Reading Mifare easily: templates in U-PROX

MIFARE identifiers can contain a 4-byte or 7-byte code, which is read differently by different systems or equipment manufacturers. Therefore, U-PROX readers offer several interpretation schemes for these codes. Below are explanations and examples of how to read them.

For more details, see the document
“U-PROX readers (SL, SE, BLE lines) – parameter programming”.

Menu “Card reader template” in “Advanced settings” in the main menu “Settings” when configuring with U-PROX Config via Bluetooth of a U-PROX SL or SE reader.

This menu contains a list of templates for reading MIFARE cards:

• U-PROX Standard — standard way to read MIFARE identifiers in U-PROX readers.
• U-PROX Standard Reverse — The opposite of U-PROX Standard (works only for 4-byte cards; not applicable for 7-byte cards).
• U-PROX Direct — “direct” reading of the MIFARE code without any conversion.
• U-PROX Reverse All — is the opposite of U-PROX Direct for all codes.
• U-PROX Reverse 4 — is reversed only for 4-byte codes in U-PROX Direct mode.
• U-PROX Reverse 7 — reversed only for 7-byte codes in U-PROX Direct mode.

Samples of reading Mifare ID codes.

Currently, U-PROX access controllers use 5-byte codes (Wiegand 42 format), and reading different types of Mifare will look like this:

if the code is 4-byte – A1B2C3D4 (1b2b3b4b) – read from the card by utilities from a smartphone

U-PROX standard – 00D4C3B2A1 (004b3b2b1b)

U-PROX standard reverse – 00A1B2C3D4 (001b2b3b4b)

U-PROX direct – 00A1B2C3D4 (001b2b3b4b)

U-PROX reverse all – 00D4C3B2A1 (004b3b2b1b)  U-Prox reverse 4 – 00D4C3B2A1 (004b3b2b1b)  U-PROX reverse 7 – 00A1B2C3D4 (001b2b3b4b)

– if the code is 7-byte – A1B2C3D4E5F677 (1b2b3b4b5b6b7b) – read from the card by utilities from a smartphone

U-PROX standard – D4E5A1B2C3 (4b5b1b2b3b)

U-PROX standard reverse – D4E5A1B2C3 (4b5b1b2b3b) – for a 7-byte code in a 5-byte code (W42), a bit permutation is presented, and the reverse is not used.

U-PROX direct – C3D4E5F677 (3b4b5b6b7b)

U-PROX reverse all – E5D4C3B2A1 (5b4b3b2b1b) U-PROX reverse 4 – C3D4E5F677 (3b4b5b6b7b) U-PROX reverse 7 – E5D4C3B2A1 (5b4b3b2b1b)

For ACS controllers that use 7-byte codes (Wiegand 56 format), reading different types of Mifare will look like this:

– if the code is 4-byte – A1B2C3D4 (1b2b3b4b) – read from the card by utilities from a smartphone

U-PROX standard – 000000D4C3B2A1 (0000004b3b2b1b)

U-PROX standard reverse – 000000A1B2C3D4 (0000001b2b3b4b)

U-PROX direct – 000000A1B2C3D4 (0000001b2b3b4b)

U-PROX reverse all – 000000D4C3B2A1 (0000004b3b2b1b) U-PROX reverse 4 – 000000D4C3B2A1 (0000004b3b2b1b) U-PROX reverse 7 – 000000A1B2C3D4 (0000001b2b3b4b)

– if the code is 7-byte – A1B2C3D4E5F677 (1b2b3b4b5b6b7b) – read from the card by utilities from a smartphone

U-PROX standard – 77F6E5D4C3B2A1 (7b6b5b4b3b2b1b)

U-PROX standard reverse – 77F6E5D4C3B2A1 (7b6b5b4b3b2b1b) – for a 7-byte code (W56) in any representation – reverse is NOT used.

U-PROX direct – A1B2C3D4E5F677 (1b2b3b4b5b6b7b)

U-PROX reverse all – 77F6E5D4C3B2A1 (7b6b5b4b3b2b1b) U-PROX reverse 4 – A1B2C3D4E5F677 (1b2b3b4b5b6b7b) U-PROX reverse 7 – 77F6E5D4C3B2A1 (7b6b5b4b3b2b1b)