Something doesn't make sense about the MIFARE 1K cards bundled with my software.

[Xhivat Hoxhiq]

Hi,

So almost a year ago I bought some door locks that use MIFARE cards. I quickly got fed up with the bad software and the lack of support from the seller. Basically the software I bough comes with zero support from a company that I doubt exists anymore.

I decided to write my own simple software (home use, non commercial) to make/read the cards. I can read the cards that came with the locks fine with my PN532 board, they use the default keys and only save the data (unencrypted) in sector 13. The data was very easy to decode as they used plain numbers for the dates etc, and I can basically create the card and read the data in them using my own code. What really makes no sense to me, is that other MIFARE cards (bought in AliExpress) do not work with the software and reader I bought and do not work with the locks also. Even if I write the same data on all sectors with my code, on 3rd party cards, it does not work.

What's also weird is that I can read/write the data on the cards on my PN532. But my RC552 can't authenticate as soon as it reaches sector 13 (where the data is stored). The thing is I know for a FACT that KEY A is the default (FF FF FF FF FF FF).

To summarize, the RC552 can read my "cloned" 3rd party cards, but not the original cards. The PN532 can read both. The USB reader (it's not a serial one) that came with the locks can only read the original cards, it can't even wipe the 3rd party cards.

I remember long ago I cloned the cards with Mifare tools on android to some RFID wrist bands, and they WORKED. That means it's not an UID issue, unless the Mifare Classic tool cloned the UID too. So what am I misssing assuming it's not an UID issue?

Are there different chipsets inside Mifare 1K cards that some newer ones may not work with my old reader that came with the locking software?

I apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this, I literally googled "MIFARE support forums" and found this.

Thanks,

Xhivat Hoxhiq

---

+ 0  |  - 0

[TapLinx Support]

Hi Xhivat,

All NXP reader ICs support the MIFARE Classic, the MFRC522 and the PN532. You should never find an issue if you use genuine NXP MIFARE products.

We know that it exists MIFARE Classic cards which are not manufactured by NXP. Theses cards usually fulfil the specification only partly, some better, some worse. We highly recommend checking your system with genuine NXP MIFARE products on both readers. I am quite sure you will find no issues.

The TapLinx team

---

+ 0  |  - 0

[Author]

Posts