Can't authenticate block with PN532

Question

I am new to Arduino. I am trying to write an ID to my NFC card. I used the PN532 library and code from the example. I can't go further than authenticateBlock(). Also which block is trying to authenticate? I can't see it in output.

Output:

Found 1 tag
Sens Response: 0x44
Sel Response: 0x0
0x4 0xB9 0xC9 0xBA 0x20 0x4B 0x80
Read card #3122678656

Code is:

// This example writes a MIFARE memory block 0x08. It is tested with a new MIFARE 1K cards. Uses default keys.
// Note: Memory block 0 is readonly and contains manufacturer data. Do not write to Sector Trailer block
// unless you know what you are doing. Otherwise, the MIFARE card may be unusable in the future.

//Contributed by Seeed Technology Inc (www.seeedstudio.com)

#include <PN532.h>
#include <SPI.h>

/*Chip select pin can be connected to D10 or D9 which is hareware optional*/
/*if you the version of NFC Shield from SeeedStudio is v2.0.*/
#define PN532_CS 10
PN532 nfc(PN532_CS);

uint8_t written = 0;
#define  NFC_DEMO_DEBUG 1

void setup(void) {
#ifdef NFC_DEMO_DEBUG
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Hello!");
#endif
  nfc.begin();

  uint32_t versiondata = nfc.getFirmwareVersion();
  if (! versiondata) {
#ifdef NFC_DEMO_DEBUG
    Serial.print("Didn't find PN53x board");
#endif
    while (1); // halt
  }
#ifdef NFC_DEMO_DEBUG
  // Got ok data, print it out!
  Serial.print("Found chip PN5");
  Serial.println((versiondata >> 24) & 0xFF, HEX);
  Serial.print("Firmware ver. ");
  Serial.print((versiondata >> 16) & 0xFF, DEC);
  Serial.print('.');
  Serial.println((versiondata >> 8) & 0xFF, DEC);
  Serial.print("Supports ");
  Serial.println(versiondata & 0xFF, HEX);
#endif
  // configure board to read RFID tags and cards
  nfc.SAMConfig();
}

void loop(void) {
  uint32_t id;
  // look for MiFare type cards
  id = nfc.readPassiveTargetID(PN532_MIFARE_ISO14443A);
  if (id != 0) {
#ifdef NFC_DEMO_DEBUG
    Serial.print("Read card #");
    Serial.println(id);
    Serial.println();
#endif
    uint8_t keys[] = {
      0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF
    };
    uint8_t writeBuffer[16];
    for (uint8_t i = 0; i < 16; i ++) {
      writeBuffer[i] = i; //Fill buffer with 0,1,2....F
    }
    if (nfc.authenticateBlock(1, id , 0x08, KEY_A, keys)) {
      //authenticate block 0x08
      //if authentication successful
      if (written == 0) {
        //Not written
        written = nfc.writeMemoryBlock(1, 0x08, writeBuffer); // Write writeBuffer[] to block 0x08
        if (written)
#ifdef NFC_DEMO_DEBUG
          Serial.println("Write Successful");
#endif
      }
      uint8_t block[16];
      //read memory block 0x08
      if (nfc.readMemoryBlock(1, 0x08, block)) {
#ifdef NFC_DEMO_DEBUG
        Serial.println("Read block 0x08:");
        //if read operation is successful
        for (uint8_t i = 0; i < 16; i++) {
          //print memory block
          Serial.print(block[i], HEX);
          Serial.print(" ");
        }
        Serial.println();
#endif
      }
    }
  }
  delay(500);
}

What is the library version for the PN532 you are using? I think the problem can be in the authentication command. In the libraries I am looking on the internet I see these parameters in the authenticateBlock function: "uint8_t * uid, uint8_t uidLen, uint32_t blockNumber, uint8_t keyNumber, uint8_t * keyData". In your case the uid of the card is a uint32_t variable, maybe you need to retrieve the uid or reconvert in a uint8_t variable, can you please share the authenticateBlock function definition you are using? — Luis Pascual, Mar 22 '18 at 07:53

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 22 '18 at 09:26

0

The combination of the SENS_RES (ATQA) = 0x0044, SEL_RES (SAK) = 0x00, and the UID = 0x04B9C9BA204B80 suggest that your tag is a MIFARE Ultralight tag or an NTAG tag. However, the code that you show in your question is designed for access to MIFARE Classic tags.

MIFARE Ultralight/NTAG tags don't support the authentication mechanism performed by nfc.authenticateBlock() (which is specific to MIFARE Classic). As a result the code will fail on nfc.authenticateBlock(). Since your tag does not support that type of authentication (it might support a different mechanism though), you could try to skip the authentication step and only use read/write methods. These should work (with some limitations, see Byte array gets truncated when writing to memory of RFID tag using Adafruit PN532 library) for your tag type.

answered Mar 22 '18 at 09:26

Michael Roland

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Can we change tag targetID? – Mar 22 '18 at 16:13
yup my card is ntag213 so how i store data any website you can suggest? – Mar 22 '18 at 16:37
@Mr_Rj No, you can't change the anti-collision identifier (the one partially returned by `readPassiveTargetID()`). See [Is there a software that can change NFC Tag's serial number?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/25840366/2425802) – Michael Roland Mar 22 '18 at 19:32
@Mr_Rj See the post linked in my answer on how to write data to the tag. You might also want to check e.g. [Writing NDEF data to NTAG216 tag using low-level NFC communication methods](https://stackoverflow.com/q/42105626/2425802) on how to produce NDEF formatted data that could be interpreted by other devices (e.g. Android). – Michael Roland Mar 22 '18 at 19:35
i am able to get data from ntag card but i cant understand it is some kind of hax you know how to decode or how can we translate it to plain text form? – Mar 23 '18 at 05:27
i am using arduino uno , pn532 and ntag tag so i don't think i can use software for it – Mar 23 '18 at 05:28
You already have the read method in your code (`nfc.readMemoryBlock()`), I linked to an explanation on how to read data with that method and how to interpret that data. What elese do you expect? – Michael Roland Mar 23 '18 at 07:41

Can't authenticate block with PN532

1 Answers1