Original Sony PlayStation 2 security chip ‘broken wide open’ after 26 years — chemical decapping and four years of reverse engineering unlocks MechaCon secrets
The ‘magic security chip’ inside the original PlayStation 2 has been successfully reverse engineered and dumped after four years of effort.
The 'MechaCon' security chip found in original PlayStation 2 consoles has finally been cracked open after a four-year effort, according to Canadian retro hardware and software enthusiast DiscoStarslayer. The secret behind the CXP102064 MechaCon chip, which controlled the PS2's optical and flash drive mechanics and played a crucial role in Sony's game optical disc security, has now been revealed.
Achieving this milestone required decapping the chip chemically to expose its die, and then employing microscopes and optical dumping techniques to analyze the silicon chip circuitry. DiscoStarslayer credits Libby for finding an exploit that finally allowed for software extraction of the chip's data. This accomplishment is a significant boon to hardware preservation, repair, and emulation projects, and opens up new possibilities for homebrew developments.
The MechaCon chip was not only used in PS2 Fat consoles but also in certain arcade machines from the era, such as the Namco System 246, System 256, and Konami Python 1.
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