i have been using a xNT implant for a week now. I now it works because my Phone can read it as can the reader is now use to open my garage with (RC522). Now i was looking into getting a xMagic and got a proxmark with it. I have been doing whatever i can to get the Proxmark to read the xNT implant but it just cant. I see a voltage drop if i do “hf tune” down to roughly 3.9V depending on how hard i press it agains the implant, but it just does not see anything. I was able to read a lot of random cards with Mifare chips in so that does not seem to be a problem either.
There is also the weird problem that the lf reader seems to find “indala” chips with random bit pattern all the time. No matter where i hold it or what i do with it, in 75% of cases there will be a random Indala chip found.
I have checked the firm and software on the Proxmark and they are identical.
Can anyone point me in a direction on what to do? Do i have a defective proxmark? Bad luck? Weak implant?
Small addition: It also seems that my proxmark looks slightly different from the ones i have seen videos/pictures here. Mine has the HF antenna on the middle board, while the lower mainboard has some components that are directly under it.
middle board proxmark’s are monsters and have sketchy at best quality.
lf bringing up indala is totally somewhat normal. it’s indicative of signal noise so you can disregard it (the output when you get indala tells you as much.) your implant doesn’t even have LF as it’s an xNT.
as for HF, do hf 14a reader -@ to continuously scan for iso14a chips. while it’s doing this take the edge of the hf antenna and hold it parallel to your implant until you get consistent reads, then do hf mfu info
i understand you are likely just wanting to get your implant to scan with the proxmark but if there’s anything you’re planning to do with an xNT you’re better off doing it with a phone. it’s a very basic chip in terms of functionality and there’s nothing the proxmark can do that a phone can’t, and the coupling will be easier with your phone. download NXP tag info.
Ug great…90€ for a questionable piece of hardware. For anyone wondering i got it from Digiwell. I was basically just using the proxmark to just see the chip because i expected it to do so easily, there was nothing special i wanted to do with it, it already does what i want.
Is there anything i can do to improve the proxmark i have?
uh no not really, it’s a recent revision of the hardware with a fat FPGA on the base board and has known to have a lot of issues.
honestly if i were you id return it. you can get proxmark3easys for ~50€ on aliexpress and if you want assured quality, the dangerous things proxmark is custom manufactured. if US shipping is a problem for you in europe, KSEC is a DT retailer based out of the UK so shipping could be a bit better
Jeh that is exactly the one. Damn. I saw the cheap proxmarks on amazon/ali and thought i would fare better with a “quality” one from the same seller that also sells the implants here in germany. Oh well.
This made me wish i had a 3. hand but in roughly this position i just got exactly one read while trying to take this photo. The Implant is at a right angle to the “upper” part of the antenna.
I tried to find the spot again for a minute or so but could not do it.
Ok, so the funny thing about the HF antenna is… it’s on the bottom PCB. Even though that middle PCB has a silkscreen design on it that indicates you put the cards there, for implants you want them up against the actual antenna trace, which is on the top side of the bottom PCB.
On my proxmark3 easy I’ve removed my middle PCB which is more or less a spacer to keep the LF and HF bits from interfering with each other. You can see the antenna trace clearly.
It is difficult to see but the traces are on the middle board and there is no space for the antenna on the lower board.
The delay command did not help me, i have not been able to get a “single shot” read from the chip with it, i tried for another hour last night. I only got the one reading from continuous search.
(bottom board) these new design revisions hitting the market are monsters. the HF antenna actually does live on the middle board and uses standoffs to run data & power much like the LF antenna.
the bottom board has been fully reworked and instead of resistors and flash where they tend to be, there’s this “the thing” esque FPGA that eats all available sunlight
Oh i know the site is a bit urm “special”. But they are a source from inside germany so that made ordering quick and shipping cost extremely low. They did use all the dangerousthings guides and videos so they look(ed) at least somewhat like a official partner.
I am somewhat annoyed about the new proxmark revision. Are the older ones actually much better or is detecting the chip alway that difficult?
detecting the chip can be difficult with a proxmark when you’re new to it, once you’ve had the hardware and chip for a while you get a 6th sense for how to hold your device and orient your hand etc to achieve the best communication, it’s a learning curve.
this new revision isn’t exactly bad in the grand scheme of RFID*, it just is much worse for use with implants.
it’s digiwell & a few shenzhen manufacturers new model, it’s by no means the official new standard so the old revision isn’t going anywhere.
everything’s a give and take, best thing to do is stay up to date with advice and recommended hardware revisions
Not at the moment but if you order from us and that’s all you order we will send them out in a plain letter envelope for a few bucks shipping. No tracking but cheap.
Huh, digiwell just offered to send me one of the stickers to test out, looks like they sell them as well i just did not see it. I will report on the results when i get them.
