Syscon Hardware
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Syscon is, together with Southbridge, one of the main chips responsible for taking care of the functioning of APU, peripherals, etc.
PS4 Syscon is codenamed Colwick. It is a custom Renesas RL78/G13.
Hardware revisions
| Production Start Date (<=) | PS2 Mechacon | PSP Syscon | PS3 Syscon | Vita Syscon | PS4 Syscon | Used IC/CPU Core |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/2013 | - | - | - | - | C0L | Renesas R5F100PL (RL78/G13, 100 pin) |
| 04/2015 | - | - | - | - | C0L2 | Renesas R5F101LL (RL78/G13, 64 pin) |
Pictures
Memory Layout
| Offset | Size | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x00000 | 0x20000 | Code Area | |
| 0x20000 | 0xD0000 | Reserved | OCDROM is here |
| 0xF0000 | 0x800 | SFR Area | |
| 0xF0800 | 0x800 | Reserved | |
| 0xF1000 | 0x1000 | Data Area | |
| 0xF2000 | 0xCF00 | Mirror | Mirror of a portion of code area |
| 0xFEF00 | 0xFE0 | RAM | |
| 0xFFEE0 | 0x20 | GPR | |
| 0xFFF00 | 0x100 | SFR 2nd Area |
Commands
| Command ID | Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x00 | Reset | Detects synchronization in communication | |
| 0x9A | Baud Rate Set | Sets the baud rate for single-wire UART. | |
| 0x20 | Chip Erase | Erases the entire flash memory area. | |
| 0x22 | Block Erase | Erases a specified area in the flash memory. | |
| 0x40 | Programming | Writes data to a specified area in the flash memory. | |
| 0x13 | Verify | Compares the contents in a specified area in the flash memory with data transmitted from the programmer. | |
| 0x32 | Block Blank Check | Checks the erase status of a specified block in the flash memory. | |
| 0xC0 | Silicon Signature | Acquires 78K0R/Kx3 information (part number, flash memory configuration, etc.). | |
| 0xC5 | Version Get | Acquires version information of the 78K0R/Kx3 and firmware. | |
| 0xB0 | Checksum | Acquires checksum data of a specified area. | |
| 0xA0 | Security Set | Sets security information. |
Statuses
| Command ID | Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x04 | Command number error | Error returned if a command not supported is received | |
| 0x05 | Parameter error | Error returned if command information (parameter) is invalid | |
| 0x06 | Normal acknowledgment (ACK) | Normal acknowledgment | |
| 0x07 | Checksum error | Error returned if data in a frame transmitted from the programmer is abnormal | |
| 0x0F | Verify error | Error returned if a verify error has occurred upon verifying data transmitted from the programmer | |
| 0x10 | Protect error | Error returned if an attempt is made to execute processing that is prohibited by the Security Set command | |
| 0x15 | Negative acknowledgment (NACK) | Negative acknowledgment | |
| 0x1A | MRG10 error | Erase verify error | |
| 0x1B | MRG11 error | Internal verify error or blank check error during data write | |
| 0x1C | Write error | Write error | |
| 0xFF | Processing in progress (BUSY) | Busy response |
Command Frame Format
- SOH | LEN | COM | INFO | SUM | ETX
Data Frame Format
- STX | LEN | DAT | SUM | ETX/ETB
Description of each symbol
| Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SOH | Command Frame Header | 0x01 Always |
| STX | Data Frame Header | 0x02 Always |
| LEN | Length of info | In Command Frame: length of COM + command info length / In Data frame: Data info length |
| COM | Command number | |
| SUM | Checksum | checksum of command (initial byte (0x00) - LEN - COM - INFO ) / (initial byte (0x00) - LEN - DAT) |
| ETB | Footer of data frame | 0x17 Always |
| ETX | Command frame footer | 0x03 Always |
Pinout (100pin)
| Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | P142 | |
