Nitrokey FIDO U2F firmware update communication error

Nitrokeys Misc
1

I couldn’t update my Nitrokey FIDO U2F at https://update.nitrokey.com using either Firefox 77 on Ubuntu 20.04 or Firefox 78 on OSX 10.15. I can use the device to authenticate with websites.

After inserting the device and clicking on Inspect Key, I can see the progress bar and when I touch the device I immediately get the following error message:

Communication error

Update application could not communicate with the device. Please try again and make sure to:

  1. Device is inserted to the USB slot
  2. Do not lose browser focus by switching applications
  3. Check if device responds to the FIDO U2F / FIDO2 requests on other sites (optionally)

These are my environments:

Environment information

Firefox 77.0 on Ubuntu 64-bit (WebAuthn supported)
Connected Nitrokey FIDO2 firmware version: unknown
Latest Nitrokey FIDO2 firmware version: 2.0.0.nitrokey
Device state: not available

Update application status: (0) Communication Error

and

Environment information

Firefox 78.0 on OS X 10.15 (WebAuthn supported)
Connected Nitrokey FIDO2 firmware version: unknown
Latest Nitrokey FIDO2 firmware version: 2.0.0.nitrokey
Device state: not available

Update application status: (0) Communication Error
2

Hi @teakay,

I am sorry but Nitrokey FIDO U2F does not support updates. I will make sure this will be clearly visible in the error message.

3

Hi @szszszsz, I see, I got it wrong, when I saw https://www.nitrokey.com/news/2020/nitrokey-fido2-firmware-20-update I was under the wrong assumption that the FIDO U2F Nitrokey will also get the update. But the messages and news post are addressing the protocols and not the keys.

1 Like
4

Sorry for the confusion once again. I have corrected the description on the update site to make clear the Nitrokey FIDO U2F is not supported. Thank you for reporting nevertheless - it will save time for others.

We’ll take a look at the news page.