PNEV5190B does not work

[Miyazaki001]

After loading Nfcrdlib_SimplifiedAPI_EMVCo_Secondary.nnc.bin from the "Load Secondary Firmware" option on the Extra tab of NFC Cockpit, my PNEV5190B no longer responds and cannot be operated from NFC Cockpit.

According to the update log, the firmware download completed successfully without any reported errors. The board became unresponsive only after the update was finished.

I found a similar issue in this thread, but I would like to understand the root cause.

What could cause the board to become unresponsive even though the firmware update completed successfully?
Is it possible that I used an incorrect secondary firmware image for my board or firmware version?
Why does loading the secondary firmware result in a state where NFC Cockpit can no longer communicate with the board?

Thank you for your support.

[EduardoZamora]

Hello @Miyazaki001

Hope you are doing well.

Could you please provide more details on your setup? What is the procedure you are following?

I tried the following setup:
- PNEV5190B
- FW v2.0B
- NFC Cockpit v9.0.0
- "Extra" tab > "Secondary FW" tab > Load Secondary Firmware
- Select NxpNfcCockpit_v9.0.0.0\firmware\Secondary_PN5190\K8x\Nfcrdlib_SimplifiedAPI_EMVCo_Secondary.nnc.bin

NFC Cockpit should indicate to close the COM port and open it again:

EduardoZamora_1-1785953100786.png

After reopening the COM port, you should be able to start the Secondary Firmware in "Extra" tab.

Regards,
Eduardo.

[Miyazaki001]

Hi @EduardoZamora,

Thank you for your reply.

My setup is as follows:

- PNEV5190B (B1 chip)
- PN5190 FW v02.05
- NFC Cockpit v7.4
- Extra tab → Secondary FW → Load Secondary Firmware
Selected:
-NxpNfcCockpit_v7.4.0.0\firmware\Secondary_PN5190\K8x\Nfcrdlib_SimplifiedAPI_EMVCo_Secondary.nnc.bin

The secondary firmware update appears to complete successfully. According to the log, the firmware download finishes without any reported errors.

The relevant part of the log is shown below.

20260803.png

After the update, NFC Cockpit prompts me to manually close and reopen the Board Connection. I followed this procedure, and I also tried disconnecting and reconnecting the COM port manually.

However, after reopening the connection, the board no longer responds to any commands. The log shows a timeout when NFC Cockpit attempts to communicate with the board.

I have attached the relevant log for your reference.

Could you please advise:

- Is PN5190 FW v02.05 compatible with this secondary firmware?
- Is there any known issue with NFC Cockpit v7.4 and this secondary firmware?

I found a similar issue in this thread, but I would like to understand the root cause.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,

[EduardoZamora]

Hi,

I could not locate any documented instance for an unexpected behavior using this specific setup.

NFC Cockpit v7.4.0 is outdated; please update to the latest version available (v9.0.0) and perform FW update on PN5190. After this, let me know your findings.

If this behavior persists after updating your setup, please let me know your jumper configuration and power connections (a picture of your board would also be helpful).

Regards,
Eduardo.

[Miyazaki001]

Hi @EduardoZamora,

Thank you for your reply.

Based on your comment, we changed the NFC Cockpit version to the latest version, v9.0.0. We also updated the PN5190 firmware from v02.05 to v02.0D, which is the latest version available on the NXP website, and then retried the Secondary Firmware update.

However, the result was the same, and the issue still persists.

画像.png

We have also attached a photo of the board for reference.

画像.jpg

The following jumper settings are used:

J8: Closed
J9: 2–3 (External power supply)
J12: Closed
J22: Closed
J23: Closed

For this test, we are using an external 5 V DC power supply with a current limit of 1 A.

Please let us know if there are any other settings or points we should check.

[EduardoZamora]

Hi,

Your jumper and power configuration seems to be ok.

By any chance, are you able to flash and run any of the demo applications (e.g. DiscoveryLoop) provided in the NFC Reader Library for PN5190? You can refer to PNEV5190B evaluation board quick start guide, Chapter 5.3, for more information on this.

As an additional test, could you please try using a different PC and system language (not only display) set to English?

Regards,
Eduardo.

[Miyazaki001]

Hi @EduardoZamora,

Thank you for your reply.

We will separately try the method you suggested.

In the meantime, we performed an additional test on our side and obtained the following result.

First, we programmed the following firmware included with NFC Cockpit v9.0.0 via J-Link:

BootLoader_And_Nfcrdlib_SimplifiedAPI_EMVCo_Secondary.bin

After that, we updated the following Secondary Firmware using NFC Cockpit:

Nfcrdlib_SimplifiedAPI_EMVCo_Secondary.nnc.bin

With this procedure, the error we had previously encountered did not occur, and the update completed successfully.

