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Troubleshooting guide

Always use the latest repository commits from master branch. There are always many fixes done almost daily.

Table of Contents

pm3 or pm3-flash* doesn't see my Proxmark

Try using directly the client:

client/proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> ...

Refer to the installation guide specific to your OS for details about ports.

Note that with the Bluetooth adapter, you have to use directly the client, and flasher over Bluetooth is not possible.

pm3-flash* stops and warns about up-to-date firmware images

^Top

The Proxmark3 software and firmware is connected tightly. The strong recommendation is to use the client with a Proxmark3 device flashed with firmware images from same source version.
In the flash process you might get this message because the firmware images is downloaded or distributed and you have compiled your own client from a different source version.
To minimize the risks the flasher warns about it and stops.

    Make sure to flash a correct and up-to-date version
    You can force flashing this firmware by using the option '--force'

If you know what you are doing and want to proceed despite the mismatch, you need to add the --force param in order to continue flashing.

pm3-flash-all --force

My Proxmark3 seems bricked

^Top

Maybe just a false alarm?

^Top

The flasher refused to flash your Proxmark3? Are there any messages in red? The most common reason is that the Proxmark3 RDV4 firmware recently got a new bootloader able to handle larger firmwares and... the image grew over 256k almost at the same time. So your old bootloader can't flash such new images. But it's easy, you just need to flash first the bootloader only, then the image.

pm3-flash-bootrom
pm3-flash-fullimage

or

proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --unlock-bootloader --image bootrom/obj/bootrom.elf
proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --image armsrc/obj/fullimage.elf

Find out why it would be bricked

^Top

The most common reason of a flashing failure is the interference of ModemManager, read carefully how to avoid ModemManager-related issues and fix your setup!

Another possibility is if, when using the button for entering bootloader mode, the button was released during flashing (for old bootloaders) or the button was pressed again during flashing (for newer bootloaders).

Determine if the bootloader was damaged or only the main OS image

^Top

Unplug, press the Proxmark3 button and keep it pressed when you plug it on USB. If the red LEDs show a "off/on/off/on" pattern, you're good, you manually entered into the bootloader mode. On new bootloaders, you can release the button. If the pattern disappears, you're on an older bootloader and you've to do it again and keep the button pressed during all the flashing operation.

Once in bootloader mode, flash the main image.

pm3-flash-fullimage

or

proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --image armsrc/obj/fullimage.elf

You should be back on tracks now. In case the flasher complains about bootloader version, you can follow the button procedure and flash first your bootloader.

pm3-flash-bootrom

or

proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --unlock-bootloader --image bootrom/obj/bootrom.elf

Ok, my bootloader is definitively dead, now what?

^Top

At this point, only reflashing via JTAG can revive your Proxmark3.

See details here.

Slow to boot or difficulties to enumerate the device over USB

^Top

You're using another Proxmark3 than a RDV4? The RDV4 firmware can run on other Proxmark3 as such but the booting procedure is a bit slower because of the absence of SIM and external flash. Make sure to configure properly your Makefile.platform to get a firmware better tuned for your Proxmark3 hardware. See details here.

Troubles with SIM card reader

^Top

(RDV4 only) Make sure you've the latest SIM firmware according to the configuration documentation.

Check that the SIM daughterboard is properly seated onto the mainboard. Pressure on the edges of the daughterboard could cause the connector to partially disconnect (especially good to check if problems began after installation of the bluetooth module, for example).

Troubles with t5577 commands or MFC/iClass/T55x7 dictionaries

^Top

(RDV4 only) Make sure you've set everything up according to the configuration documentation.

Instructions evolve over time so check if you're still up to date!

