After 26 years, the original Sony PlayStation 2 security chip known as MechaCon has been broken wide open through chemical decapping and four years of reverse engineering.

Researcher uyjulian, involved in the project, notes that running backup or copied discs was already possible via software methods, including memory card, HDD, or DVD video player exploits. For 50k series and newer models (Dragon Mecha Con), a "force unlock" patch works without modifying discs.

The ROM dumps alone don't enable a full hardware optical drive emulator, but they allow creating a modchip that replaces the Mecha Con while relying on the DSP to read discs. Dumping the SPC970 ROM requires extensive NVRAM writes.

These dumps will aid full-system low-level emulation since Magic Gate and KELF/KIRX security pass through MechaCon. They also support vulnerability searches enabling Mecha Pwn (code execution on Mecha Con) and Tony Hax (unlocking PS1 mode on SPC970 and all PS1 Mecha Cons).

Game disc contents (excluding DNAS online authentication) are not encrypted, and these dumps don't unlock additional content there.