begs the question do u really what chess solved (ie the perfect game)

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So does any of you use your PS3 to run BOINC calculations and help science move forward?

Are you aware of the Folding@Home application? The PS3 system OS incorporates a Folding client that processes protein folding, helping in medical research. The introduction of this to the PS3 has tripled the amount of CPU power working on this science...

http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=osstats

This isn't something confiined to PS3 Linux. Sony are actively pursuing it as an inherent aspect to the console features.

 

[jadjur]

Are you aware of the Folding@Home application? The PS3 system OS incorporates a Folding client that processes protein folding, helping in medical research. The introduction of this to the PS3 has tripled the amount of CPU power working on this science...

Yes actually, it's seeing the Folding@Home application on a retail demo unit and reading about it that sparked my interest in other BOINC applications on PS3, such as SETI@home. It would be great if they could write a BOINC application that runs from XMB, instead of going through the hassle of installing another OS and run applications that aren't fully optimized for PS3. The advantage of Folding@Home is that it is optimized for the PS3 and through its simplicity invites the user to contribute with a simple click on XMB. Imagine if the same was applicable to BOINC...

I am now running SETI@home and Climateprediction.net on my desktop and laptop, but climateprediction.net is too resource-intensive (I get assignments that require 1200 calculation hours...) and would highly benefit from parallel processing that the PS3 offers...
While the PS3 is the lead candidate for such applications due to its sheer raw power, having the ability to do this on the other consoles (Wii, Xbox 360) would be a nice cherry on top, though I wouldn't rely on the older 360 models but rather the new-generation ones that do not overheat...

Maybe if a lot of gamers do this, it would start a whole wave of positive PR for the industry that talks about the benefits of consoles rather than focusing on the issue of 'violence' in games...

 

[hey69]

I thought about Chess online.

Not just Human vs Human, but Humans vs Deep Blue (or whatever it´s called)

Chess players all over the world could play Deep Blue, perfect PR stuff, espcially if Deep Blue was Cell based

On the same note, wouldn´t a distributed Chess Engine be the most powerfull Chess player ever? If it´s possible to do that of course. I don´t know how the chess algorythms work.

and the guy who would beat the Almighty CPU would be the CHESSGOD OF ETERNITY whoah

 

[willardjuice]

I'm quite content that I have my Blu-ray player folding for the benefit of cancer research and not wasting on the search for aliens.

 

[dlm]

I thought about Chess online.

Not just Human vs Human, but Humans vs Deep Blue (or whatever it´s called)

Chess players all over the world could play Deep Blue, perfect PR stuff, espcially if Deep Blue was Cell based

On the same note, wouldn´t a distributed Chess Engine be the most powerfull Chess player ever? If it´s possible to do that of course. I don´t know how the chess algorythms work.

Unfortunately, storage, memory, and processing power are all factors in a chess program. Throwing more processing power at it won't necessarily make it any better. Actually, throwing more of all three won't necessarily make it better if the computer doesn't understand what sorts of goals are interesting.

There's probably room though, if you already have a central machine to do some of the kickoff work and distribute out calculating some of the bitboards to other machines, you could probably get much *faster* performance. Probably not much *better* though.