[SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

vrocco · 2020-12-03 01:03:19

My Proxmark was working fine but I hadn't updated it in a while. I did a git pull and make clean && make all, followed by make install, and then flashed the proxmark using pm3-flash-all. All of the sudden I can't read anything. When I do a hw tune, it shows the antennas aren't working.

Checked screws, loosened, tightened, tried a different antenna (both HF and LF), tried flashing again (both bootrom and then fullimage, and using the "all" script). Unplugged and then did hw connect. Nothing is working. I have a hard time believing that the hardware just suddenly went bad in conjunction with upgrading the software, so I'm guessing this is a software issue, but I'm out of ideas to try.

Searched the forums and while there were some similar symptoms to mine, none of the fixes that worked in those threads did anything different for me.

Please help to get my proxmark working again. Below is output from hw commands. Let me know if you need to see something else.

Platform is Windows10 using ProxSpace

[usb] pm3 --> hw version

 [ Proxmark3 RFID instrument ]

 [ CLIENT ]
  client: RRG/Iceman/master/v4.9237-2192-geffe02d1d-dirt...-unclean 2020-12-02 07:49:34
  compiled with MinGW-w64 9.3.0 OS:Windows (64b) ARCH:x86_64

 [ PROXMARK3 ]
  firmware.................. PM3RDV4
  external flash............ present
  smartcard reader.......... present
  FPC USART for BT add-on... present

 [ ARM ]
  bootrom: RRG/Iceman/master/v4.9237-2192-geffe02d1d-dirt...-unclean 2020-12-02 07:50:44
       os: RRG/Iceman/master/v4.9237-2192-geffe02d1d-dirt...-unclean 2020-12-02 07:51:12
  compiled with GCC 8.3.1 20190703 (release) [gcc-8-branch revision 273027]

 [ FPGA ]
  LF image built for 2s30vq100 on 2020-07-08 at 23: 8: 7
  HF image built for 2s30vq100 on 2020-07-08 at 23: 8:19
  HF FeliCa image built for 2s30vq100 on 2020-07-08 at 23: 8:30

 [ Hardware ]
  --= uC: AT91SAM7S512 Rev B
  --= Embedded Processor: ARM7TDMI
  --= Nonvolatile Program Memory Size: 512K bytes, Used: 319279 bytes (61%) Free: 205009 bytes (39%)
  --= Second Nonvolatile Program Memory Size: None
  --= Internal SRAM Size: 64K bytes
  --= Architecture Identifier: AT91SAM7Sxx Series
  --= Nonvolatile Program Memory Type: Embedded Flash Memory


[usb] pm3 --> hw status
[#] Memory
[#]   BigBuf_size.............38816
[#]   Available memory........38816
[#] Tracing
[#]   tracing ................1
[#]   traceLen ...............0
[#]   dma8 memory.............-2115352
[#]   dma16 memory............-2115352
[#]   toSend memory...........-2115352
[#] Current FPGA image
[#]   mode....................Ω
[#] Flash memory
[#]   Baudrate................24 MHz
[#]   Init....................OK
[#]   Memory size.............2 mbits / 256 kb
[#]   Unique ID...............0xD567A882A783BA26
[#] Smart card module (ISO 7816)
[#]   version.................v2.06
[#] LF Sampling config
[#]   [q] divisor.............95 ( 125.00 kHz )
[#]   [b] bits per sample.....8
[#]   [d] decimation..........1
[#]   [a] averaging...........Yes
[#]   [t] trigger threshold...0
[#]   [s] samples to skip.....0
[#] LF Sampling Stack
[#]   Max stack usage.........4136 / 8480 bytes
[#] LF T55XX config
[#]            [r]               [a]   [b]   [c]   [d]   [e]   [f]   [g]
[#]            mode            |start|write|write|write| read|write|write
[#]                            | gap | gap |  0  |  1  | gap |  2  |  3
[#] ---------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
[#] fixed bit length (default) |  29 |  17 |  15 |  47 |  15 | N/A | N/A |
[#]     long leading reference |  29 |  17 |  15 |  47 |  15 | N/A | N/A |
[#]               leading zero |  29 |  17 |  15 |  40 |  15 | N/A | N/A |
[#]    1 of 4 coding reference |  29 |  17 |  15 |  31 |  15 |  47 |  63 |
[#]
[#] HF 14a config
[#]   [a] Anticol override....0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [b] BCC override........0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [2] CL2 override........0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [3] CL3 override........0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [r] RATS override.......0 ( No ) follow standard
[#] Transfer Speed
[#]   Sending packets to client...
[#]   Time elapsed............500ms
[#]   Bytes transferred.......166400
[#]   Transfer Speed PM3 -> Client = 332800 bytes/s
[#] Various
[#]   Max stack usage.........4136 / 8480 bytes
[#]   DBGLEVEL................1 ( ERROR )
[#]   ToSendMax...............-1
[#]   ToSend BUFFERSIZE.......2308
[#]   Slow clock..............31749 Hz
[#] Installed StandAlone Mode
[#]   HF Mifare ultra fast sniff/sim/clone - aka VIGIKPWN (Colin Brigato)
[#] Flash memory dictionary loaded
[usb] pm3 --> hw tune
[=] REMINDER: 'hw tune' doesn't actively tune your antennas, it's only informative
[=] Measuring antenna characteristics, please wait...
[-] 12
[=] ---------- LF Antenna ----------
[+] LF optimal: 1832072.03 V -   0.00 kHz
[+] Approx. Q factor (*): 319594.8 by peak voltage measurement
[+] LF antenna is OK
[=] ---------- HF Antenna ----------
[!] HF antenna is UNUSABLE

