Batboard

What chnages to a codeplug will cause the radio to erase keys when I reprogram? Sometmes when I add a channel or change a scanlist I am fine, other changes erase everything.

I am begining to think that if I change ANYTHING in the 'secure' settings then it wipes it (including just the display name of a CKR/SLN entry).

But I am not sure what triggers it to happen. Can anyone clarify what exactly can casue it and what conditions, why, etc?

Thanks in advance,

If infinite key retention is not enabled it will lose the key anytime any writing is done to the raido.

Jason

KB9KST wrote:If infinite key retention is not enabled it will lose the key anytime any writing is done to the raido.

Jason

"Infinite Key Retention" was checked in the codeplug that was in the radio and in the revision that was written to the radio when the keys were lost!!!

It is my understanding that "Infinite Key Retention" checkbox only impacts key retention realted to if the battery is removed from the radio. While it is possible that writing to the radio simulates removal of the battery - I dont think this checkbox is related to my question.

Anyone else care to reply to my inquiry?

If your radio LOOSES keys, you should tighten all key retention screws.

If your radio LOSES keys, you should enable infinite retention.

Wowbagger wrote:If your radio LOOSES keys, you should tighten all key retention screws.

Thanks for correcting my spelling - I must have has a screw loose when I entered the title of this thread.

Now - can anyone help me with any reason why my radio might lose keys when I reprogram, besides the infinate key retention answer.

So, I decided to do some testing this morning...

I reloaded the old codeplug and rekeyed the radio so it was back to the way it was yesterday before I lost keys.

If I read from the radio and then make changes to anything (secure, systems, personalities, zones, scanlists, etc.) and write back to the radio it appears to retain keys.
Changing (changing the CKR number from 01123 to 01124) or moving or renaming (alias display) CKR's that don't have keys loaded does not appear to impact anything.
Moving (slots) or renaming (alias display) CKR's that do have keys loaded also does not appear to impact it either and it retains all keys.
If I save the code plug I just read and then reload CPS with that saved file and write from that file it appears fine too and keeps all keys.

So, next I grabbed the other codeplug that I loaded yesterday that caused me to lose keys and when I loaded it today I didn't lose keys. But when I loaded it yesterday I did lose keys. Go figure - no one here can explain it. Could it have something to do with life span or shelf life of keys, between subsequent writes to the radios.

I am now totally confused. I am going to keep trying to reproduce the lost keys.

I lost my keys when i enabled MDC OTAR once, even though i had IKR enabled

~~~what model radio & what firmware is in the radio~~~

Most recently it happened on XTS5000 VHF with firmware 14.x, but have had it happen on other portable radios including the APX once already.

Well, XTS FW 15.00.08 says this:
Abstract: XTS/XTL Encryption Key Loss
System Platforms Affected: Any
Special Configurations: Hardware encryption in use.
User Symptom: XTS and XTL subscribers will intermittently lose all UCM encryption
keys even when programmed for infinite key retention.
Description: This UCM firmware issue has been eliminated for both Single and Multi-
Key applications. A previous change significantly reduced the frequency of key
loss, but did not eliminate it.

I have not lost keys again since upgrading the XTS and APX firmware. Thanks all.