Reverse engineer DiscoStarslayer has successfully extracted the contents of the CXP102064 security chip from the Sony PlayStation 2 console. The project, which took four years to complete, marks the first time this component has been compromised in 26 years.
The CXP102064 chip, also known as MechaCon, was produced in 1999. It features a 16-bit Sony SPC970 core operating at a frequency of approximately 33.87 MHz. The component was primarily used in early fat models of the PlayStation 2 console.
The chip manages critical hardware functions, including laser control, focus, tracking, and the operation of the optical drive tray. It also handles disc authentication, regional locking, MagicGate encryption for memory cards, and KELF executable file management.
Because the code and keys are stored in mask ROM, they cannot be read through standard programming methods. The researcher had to decapsulate the chip and perform an optical dump of the silicon surface to access the data.