(*) Q factor must be measured without tag on the antenna

[-] Not showing LF tuning graph since all values is zero.

Last edited by vrocco (2020-12-03 20:14:41)

gator96100 · 2020-12-03 01:28:47

I see you are using an outdated ProxSpace version. If you are using a ProxSpace version prior to v3.7 you will need to do a reinstall, otherwise the ps-upgrade command should do the trick. I doubt updating ProxSpace will make any difference, but please try it anyway.

vrocco · 2020-12-03 03:07:36

I did not realize that @gator96100.......I'm curious where it shows that in the stuff I posted.

Anyway, I went ahead and just nuked my whole ProxSpace folder and downloaded the latest release of ProxSpace, pulled the latest Proxmark3 from github (RRG/Iceman, of course), recompiled, reflashed.

However, still no luck. Looks the same after that:

pm3 ~/proxmark3$ proxmark3 com3
[=] Session log C:\ProxSpace\pm3/.proxmark3/logs/log_20201203.txt
[=] Using UART port com3
[=] Communicating with PM3 over USB-CDC


  ██████╗ ███╗   ███╗█████╗
  ██╔══██╗████╗ ████║╚═══██╗
  ██████╔╝██╔████╔██║ ████╔╝
  ██╔═══╝ ██║╚██╔╝██║ ╚══██╗
  ██║     ██║ ╚═╝ ██║█████╔╝       Iceman
  ╚═╝     ╚═╝     ╚═╝╚════╝     bleeding edge

  https://github.com/rfidresearchgroup/proxmark3/

[=] Creating initial preferences file
[=] Saving preferences...
[+] saved to json file C:\ProxSpace\pm3/.proxmark3/preferences.json

 [ Proxmark3 RFID instrument ]

 [ CLIENT ]
  client: RRG/Iceman/master/v4.9237-2195-ga03240a0d-dirt...-unclean 2020-12-02 18:10:37
  compiled with MinGW-w64 10.2.0 OS:Windows (64b) ARCH:x86_64

 [ PROXMARK3 ]
  firmware.................. PM3RDV4
  external flash............ present
  smartcard reader.......... present
  FPC USART for BT add-on... present

 [ ARM ]
  bootrom: RRG/Iceman/master/v4.9237-2195-ga03240a0d-dirt...-unclean 2020-12-02 18:11:45
       os: RRG/Iceman/master/v4.9237-2195-ga03240a0d-dirt...-unclean 2020-12-02 18:12:13
  compiled with GCC 8.4.0

 [ FPGA ]
  LF image built for 2s30vq100 on 2020-07-08 at 23: 8: 7
  HF image built for 2s30vq100 on 2020-07-08 at 23: 8:19
  HF FeliCa image built for 2s30vq100 on 2020-07-08 at 23: 8:30

 [ Hardware ]
  --= uC: AT91SAM7S512 Rev B
  --= Embedded Processor: ARM7TDMI
  --= Nonvolatile Program Memory Size: 512K bytes, Used: 319224 bytes (61%) Free: 205064 bytes (39%)
  --= Second Nonvolatile Program Memory Size: None
  --= Internal SRAM Size: 64K bytes
  --= Architecture Identifier: AT91SAM7Sxx Series
  --= Nonvolatile Program Memory Type: Embedded Flash Memory


[usb] pm3 --> hw tune
[=] REMINDER: 'hw tune' doesn't actively tune your antennas, it's only informative
[=] Measuring antenna characteristics, please wait...
[\] 12
[=] ---------- LF Antenna ----------
[+] LF optimal: 1832072.03 V -   0.00 kHz
[+] Approx. Q factor (*): 319594.8 by peak voltage measurement
[+] LF antenna is OK
[=] ---------- HF Antenna ----------
[!] HF antenna is UNUSABLE

(*) Q factor must be measured without tag on the antenna

[-] Not showing LF tuning graph since all values is zero.