| 2 | P141 | VR-VRDY1 |
| 3 | P140 | VR-VRDY2 |
| 4 | P120 | power switch (USBHUB) |
| 5 | P47 | VR-VRHOT_ICRIT |
| 6 | P46 | power switch (BUZZER) |
| 7 | P45 | NC |
| 8 | P44 | VR-PWROK + APU-PWROK |
| 9 | P43 | APU-RESET# |
| 10 | P42 | (HDR-A SPI-CS) |
| 11 | P41 | power switch (PSU-7) |
| 12 | P40 | TOOL0 -> HDR-A pin 22 (open circuit between pin and header) |
| 13 | RESET# | -> HDR-A pin 24 |
| 14 | P124 | pulldown? |
| 15 | P123 | power switch (PSU-5) |
| 16 | P137 | testpoint? |
| 17 | P122 | -> HDR-A pin 28 (4bit input-only, port 12) |
| 18 | P121 | -> HDR-A pin 29 (4bit input-only, port 12) |
| 19 | REGC | cap to GND |
| 20 | Vss | GND |
| 21 | EVss0 | GND |
| 22 | Vdd | Vcc |
| 23 | EVdd0 | == pin 22 |
| 24 | P60 | APU i2c dev 0xba |
| 25 | P61 | APU i2c dev 0xba |
| 26 | P62 | APU i2c dev 0x78/0x98 |
| 27 | P63 | APU i2c dev 0x78/0x98 |
| 28 | P31 | FAN-CTL |
| 29 | P64 | power switch (HDMI-0 + APU-4) |
| 30 | P65 | LED |
| 31 | P66 | LED |
| 32 | P67 | LED |
| 33 | P77 | pulldown |
| 34 | P76 | |
| 35 | P75 | APU? |
| 36 | P74 | |
| 37 | P73 | power switch (USBBRIDGE + HDD) |
| 38 | P72 | -> HDR-A pin 12 (HDR-A SPI-SO) |
| 39 | P71 | (HDR-A SPI-SI) |
| 40 | P70 | -> HDR-A pin 10 (HDR-A SPI-CLK) |
| 41 | P06 | power switch(PSU-1) |
| 42 | P05 | |
| 43 | EVss1 | GND |
| 44 | P80 | STM8-PWR pin 7 (NRST) |
| 45 | P81 | NC testpoint |
| 46 | P82 | LED |
| 47 | P83 | power switch(PSU-4) |
| 48 | P84 | pulldown? |
| 49 | P85 | power switch (PSU-2) |
| 50 | P86 | power switch (APU-0) + PSW-APU-3 pin 3 |
| 51 | P87 | VR-EN + power switch (APU-1) |
| 52 | P30 | NC testpoint |
| 53 | EVdd1 | Vcc |
| 54 | P50 | power switch (SB-1 + SB-2 + DDR3) |
| 55 | P51 | power switch (SB-0) (6pin near wifi + 8pin between SC/SB) |
| 56 | P52 | testpoint? |
| 57 | P53 | VR-SM_CLK |
| 58 | P54 | VR-SM_DIO |
| 59 | P55 | power switch (APU-2) |
| 60 | P56 | |
| 61 | P57 | |
| 62 | P17 | |
| 63 | P16 | SB-TP0 looks like SB -> SC interrupt line (INTP5) |
| 64 | P15 | SB-TP1 (SPI-CLK) |
| 65 | P14 | SB-TP2 (SPI-SI) + SC-P11 in a weird way? + elsewhere |
| 66 | P13 | SB-TP3 (SPI-SO) |
| 67 | P12 | -> HDR-A pin 15 (SC ucmd UART) |
| 68 | P11 | -> HDR-A pin 16 (SC ucmd UART) |
| 69 | P10 | SB-TP4 (SPI-CS) |
| 70 | P101 | power switch (VR) |
| 71 | P110 | |
| 72 | P111 | |
| 73 | P146 | NC |
| 74 | P147 | power switch (HDMI-1) |
| 75 | P100 | power switch (PSU-0) |
| 76 | P156 | pulldown? |
| 77 | P155 | pulldown? |
| 78 | P154 | PSW-APU-2 pin 1 + PSW-APU-3 pin 1 |
| 79 | P153 | -> HDR-G pin 11 |
| 80 | P152 | -> HDR-G pin 15 |
| 81 | P151 | power switch (PSU-3) |
| 82 | P150 | WIFI reset? |
| 83 | P27 | NC testpoint |
| 84 | P26 | STM8-PWR pin 1 + HDR-C pin 8 (POWER#) (serial clock) |
| 85 | P25 | STM8-EJECT pin 1 + HDR-C pin 7 (EJECT#) |
| 86 | P24 | pulldown? |
| 87 | P23 | pulldown? |
| 88 | P22 | |
| 89 | P21 | NC testpoint |
| 90 | P20 | |
| 91 | P130 | power switch (PSU-6) (P130 is tied to sc-internal RESET) |
| 92 | P102 | |
| 93 | P04 | i2c (PCIE clockgen smbus?) |
| 94 | P03 | -> HDR-F pin 1 (i2c (PCIE clockgen smbus?)) |
| 95 | P02 | -> HDR-F pin 2 (XXX did I fuckup the HDR-F mapping here?) |
| 96 | P01 | |
| 97 | P00 | |
| 98 | P145 | |
| 99 | P144 | |
| 100 | P143 |
Dump and Restore
We are able to make a 1:1 copy of a PS4 Syscon and put it on another chip. This allows to install a dump of a PS4 Syscon to a brand new chip then swap it.
This is often used in firmware revert Downgrade method to avoid having to flash the same chip each time one wants to revert firmware but instead only have to swap the chips.
Syscon glitching
By glitching Syscon, it is possible to dump its EEPROM, including NVS.
To be documented.