Syscon
On PS4, the Syscon is, together with the Southbridge, one of the main chips responsible for taking care of the functioning of APU, peripherals, etc.
PS4 Syscon is codenamed Colwick.
Hardware[edit | edit source]
See Syscon Hardware.
Software[edit | edit source]
Syscon Firmware[edit | edit source]
See also PS Vita Syscon Firmware.
Syscon Update package[edit | edit source]
See also PS Vita Syscon Update.
There are many types of Syscon update packages:
- BLNK
- BASE
- SYST
- PTCH #1
- PTCH #2
The PTCH does not contain the entire firmware but only some patched functions that are appended to the base firmware. During the installation of a patch, the patch is flashed to the patch area and the syscon commands table is redirected to the patched one.
In case of Dev/Test Kit or prototype System Software downgrade, the Syscon should theoretically be downgraded using the BASE and/or SYST packages, and maybe also the PTCH package.
The functioning of the PS4 Syscon firmware update is near of the one used on PS Vita but seems more evoluted.
Syscon Non Volatile Storage[edit | edit source]
See also PS Vita Syscon NVS and PS Vita Syscon SNVS.
Syscon NVS is stored in Syscon Flash EEPROM at offset 0x60000.
Syscon NVS is accessible from EMC but only after doing the handshake to unlock EMC functionalities.
Syscon NVS contains the Secure NVS which is encrypted. The SNVS seems to be stored with an history in order to be restored in case of update error.
Syscon NVS is updated during a System Software update. For example, it contains the current System Software version and some hashes of the personalized bootloaders.