Update: I did all the steps below with a clean psxitarch installation to fully update it.
Download here: https://github.com/hippie68/psxitarch-how-to/releases
You can use this file instead of the original psxitarch.tar.xz, to skip step 6 and to start with an updated distro.
The release section also includes an updated initramfs.gpio.gz file, which now properly aligns partitions (see update in step 1 for more information).
You need 3 files: An initramfs file, a Linux kernel in form of a "bzImage" file and "psxitarch.tar.xz", which contains the psxitarch distro files. This is the official website (in Italian language): https://www.psxita.it/psxitarch-linux-v2/
Direct download links (as found on the official website):
- initramfs.cpio.gz (not recommended anymore, see update below)
- bzImage
- psxitarch.tar.xz
Note: Some PS4 models do not have working Wi-Fi when using this Linux kernel. A kernel that has drivers for Wi-Fi dongles built-in is available here: https://www.psxita.it/forum/psxitarch-linux-una-distro-per-ps4-t6120-40.html#p45702
Direct download link:
If you want/need to use this kernel instead of the default one, make sure to rename "bzImage.bin" to "bzImage".
Update: I noticed psxita's original initramfs.cpio.gz does not align partitions during the install phase (4.). This will decrease your USB storage device's write performance and, in the case of SSDs, USB sticks, memory cards, and other flash storage devices, over time even its lifespan. I have modified the file to properly align partitions - you can download it in the release section.
If you are already using psxitarch: Replacing the file on an existing psxitarch installation will not re-align the partitions. It only works during the install phase. You would have to manually modify the partitions from within another OS or install psxitarch again.
You can check if your partitions are aligned from within psxitarch by opening a terminal and typing
sudo parted /dev/sda
and then
align-check
opt
1
align-check
opt
2
Exit parted by entering "q".
The device can be a USB stick, an HDD/SDD connected to a USB adapter, an SD card inside a USB SD card adapter, or whatever else that qualifies as "USB storage device". USB 3.0+ is recommended.
Create a single partition on the USB storage device that uses the whole space and format it to FAT32.
Copy the 3 previously downloaded files "initramfs.cpio.gz", "bzImage", and "psxitarch.tar.xz" to the FAT32 partition.
Plug the USB storage device into USB slot 0, which is the leftmost one up front, and visit a jailbreak website (e.g. for PS4 firmware 7.02 up to 7.55 https://hippie68.github.io). Select the payload "Linux (1 GB)", as it is important not to select "Linux (3 GB)" for the first-time setup(*), and wait for the jailbreak to succeed. When it does, it will boot Linux from USB.
You have to attach a USB keyboard (+ mouse) to enter commands. Use a USB hub if your PS4 doesn't have enough USB slots.
(*) After you have completed the installation (step 4), for future Linux sessions you can use the 3 GB payload, too.
After the boot process is complete, you will see a command line prompt. Enter the following command:
exec install-psxitarch.sh
This script may run for just a few minutes, half an hour or even longer, depending on your USB device's speed. When the script has finished and you're still on the command line (which can sometimes happen), type
resume-boot
to boot into the now-installed psxitarch.
If you don't have a US keyboard: Once you see the desktop, set your keyboard layout by clicking the Mushroom in the upper left corner, then "Language" - "Keyboard Layout".
Click on the Wi-Fi symbol in the upper right corner. Either you're lucky and you own one of the PS4s whose network devices are supported (then connect to your network and proceed to step 6 right away), or you will see the text "No network devices available". Which means you need the alternative kernel mentioned in step 2. With that kernel, you should be able to use some (not all) USB Wi-Fi dongles out-of-the-box. I found a list of Wi-Fi devices that are supposed to have in-built Linux kernel support here: https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi (buy at your own risk!)
If you don't have any Wi-Fi dongles that are supported, you can use a smartphone's USB tethering mode by connecting the smartphone via USB (the cable you use must support data transfer - not all do).
Example for Android smartphones (the menu names may vary with different Android versions):
"Settings" - "Wireless & networks" - "More" - "Tethering & portable hotspot" - "USB tethering" - ENABLE
On the PS4, a new network symbol that looks like an Ethernet plug should replace the Wi-Fi symbol, and psxitarch should now have Internet access. Make sure your smartphone is connected via Wi-Fi if you don't want to waste mobile data.
