NExT Indala cloning problem

Support
1

Heyo!
So I’m getting some really weird reads from my NExT, and there is a possibility I might have cocked up :sweat_smile:
The card I’m trying to copy:

[usb] pm3 --> lf indala read
[+] Indala (len 64)  Raw: a000000097ab5ca2
[+] Fmt 26 FC: 119 Card: 39848 Parity: 01
[+] Possible de-scramble patterns
[+]     Printed     | __1972__ [0x7B4]
[+]     Internal ID | 397106338
[+]     Heden-2L    | 30857

I tried to clone it to my NExT a few mins ago. Of course, I did a good amount of test cloning with the T5577 card that came with the Proxmark3 Easy, and it worked fine. Used “lf indala clone -r a000000097ab5ca2” every time and got matching reads back from the cloned card.
After the tests I looked for the best spot with lf tune, got around 4-5 good reads in a row with lf search on the lf tag. And then without moving the proxmark or anything, issued the above-mentioned command.
Now here is the stupid part, I somehow totally ignored/forgot that the T5577 comes preconfigured as an em410x, and now I’m either not getting reads (I could reliably get them before this) or I get possibly junk data I think. I’ll paste the last 3 reads I was able to get after the cloning below, as you can see it’s always changing, and to me seems totally borked.
So the main question is, did I just nuke the lf side of my next? What can I do from here?

Read 1:

pm3 --> lf search

[=] NOTE: some demods output possible binary
[=] if it finds something that looks like a tag
[=] False Positives ARE possible
[=]
[=] Checking for known tags...
[=]
[=] Odd size,  false positive?
[+] Indala (len 589)  Raw: 80000000000010248000040002108008040084000004840120001020

[+] Valid Indala ID found!

[=] Couldn't identify a chipset

Read 2:

[usb] pm3 --> lf search

[=] NOTE: some demods output possible binary
[=] if it finds something that looks like a tag
[=] False Positives ARE possible
[=]
[=] Checking for known tags...
[=]
[=] Odd size,  false positive?
[+] Indala (len 202)  Raw: 7fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffd55555

[+] Valid Indala ID found!

[=] Couldn't identify a chipset

Read 3:

[usb] pm3 --> lf search

[=] NOTE: some demods output possible binary
[=] if it finds something that looks like a tag
[=] False Positives ARE possible
[=]
[=] Checking for known tags...
[=]
[=] Odd size,  false positive?
[+] Indala (len 570)  Raw: a0000000dfe7d2f4affc00007074feaefdf8a8000fffdbff53ffaebf

[+] Valid Indala ID found!

[=] Couldn't identify a chipset

EDIT: Just got ready to leave from work and made sure to save all the logs and stuff so I can troubleshoot later, looks like it’s something with coupling, or I have no idea. After the clone I tried the best possible position and got the junk reads or no reads at all. I tried once more before packing up, running 10 lf search commands back-to-back and got multiple good reads with the proper data… Might have been just a reading error.
Still If anybody wants to chime in, was it a NO-NO to write the INDALA tag raw to an em410x configured T5577, or was I doing the right thing and just had coupling issues when trying to read back?
Anyways, cheers I’ll update on Monday when I’ll have a chance to try this with the reader on the other site.

2

Here’s the thing… writing takes more power than reading, so getting good reads in a specific position isn’t a guarantee of executing a good write.

That said, I would run the clone command 10 times in a row while moving the proxmark like 0.5mm each time across the length of the next. It should not hurt anything doing that. You’ll increase the odds of getting a good clone by doing it that way.

3

Ahh okay gotcha, somewhere I read that faulty writes could mess up the chip, but I might have remembered that wrong. Next time I rewrite I’ll take your approach, for now I’m waiting for Monday to test it on the office reader, it should work.
Thanks for the advice !

4

It’s technically possible to bung up a chip with a faulty write but chances are low here.

5

Okay good to know, thanks! I was pretty worried about it, being a bigger chance and bricking it by messing around and trying to figure stuff out by myself.