File not found

^Top

If Proxmark3 has been installed with make install or packaged for your distro, the binaries should be in your path and you can call them directly:

pm3
proxmark3

and you must adapt accordingly the file path of some commands, e.g.

using the executable direct:

proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --image /usr/local/share/proxmark3/firmware/fullimage.elf
<>
proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --image /usr/share/proxmark3/firmware/fullimage.elf

using the script:
pm3 --> smart upgrade -f /usr/local/share/proxmark3/firmware/sim014.bin
<>
pm3 --> smart upgrade -f /usr/share/proxmark3/firmware/sim014.bin

If you didn't install the Proxmark but you're working from the sources directory and depending how you launch the client, your working directory might be the root of the repository:

./pm3 ...
client/proxmark3 ...

or the client/ subdirectory:

cd client; ./proxmark3 ...

Therefore client commands referring to files of the repo must be adapted, e.g.

client/proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --image armsrc/obj/fullimage.elf
<>
./proxmark3 <YOUR_PORT_HERE> --flash --image ../armsrc/obj/fullimage.elf

pm3 --> smart upgrade -f sim014.bin

etc.

Pixmap / pixbuf warnings

^Top

If you get warnings related to pixmap or pixbuf such as Pixbuf theme: Cannot load pixmap file or Invalid borders specified for theme pixmap, it's a problem of your Theme, try another one and the problem should vanish. See e.g. #354 (Yaru theme on Ubuntu) and #386 (Kali-X theme on Kali).

Usb cable

^Top

It's needed to have a good USB cable to connect Proxmark3 to USB. If you have stability problems (Proxmark3 resets, firmware hangs, especially firmware hangs just after start, etc.)

  • check your cable with a USB tester (or try to change it). It needs to have a resistance smaller or equal to 0.3 Ohm.

WSL

^Top

When explorer.exe . doesn't work.
Trying to access the dump files created in WSL, you will need to run explorer.exe . but sometimes this doesn't work. As seen here they suggest checking the following registry value for P9NP

screenshot of regedit

Troubles with running the Proxmark3 client

^Top

Some reports has stated that they needed to execute the Proxmark3 as root on their *nix system.
Try running it with sudo ./pm3

libQt5Core.so.5 not found

^Top

On WSL1 / updated to Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04, there is a slight chance you experience problems when compiling the repo with QT5. The following steps is needed to make the development environment happy again.

sudo apt reinstall qtbase5-dev
sudo strip --remove-section=.note.ABI-tag /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libQt5Core.so.5

target attribute is not supported on this machine

^Top

If you get the message error: target attribute is not supported on this machine [-Werror=attributes] when trying to compile, its because you have an older arm-none-eabi tool chain.

On OSX/Homebrew, the solution is to reinstall the brew. It will trigger a new download of a later tool chain.

brew remove proxmark3
brew reinstall proxmark3

On Ubuntu 16.04 (xenial) you should either consider a later release or you can install a later toolchain.

sample error output:

[*] MAKE armsrc/all
compiler version:  arm-none-eabi-gcc (GNU Tools for ARM Embedded Processors) 5.4.1 20160919 (release) [ARM/embedded-5-branch revision 240496]

[-] CC start.c
In file included from start.c:18:0:
BigBuf.h:41:1: error: target attribute is not supported on this machine [-Werror=attributes]
 bool RAMFUNC LogTrace(const uint8_t *btBytes, uint16_t iLen, uint32_t timestamp_start, uint32_t timestamp_end, uint8_t *parity, bool readerToTag);
 ^
cc1: all warnings being treated as errors
In file included from iso15693.c:72:0:
ticks.h:25:1: error: target attribute is not supported on this machine [-Werror=attributes]
 uint32_t RAMFUNC GetTickCount(void);
 ^
ticks.h:26:1: error: target attribute is not supported on this machine [-Werror=attributes]
 uint32_t RAMFUNC GetTickCountDelta(uint32_t start_ticks);
 ^

Qt Session management error

^Top

If you get the message

Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported

when running the Proxmark3 client it might be because a a environment variable.

Solution: Try running the client without the SESSION_MANAGER environment variable.

env -u SESSION_MANAGER ./pm3