The Setup
When discussing the PlayStation 3 Ubuntu Linux construct, I mentioned Sony’s previous attempt at a hobbyist kit for the PlayStation 2.
This is the story of that kit. 
The Premise
On May 22, 2002, a limited release of an “enthusiast” developer product was released that converted a PlayStation 2 (with the original shell, not the compressed smaller form factor) into a viable MIPS-based Linux host. This is the PlayStation 2 Linux Kit. While it was not a massive bestseller, it was a valuable niche product that gave a glimpse to thousands of people into how PS2 games are designed, as well as acting as a potential onramp for professional PS2 game development.
Unlike the do-it-yourself nature of the PS3 Linux setup, the PS2 Linux Kit was actually packaged and sold by Sony in limited quantities. It came with a Gentoo distro set, and it provided limited support for CRTs and LCDs. It also came with a hard disk that slotted into the hidden open drive bay in the original PS2 consoles via a proprietary plug interface; a USB keyboard; a USB mouse; an A/V cable; and a network adapter.
Although the release of the product caused a bit of excitement, it shortly became clear that the “enthusiast” aspect of the dev kit meant that there would be little additional product development for it: what-you-got-is-what-you-got. Nevertheless, although it seemed as if Sony as a company did not invest a lot of time or effort in supporting the dev kit, other than for warrantied issues, a developer community quickly arose around the dev kit. Even individual Sony developers got into the swing of things at times.
While the PS2 Linux Kit has seemingly been marginalized even further with the advent of the PS3 and the dramatic change in the latest PS2 consoles (thereby preventing the use of the dev kit), there are still sites devoted to providing useful information and code for it, so there’s still some longevity left for it.
The Action
… And here’s a few of those sites:
- Linux for PlayStation 2 Community : This is the main congregating point for many of the dev kit users and developers, so it’s definitely worth visiting.
- Dr. Henry S. Fortuna’s PS2 dev page
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