The distro we have installed right now was released in January 2019. A downside about an Arch Linux installation (which psxitarch is based on) is that the less often you update it, the more difficult it becomes. Psxita has made available update instructions in March 2021 (https://twitter.com/Ps3ita_Team/status/1375799242913157120), however once again it has been a while since then, and those instructions are no longer sufficient. It is still possible to update though, and that is what we will do next.
Click on the Mushroom icon and select "Terminal".
Some currently installed packages would prevent updating, so we will delete them (in the case of jwm-git only temporarily):
sudo pacman -R jwm-git
sudo pacman -Rc openobex openexr
Confirm with "y" each.
Now and later while using pacman you may see the messages "call to execv failed (No such file or directory)" and "error: command failed to execute correctly". This doesn't matter.
Note: After you have deleted "jwm-git", should you reboot before the whole update process (6.) is complete (which is not advised), you will have no desktop anymore but just a terminal. If it lets you enter text, you can still complete any missing steps below. If not, try to open a new terminal by pressing (CTRL-)ALT-2 (or -3, -4, ...) and log in with user "psxita" and password "changeit".
Next, we need to specify a new key server by entering
sudo nano /etc/pacman.d/gnupg/gpg.conf
and replacing the old "hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net" entry, which is now deprecated, with a reliable one, e.g. "hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com". You can save the file by pressing CTRL-X and confirming with "y".
We also need to change pacman's repo. Open the file /etc/pacman.conf by entering
sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf
and change the very last line,
Server = https://psxita.it/repo
to
Server = https://psxita.it/repo-testing
Save and close the file like before, by pressing CTRL-X and confirming with "y".
Furthermore, the planned distro update would fail if we don't update the current keyring first. Enter
sudo pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring
and confirm each question that looks like ":: Import PGP key [...]?" with "y".
We could now start the distro update, but there is one noteworthy problem left: our current pacman is so old that it won't understand a new keyword ("Path") used by hooks at the end of the update process. Fortunately, there is a statically compiled up-to-date pacman available in Arch Linux's user repository (AUR): https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/pacman-static/
As a binary file is provided there as well, let's download that:
curl https://pkgbuild.com/~eschwartz/repo/x86_64-extracted/pacman-static -o pacman-static
And make it executable:
chmod +x pacman-static
Finally, it's time to update the distro:
sudo ./pacman-static -Syu
Note: You could use the currently installed pacman instead, but I can't guarantee this won't lead to further problems down the road. Not recommended.
No matter which pacman we use, it will now download 900+ MB of updates and install them.
Before and during the update process, answer all questions (should any appear) with "y" and always choose "1" if you are asked to input a number.
During the update, pacman will be updated too. So from now on there will be no need to use pacman-static anymore.
To finalize the update, we will need to get jwm (our desktop) back, which we had deleted earlier:
sudo pacman -S jwm
And that's it. Your psxitarch is now fully up-to-date!
Optional: Having downloaded all those packages now occupies quite some disk space. Which may be undesired if the USB storage device we use is of small capacity. If you want to free the space, type
sudo pacman -Scc
That concludes this How-To. I want to make sure it stays up-to-date. If you find any mistakes or want to add information, please create an issue at https://github.com/hippie68/psxitarch-how-to/issues.
Thanks for reading!
Bonus: Fix the audio lag
psxitarch by default has horrendous audio lag. It seems the default audio latency is set to 100 ms. Not good for gaming. To fix this, enter
sudo nano /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
and change the lines
; default-fragments = 4
; default-fragment-size-msec = 25
to
default-fragments = 4
default-fragment-size-msec = 10
It is important to remove the semicolons - otherwise the changes would have no effect. Save by pressing CTRL-X and confirm with "y".
To apply the changes to the currently running psxitarch session, enter
pulseaudio -k
to "kill" the pulseaudio daemon, which should then restart automatically.
You might want to experiment a little with the values, but if you set them too low, you will start to hear audio crackle. The total latency is calculated by (default-fragments * default-fragment-size-msec) in ms.
If you use RetroArch, open it, go to "Audio - Output - Audio Latency (ms)" and change the default setting from 64 to 0. Which indirectly means it will use whatever you have set in daemon.conf, as that value is now higher once again. Make sure the selected audio driver is still "pulse", as it is by default.