I’m not trying to be captain hindsight here, this is something where I practice what I preach.
I always get a test card of the implants I have, and I carry them in a backpack with my RFID Tools (I started a thread about this, but I have made some changes so postponed posting it…watch this space)
I’m not saying I always use a card first, but when its something I’m not familiar with, or if I think i have done everything correctly and not getting successful reads, I can use the card to confirm, if the reader reads the card but not the implant, then its probably a coupling issue etc.
Another good example, If you think a reader/writer may write a password, it would be good practice to use a card first.
Even apps can write passwords, and I did this suspecting POPL may do this, so I used a NTAG analog, and was proven correct a d documented it.
See below
Luckily I was able to sniff the password and could unlock my sticker, but if I couldn’t, who cares, a couple of bucks wasted is better than being locked out of my own implant.
more to consider
I know none of this helps you now, but something for you to consider.
You could however still get a test card for the ug4, and replicate the fault (if not hard bricked)
It is far easier to work with a card on a proxmark3 than one handed trying to read an implant.
None of this is to say “you fucked up” it is meant as a “in the future…” “you might want to consider…” “here is an example…”
here’s my POPL example
A slight derail, but I think it is a good PSA for people reading the thread, just unfortunate that you are the example to learn from.