[usb] pm3 --> hw status
[#] Memory
[#]   BigBuf_size.............38816
[#]   Available memory........38816
[#] Tracing
[#]   tracing ................1
[#]   traceLen ...............0
[#]   dma8 memory.............-2115352
[#]   dma16 memory............-2115352
[#]   toSend memory...........-2115352
[#] Current FPGA image
[#]   mode....................Ω
[#] Flash memory
[#]   Baudrate................24 MHz
[#]   Init....................OK
[#]   Memory size.............2 mbits / 256 kb
[#]   Unique ID...............0xD567A882A783BA26
[#] Smart card module (ISO 7816)
[#]   version.................v2.06
[#] LF Sampling config
[#]   [q] divisor.............95 ( 125.00 kHz )
[#]   [b] bits per sample.....8
[#]   [d] decimation..........1
[#]   [a] averaging...........Yes
[#]   [t] trigger threshold...0
[#]   [s] samples to skip.....0
[#] LF Sampling Stack
[#]   Max stack usage.........3992 / 8480 bytes
[#] LF T55XX config
[#]            [r]               [a]   [b]   [c]   [d]   [e]   [f]   [g]
[#]            mode            |start|write|write|write| read|write|write
[#]                            | gap | gap |  0  |  1  | gap |  2  |  3
[#] ---------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
[#] fixed bit length (default) |  29 |  17 |  15 |  47 |  15 | N/A | N/A |
[#]     long leading reference |  29 |  17 |  15 |  47 |  15 | N/A | N/A |
[#]               leading zero |  29 |  17 |  15 |  40 |  15 | N/A | N/A |
[#]    1 of 4 coding reference |  29 |  17 |  15 |  31 |  15 |  47 |  63 |
[#]
[#] HF 14a config
[#]   [a] Anticol override....0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [b] BCC override........0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [2] CL2 override........0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [3] CL3 override........0 ( No ) follow standard
[#]   [r] RATS override.......0 ( No ) follow standard
[#] Transfer Speed
[#]   Sending packets to client...
[#]   Time elapsed............500ms
[#]   Bytes transferred.......148480
[#]   Transfer Speed PM3 -> Client = 296960 bytes/s
[#] Various
[#]   Max stack usage.........4136 / 8480 bytes
[#]   DBGLEVEL................1 ( ERROR )
[#]   ToSendMax...............-1
[#]   ToSend BUFFERSIZE.......2308
[#]   Slow clock..............31749 Hz
[#] Installed StandAlone Mode
[#]   HF Mifare ultra fast sniff/sim/clone - aka VIGIKPWN (Colin Brigato)
[#] Flash memory dictionary loaded

iceman · 2020-12-03 11:43:46

You seem not to have followed the instructions and initialized your RDV4 properly.
https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/pr … your-rdv40

Not that its going to change your bizarre antenna read.

I also notice you have BT-addon enabled where the BTaddon support on current master is unstable https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/pr … issues/921 You need to go back to the release or disable BT-addon support in the makefiles in you wanna run latest master.
This could have something to do with your bizarre antenna read.

gator96100 · 2020-12-03 12:32:05

vrocco wrote:

I did not realize that @gator96100.......I'm curious where it shows that in the stuff I posted.

It did say "compiled with MinGW-w64 9.3.0 OS:Windows (64b) ARCH:x86_64" whereas the latest ProxSpace version should say MinGW-w64 10.2.0.
Is there a reason why your repository says “-dirt...-unclean”?
You can try the latest precompiled builds, the are known to work.

vrocco · 2020-12-03 16:16:26

iceman wrote:

You seem not to have followed the instructions and initialized your RDV4 properly.
https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/pr … your-rdv40
Not that its going to change your bizarre antenna read.

I also notice you have BT-addon enabled where the BTaddon support on current master is unstable https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/pr … issues/921 You need to go back to the release or disable BT-addon support in the makefiles in you wanna run latest master.
This could have something to do with your bizarre antenna read.

Disabling BT-addon and recompiling and flashing did indeed fix the issue. Thank you!!

Thanks also for pointing out the initialization. I have done that as well.

vrocco · 2020-12-03 16:17:42

gator96100 wrote:

vrocco wrote:
I did not realize that @gator96100.......I'm curious where it shows that in the stuff I posted.
It did say "compiled with MinGW-w64 9.3.0 OS:Windows (64b) ARCH:x86_64" whereas the latest ProxSpace version should say MinGW-w64 10.2.0.
Is there a reason why your repository says “-dirt...-unclean”?
You can try the latest precompiled builds, the are known to work.

That makes sense, thanks.

I noticed the "dirt....-unclean" as well, but that was a pull from the master branch.

Anyway, disabling BT-addon and recompiling fixed the antenna issue.

Thanks all for your help!

iceman · 2020-12-03 16:19:20

excellent.
May I suggest you edit your first post and add the prefix [solved] to your title

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#1 2020-12-03 01:03:19

[SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#2 2020-12-03 01:28:47

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#3 2020-12-03 03:07:36

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#4 2020-12-03 11:43:46

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#5 2020-12-03 12:32:05

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#6 2020-12-03 16:16:26

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#7 2020-12-03 16:17:42

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

#8 2020-12-03 16:19:20

Re: [SOLVED] RDV4 Antennas suddenly not working

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