“Hardware problem” with OpenPGP smart card

[Nicolas Boullis]

Hi,

On Mon, Dec 07, 2020 at 12:08:23PM +0100, Werner Koch via Gnupg-users wrote:
> 
> The show error code is indeed either a hardware error (EEPROM failure)
> or due to a card reader which filters certyain commands send to the card
> and return a bogus error code.  However, I doubt that the latter is the
> case.
> 
> In any case, it is best to try a different reader and if possible a
> different machine.

Thanks to all for your answers.

I had already tried on a different computer, with no success.
I have a second OpenPGP card (with different keys) installed in a second 
reader, which still works fine on both computers.
I tried the first card in the second reader; it still fails.
I tried the second card in the firest reader; it works.

Hence, I think my card is really dead.

Anyhow, even if it’s dead, I’d love to understand how/why it happened.


I see that the card includes a signature counter (which reads 89), hence 
I understand the card has to write the EEPROM (to update the counter) 
each time I perform a signature. But I think 89 is a much too low a 
number to wear en EEPROM.

I have used my card much more for file decryption and for SSH 
authentication. Does the card write the EEPROM each time such an 
operation is performed? A rough guess is that I might have performed 
between 1,000 and 10,000 authentications with that card. I think it 
might be sufficient to wear an EEPROM.

Also, the card reports 2 tries left for the PIN code, which means that 
my last try to unlock the unlock the pin was a failure. Did the card 
somehow fail updating the retry counter? (Either when I typed the wrong 
pin, or now when I type the right one and it tries to reset the counter 
to 3…)

If there’s anything I can do to investigate that failure, please tell 
me.


Cheers,

-- 
Nicolas Boullis