The RTE

Background

There are basically two major things that hinder Linux development on the PS2. The RTE is one of them. The problem is that Sony never intended us to run Linux directly on the hardware, probably in an effort to prevent piracy and such like. Instead, they built an RTE (run-time environment) to provide an abstraction layer between Linux and some of the real PS2 hardware. For obvious reasons, this RTE is not open source. It isn't freely available either, simply because booting it in a legal way requires it to be on a bona-fida PS2 disc.

Video Mode

If you start the RTE for the first time or without a memory card inserted, it will use the default configuration. The default video mode, which is usually VGA, may not be the one you want. To override it, hold down one of the following combinations while the RTE boots.

  • VGA: Select + L1
  • NTSC: Select + R1
  • PAL: Select + R2

Configuration

The configuration is loaded from the /BWLINUX folder on the memory card in slot 1. It is appended to the configuration found on the disc. The two files involved are p2lboot.cnf and p2lboot.opt. We would describe these here but they are already well described here.

An Alternative

You may be wondering why we put up with the RTE when the Independence Exploit should make it possible for us to create our own bootloader. It is indeed possible and mrbrown began doing just that. He named the project TheGreatExperiment. Sadly, it was never finished. Such a project is very difficult because it requires an extremely detailed knowledge of the underlying PS2 hardware. That's not why mrbrown didn't finish the project though. Read more about it here.