Your PS5 can now turn into a Linux PC

A developer has developed a Linux kernel to run on some versions of Sony’s PlayStation 5 console. Andy Nguyen already he showed version of Ubuntu running PC games on PS5 last month, and now it has published the installation steps on GitHub this week.

This is a soft mode, so it won’t last between power downs or reboots, but the Linux installation will allow you to play PC games right away. So far we have seen GTA V running with ray tracing at 60fps in Ubuntu on PS5, as well Spider-Man running at 1440p resolution and 60fps.

Nguyen is relying on a fixed vulnerability to convert the PS5 into a Linux PC, which means that this only works on disc-based PS5 consoles with older versions of 3.xx or 4.xx firmware. The latest versions of 5.xx are not currently supported. “Support for 1.xx and 2.xx firmwares may be added in the future, but we will not prioritize this effort,” says Nguyen.

The application does not allow home efforts and broken games we saw it with the PlayStation 4which also relied on an older version of firmware to run Linux on Sony’s console.

The Linux installation on the PS5 includes the VRAM partition and fan behavior, but you may need to disable and restart the WLAN adapter to get full Internet access after the first boot. Although resolutions of 1080p, 1440p, and 4K are all supported, they only run at 60Hz. “120Hz or 30Hz can be added in the future,” says Nguyen.

The developer is also looking for an extension that will make the PS5 restful to allow you to restart Linux when you restart the console. I only recommend trying Linux on PS5 if you are familiar with Linux rules and happy to build your own brick. All options are available at GitHub and a Discord server for other additions.