Based on this result, we suspect that there may be a compatibility dependency between the BootLoader and Secondary Firmware versions.

Could you please clarify the following points?

1. When changing the NFC Cockpit version, is it necessary to update not only the Secondary Firmware but also the BootLoader to a compatible version?

2. Is there a way to update the BootLoader using NFC Cockpit?
Or is an external debugger/programmer such as J-Link required to update the BootLoader?

3. Is there any documentation describing the compatibility between the Secondary Firmware and BootLoader included with each NFC Cockpit version?
For example, we would like to know which versions of the Secondary Firmware can be used with the same BootLoader.

There is also another issue behind these questions that we would like to resolve.

We have been controlling the PNEV5190B from our own application, rather than NFC Cockpit, using serial communication through the COM port.

When using the Secondary Firmware included with NFC Cockpit v7.4.0, our application was able to communicate with and control the PNEV5190B successfully.

However, after updating to the Secondary Firmware included with NFC Cockpit v9.0.0, the same application using the same communication method encounters a communication error.

Could you also please clarify the following point?

4. Are there any changes between the Secondary Firmware included with NFC Cockpit v7.4.0 and v9.0.0 regarding the initialization sequence, COM communication settings, communication protocol, command specifications, or related behavior?

If there are any release notes or documents describing these changes, we would appreciate it if you could share them with us.

[EduardoZamora]

Hi,

As mentioned in PNEV5190B evaluation board quick start guide, Section 5.1, it is recommended updating to the latest version of the firmware, using the latest version of the NFC Cockpit. An external debugger is necessary for the firmware programming, as described in NXP NFC Cockpit User Guide, Section 3.3.

Unfortunately, there is no document available that provides a formal compatibility matrix between Bootloader versions and Secondary FW versions. The closest available reference is the version changelog inside the VCOM source package (NxpNfcCockpit_VCOM_UcBalFW\NNC_UcBalFW\phUcBal\src\NNC_uC_VCOM_Ver.h).

Regards,
Eduardo.

[Miyazaki001]

Hi @EduardoZamora,

Thank you for your clarification.

We understand that an external debugger is required to program the firmware, including the BootLoader. We also understand that there is no formal compatibility matrix between BootLoader and Secondary Firmware versions, and that the version changelog in the VCOM source package is the closest available reference.

Regarding the other issue we mentioned, where our application could no longer communicate properly after updating the BootLoader and Secondary Firmware to the versions included with NFC Cockpit v9.0.0.0, we performed some additional investigation and found a difference related to DTR handling.

For clarification, our application had previously been working with the BootLoader and Secondary Firmware included with NFC Cockpit v5.3, not v7.4.

With the BootLoader and Secondary Firmware included with NFC Cockpit v5.3, our application was able to communicate successfully by simply keeping DTR statically ON after opening the COM port, without any explicit DTR state transition.

However, with the BootLoader and Secondary Firmware included with NFC Cockpit v9.0.0.0, simply keeping DTR ON is not sufficient. We found that the board returns a response only after explicitly toggling DTR from LOW to HIGH. It appears that this transition is required at least once at the beginning of the communication session.

We identified this DTR operation by capturing and analyzing the USB communication generated by UcBalPCTestApp.exe using Wireshark.

Could you please clarify the following points?

1. In the PN5190 VCOM Firmware, is the LOW-to-HIGH transition of DTR used as a trigger for any internal processing, such as communication session initialization or internal buffer handling? If so, is this behavior documented anywhere?

2. Is it possible that this DTR behavior changed between VCOM Firmware versions? In particular, were there any changes related to DTR handling between the versions included with NFC Cockpit v5.3 and v9.0.0.0?

3. Is there any officially recommended way to initiate communication without explicitly toggling DTR from LOW to HIGH on the host side, such as a specific IOCTL, vendor-specific command, or other mechanism?

Thank you again for your support.

Best regards,

[EduardoZamora · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The VCOM FW is intended for usage with our NFC Cockpit tool. If you are trying to create a custom implementation for a different tool, please consider using the NFC Cockpit VCOM source code as reference and adapt it to your needs.

Regards,
Eduardo.

[Miyazaki001]

Hi @EduardoZamora,

Thank you for your clarification and support.

We would like to use the same Secondary Firmware with both NFC Cockpit and our application.

Therefore, we will refer to the NFC Cockpit VCOM source code and modify our application to support the current VCOM Firmware behavior.

Thank you again for your support.

Best regards,
Miyazaki