xEM cannot write HID... many things tried. Sadness Palpable

Support
1

Hi All,
I’ve semi-recently had an xEM tag installed in my left hand.
I have tried to use the DangerousThings xEM cloner (blue handle) to clone the my workplace HID 125kHz prox card.
No success.
The cloner works to clone my work card to a spare HID proxcardII that i had lying around.

It can read my programmed EM41xx code of my implant, it can even write it to the same spare prox card.

The blue cloner can write other EM41xx codes to me chip.

I saw the video clip that suggests that there is a specific angle to hold the cloner to make HID work. I have tried this. I even took the coil out, wraped it in kapton tape and orientated it every which way about my chip.

Prior to getting my “blue cloner” I used cloner purchased fro chip-my-life.io (an Australian DangerousThings distributor) Link to device: https://chipmylife.io/collections/cloner/products/multi-frequency-scanner-duplicator-nfc-and-rfid
As an initial test i wrote a standard 125kHz number to it, just to test if I can in fact write to my implant.

Has this write bricked my chip, or locked it in EM41xx mode?

Is there a way back. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am really looking forward to walking into the lift at work, waving my hand near a reader and accessing my floor.

Thanks,
Disco.

2

The problem is some of these cloners (including the one we sold) will set a password on the ATA5577 chip. So of course, if you write with one cloner and then try another, the second one won’t work. Can you still write data using the chipmylife cloner?

3

Hey Amal,
Thanks for the reply. I can still write with the chipmylife cloner.
Tests with that cloner have been.

  1. Try to write the work card to my hand - no luck
  2. Write some random number and all 00000’s to my hand with - success, reads 0 and rand number respectively .
  3. Read and then clone work card to second work issued card - success, recognises it at a HID 125kHz card and clones it.

Thanks,

4

I’m not familiar with the chipmylife cloner so I don’t know exactly how it functions, but;

  • Can you read your work card with it?

  • Does it show your work card’s ID number when read?

  • Does it give an error when attempting to read or write data?

  • How are you generating the random numbers? Can you enter data via the keypad?

  • Can you read your work badge, get the ID, then manually enter that data via keypad and write to your hand?

  • Are you sure the cloner is properly setting the analog operating specifications to match HID ProxCard? The ProxCard II chip and EM chip use different analog settings that require more changes to be made on the ATA5577 chip than just a simple ID change. If the cloner is getting confused and not setting the proper extra settings beyond just ID, then the HID reader won’t be able to read the ID from your hand.

The fact you can clone one work card to another is a little strange… typically the badges and cards issued by employers are not based on the ATA5577 chip but based on a read-only ID chip direct from HID or EM or wherever… the ATA5577 chip is used to make “blanks” that data can be copied to… they are like “cheat tags” and not normally used by system integrators or traditional security vendors.