So I also tried to write a block 0 config of 13371337 which should definitely “brick” the xEM.
IT DIDN’T.
xEM is still working just fine!
I had to wipe it and apply a valid block 0 config using a password of 00000000 because 13371337 in block 0 sets the password bit to 1 and block 7 which contains the password was set to all 0’s.
So basically at this point I’m becoming more and more sure that these little ATA5577 chips are extremely hard to break or “brick”. I just can’t ever seem to end up with one that’s really bricked.
I’ll keep trying though! Haha 