Much of the buzz this past weekend has been about people attempting to reverse engineer the hardware behind the latest, and to date the most successful, PS3 “hack”.

Forums, blogs, and even Twitter have been awash with activity as coders, hackers and modders exchange brief messages and ideas about how the device functions and whether or not it can be cloned. The answer seems to be a resounding yes, given that several websites are now claiming to know the exact model of the microchip used in the USB hardware, despite the maker’s best attempts to conceal the information printed on the chip itself.

While some believe the microchip to be a Parallax P8X32A-Q44, given the characteristics and design of the chip in the photos of the device’s internals, I am more inclined to say the chip (as many others are saying) is actually a 44-Pin TQFP PIC18F4550.

A problem many are facing currently is that there are no pictures of the PCB with the microchip removed. Possessing such images would provide greater detail with regard to which pins are being used and where those pins are traced to, but for now further identification attempts are hindered until the product has been released to the public.

To the left is the pin configuration for the microchip that is most likely being used, credit goes to planetadejuego for the original picture of the hardware.

The guys over at logic-sunrise then took this a step further by attempting to figure out the PCB layout from pictures alone.

The general consensus at this time would appear to be that the USB device could be cloned readily and reproduced at a very low cost.

One thing through all of this remains clear, however. Even before the product is released, this is something Sony can definitely detect should users venture online with their modded console, and will likely be patch with future firmwares – this provides a reasonable explanation for the ridiculously high price of the USB device: the creators are in effect taking snatch-and-grab approach before the device gets blocked and rendered useless.

Some so-called-hacker has claimed: “The stick is used to boot a special firmware from itself before the original PS3 firmware starts.” Given the relatively tiny storage size within the chips being used in this device, 32KB, it is fair to say that the above is obviously and completely wrong. What is more likely is that the USB device carries a specific device ID, and when triggered, the USB device then answers challenge responses sent to it. Other than that, I seriously doubt there is any actual file transfer occuring.

[Update]
The guys over at Gamefreax.de have done a full trace of the usb device and concluded that the chip is infact an Atmega, possibly an Atmega16, that emulates a 6 port hub.

Head on over there for a full report!