Mechacon - GoKawiil

Reverse engineers finally dump PlayStation 2's MechaCon security chip

After a four-year effort, researcher DiscoStarslayer, working with developer Libby, successfully decapped and optically dumped the firmware of the PS2's MechaCon chip, a feat no one had achieved in the console's 26-year history. The pair used an exploit Libby discovered to extract the firmware and are now documenting metadata and hashes, with a full technical write-up promised soon.

techspot.com · 2026-09-17

Hobbyist decrypts PS2's MechaCon security chip after four-year reverse-engineering effort

Canadian retro hardware enthusiast DiscoStarslayer has successfully reverse-engineered and dumped the CXP102064 MechaCon chip found in the original 1999 PlayStation 2 console. The process involved chemically decapping the chip to expose its die, then using microscopes and optical dumping techniques before a software exploit finally allowed extraction of its data. The entire effort took four years to complete.

tomshardware.com · 2026-09-16