Boot linux on the 360

-from MydediBox
Here is a crappy help to boot linux on the 360.

First, you need :

– 360 xbox with an exploitable kernel (4532 or 4548).
– Dvd drive flashed with xtreme firmware.
– Serial adapter (http://mydedibox.homelinux.com/1.jpg).
– King kong patched.
– Xell loader (thanks tmbinc).
– A powerpc toolchain (http://kegel.com/crosstool/)

– Install NFS server on your linux box, and make a share available for the 360 linux kernel to load the filesystem (eg. /tftpboot/x360). You also need portmap installed.
For help if needed :
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/NFS-HOWTO/server.html
http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=nfs+server+howto&btnG=Recherche+Google&meta=

– Now we need to make the filesystem, i choose ubuntu 6.10 powerpc64 livecd iso (ubuntu-6.10-desktop-powerpc.iso), mount it, install squashfs-tools then extract the compressed livecd content :

ninux$ sudo mount -t squashfs -o loop,ro ubuntu-livecd/casper/filesystem.squashfs mnt/
ninux$ cp -a mnt/. /tftpboot/x360

Note that there isnt enough device copied from the ubuntu compressed file system to our nfs root file system to boot correctly. Copy your current “/dev” folder to the nfs share :

ninux$ cp -a /dev/. /tftpboot/x360/dev”

– Edit the .config file from tmbinc (http://mydedibox.homelinux.com/downloads/x360/.config) so the kernel find the filesystem on your computer ip : “root=/dev/sdb1 ip=10.0.0.204 video=xenonfb console=tty0 nfsroot=10.0.0.1:/tftpboot/x360”

– Recompile the kernel (of course with the xenon patch applied) :

ninux$ alias smake=’make ARCH=powerpc CROSS_COMPILE=powerpc64-unknown-linux-gnu-‘
ninux$ smake

– Now upload the Xell loader via serial to boot your newly kernel (either by tftp or cdrom, i prefere tftp), it should load the filesystem from your NFS server. You can then chroot an usb disk from there so you dont need the NFS server anymore (a lot tricky).

– I had a probleme with the password from the livecd to pass the prompt so i added the option “single” to the kernel config line (“root=/dev/sdb1 ip=10.0.0.204 video=xenonfb console=tty0 nfsroot=10.0.0.1:/tftpboot/x360 single”) so i can change the root passwd then removed this option.

Now i should look to make an initrd so my usb disk will be available when the kernel is booting. It would prevent all this tricks.

Edit : You can also install linux on your 360 hard drive, so you dont need the nfs part anymore. Note that its not sure that you will be able to use it again after format it to a linux filesystem.
Anyway if you want so, mount the “filesystem.squashfs” file under your nfs share (“/tftpboot/x360/mnt/fs” for exemple) so it is available under your 360 linux box.
When logged on the 360, use cfdisk for exemple to make a partition on your 360 hdd (/dev/sda), format it with mkfs.ext3.
Mount it (mount /dev/sda1 /temp) then copy the filesystem on it (“cp -a /mnt/fs/. /temp).
Now recompile your kernel with this option : “root=/dev/sda1 video=xenonfb console=tty0”. You now have linux installed on your hdd !
Finnish the work .. (edit /etc/fstab, /etc/hosts, /etc/network/interfaces etc …).

PS3s already pwning Folding@Home leaderboard; tonight’s Foldathon to bring total dominance

-from engadget
If you want to try it you can download the program here, just remember to run it when your not using the computer.

Well we knew that the Cell processor — which makes the PS3 a pretty cheap supercomputer,along with its myriad other roles — was well suited to the task of crunching numbers for Stanford’s Folding@Home project, but there’s no way we could have expected the unbelievable impact made by 35,000 some gamers in only a few days. In what can only be described as a total hijacking of the leaderboard, PS3s are currently accounting for 734 of the 990 teraflops Folding processes at peak capacity; in other words, Cell processors have more than tripled the project’s power even though they only account for around 13% of the total machines grinding away at any given time. Now keep in mind that Sony’s boxes have only been pitching in since midweek, and with tonight’s Sunday Night Foldathon — an event which encourages PS3 owners to simultaneously run the app while they sleep — we should see even more impressive performance as the slumbering masses donate record numbers of cycles. This would also probably be a good time to direct you towards instructions for joining Team Engadget, and also to suggest that even though this is primarily PS3-centric, that shouldn’t stop other PC-equipped team members and owners of even bigger supercomputers (we’re looking at you, IBM) from participating.

Linux Bootloader for xbox360 – XeLL

Well, thats what it looks like! Here’s the readme:
XeLL is the Xenon Linux Loader.
It’s a second-stage bootloader and is usually run by an exploit. The method of booting this is not a part of this project. XeLL catches CPU threads, sets them up (basically setting HRMOR to zero), loads an ELF file from either network (tftp) or CDROM, and launches it. It also contains a flat device tree for linux. cdrom.c includes a very simple ISO9660 parser, which tries to boot the file named “”vmlinux”.
lwIP (http://www.sics.se/~adam/lwip/) is used for networking. Network config is currently hardcoded in network.c (and main.c). XeLL also contains a HTTP server. It is not really used.
XeLL is licensed under the GPL v2, and no other version. Xenon-specific stuff of XeLL was written by Felix Domke , other parts where taken from other free sourcecodes. No non-free hardware documentation was used for developing XeLL.
XeLL is in a very early stage, but is (most of the time) fully working

Grab it here – Keep in mind these sources will need to be compiled before they are ran on your xbox360.

In order to run this current loader, you will need to execute the compiled version through serial cable, after booting a modified shader via the king kong disc (with a firmware modded dvd-rom), and you will need to compile your own linux kernel aswell. This is obviously for the more savvy of the xbox users, but keep in mind this is a very early release with limited support (samsung sata drivers are not supported yet, but hitachi confirmed working great).

Felix Domke is apparently working on a linux live cd that will be easily booted for the more non-savvy users out there 🙂

Note (Xant): Of course you’ll need an Xbox360 with the Hypervisor Vulnerability (kernel 4532 or 4548), it will not work with the new patched 4552 kernel.

Thanks to stonersmurf from xbh for his info and testing!