PS3 plays SACD from the XMB with the exception of The 40GB units (all regions) DO NOT offer SACD playback AT ALL.  That is the CECHG, and CECHH models.   SO, Linux won't support it EVER, because the BR-D drive will not recognize it.   That will be the same with Audio-DVD, and from what I read, PS3 doesn't support it, so you won't get it from LINUX, because the DRIVE ITSELF won't recognize the format.  You can't make a drive read an unsupported format from any software.

They are also talking about SACD, so I got info on that too.

SACD is supported on: CECHB, CECHA, CECHC, CECHE, and CECHF models.

Wonder of the people at that LINK you provided are aware the 40GB units won't even recogniza a SACD disc, period.

You can look at the side of the PS3 at this label:

If you have the SACD logo, then it is supported.

System software v1.80 introduced a ‘bitmapping’ option.
V1.90 added an alternative bitmapping setting, plus an upsampling option CD, enabling conversion from 44.1 to 88.2 or 176.4 kHz. The latter only works via HDMI.
V2.00 introduced optical output for SA-CD. Initially it offered a choice between conversion to DTS multichannel and PCM stereo but as of v2.01 only the latter remains.
V2.10 featured yet an additional bitmapping setting.

What about the CD layer of a hybrid SA-CD? The ‘red book’ audio or ‘CD-DA’ layer you can import but with an SA-CD you can only access this when under System Settings ‘Disc Auto-Start’ is switched off.

Why did Sony take SA-CD out of PS3 again? Sony is under strong pressure to reduce the cost of the console and SA-CD playback is simply not a function that’s essential to game play (unlike Blu-ray Disc playback, PS3 games are published on BD-ROM discs); so it’s not even related. Did it save cost? I would not think so, really, it's an optical drive issue... Perhaps the elimination of SA-CD allowed use of cheaper PCM DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters) instead of DSD DACs but this is unlikely since PS3 can convert DSD to PCM in software. Also decompression of DST to DSD it can handle in software too. So rather than in the ‘back end’ of the hardware, the cost reduction more likely lies in the ‘front end’, in the circuitry needed in the optical drive for dealing with SA-CD’s unique copy protection techniques. However, lacking solid information about this means we can only speculate why it was removed.

This means, if the SYSTEM doesn't even support it, you WILL NOT get it from Linux, you can't because there is no hardware number one, or firmware support.

DVD-Audio?  Nothing like SACD, as far as protection and file system.  DVD-A is a digital format for delivering very high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio includes no video.  PS3 also supports this format, and should be in ALL models.   IT is basically the same as a CD, it just supports better audio like DD5.1, DTS, and more tracks.  Audio on a DVD-Audio disc can be stored in many different bit-rate/sampling rate/channel combinations.  DVD-Audio is in a format war with Super Audio CD... 

A project called "DVD audio Tools" provides free/open source DVD-Audio authoring tools for Linux. However, the PS3 optical drive won't recognize the disc, so you won't get it from any software.

IF anyone CARED to read the specs, people would have their answers:

SUPPORTED FORMATS:
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD,
SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side) (No SACD 40GiB Model. 

DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW.

Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Well, as I said, DVD-A is not supported.  The drive, that being the PS3s Blu-Ray drive, does not recognize the DVD-A when you put it in, so, you can't read what it doesn't support.   The PS3 won't care that you said "ALL IT IS, IS...." You simply can't force the drive to recognize it using software.  You would need a firmware change to get the drive to recognize it.  Since there is a format war between SACD and DVD-A, Sony chose SACD.

I only put in SACD information because that thread you pointed to was also referencing it.

My post also says WHY SACD was dropped, I have it all there, you repeating it doesn't change anything.

I wrote:

Why did Sony take SA-CD out of PS3 again? Sony is under strong pressure to reduce the cost of the console and SA-CD playback is simply not a function that’s essential to game play (unlike Blu-ray Disc playback, PS3 games are published on BD-ROM discs); so it’s not even related. Did it save cost? I would not think so, really, it's an optical drive issue... Perhaps the elimination of SA-CD allowed use of cheaper PCM DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters) instead of DSD DACs but this is unlikely since PS3 can convert DSD to PCM in software. Also decompression of DST to DSD it can handle in software too. So rather than in the ‘back end’ of the hardware, the cost reduction more likely lies in the ‘front end’, in the circuitry needed in the optical drive for dealing with SA-CD’s unique copy protection techniques. However, lacking solid information about this means we can only speculate why it was removed.

There is is, we know that already...

I believe Powerslave is right.  You're pretty close to saying you should be able to play a HDDVD on a blu-ray player becuase they use the same codecs and both have a blue laser.  If you reseach a little bit you will learn that A SACD is similar to DVD-A.  Much the way Blu-Ray is similar to HDDVD.

Powerslave wrote:

SUPPORTED FORMATS:
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD,
SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side) (No SACD 40GiB Model.

DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW.

Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Are there any PS3 games on a DVD?

I know there are physical differences in Blu-ray and HDDVD which is why I made point to add the phrase Pretty Close  Maybe I should go with a more familiar phrase.  Apples and Oranges.  They're similar yet they still have their differences.  BTW...How many audio DVDs do you have?  I might have one.  Then again it might be a regular conventional Video DVD that cam along with the CD.

ERIFNOMI wrote:

I know there are physical differences in Blu-ray and HDDVD which is why I made point to add the phrase Pretty Close  Maybe I should go with a more familiar phrase.  Apples and Oranges.  They're similar yet they still have their differences.

Ok, I got it. Then again, you can't cross apples and oranges while DVD-A and DVD-V are so closely related they can be combined on a single layer of a single disc without having to resort to exotic deviations of the standard like you'd need to do with BD and HD-DVD. Warner's Total HD was such a monster.

Anyway, I'll rest my case until I have further proof. Too bad I'm not experienced enough to do such a thing like porting a DVD-A playback stack from PC to PS3.

BTW...How many audio DVDs do you have?  I might have one.  Then again it might be a regular conventional Video DVD that cam along with the CD.

I've got six or seven, waiting in shrinkwrap until my SACD player breaks down and is replaced by a dual format player. I've got another handful on my wishlist which I may buy once I can actually play them. Agreed, not that many that it justifies a lot of effort but the thrill would, wouldn't it? Especially after so many people said it couldn't be done ;-)