Unable to get the Hardware ID (HWID/PIN).

[Gunjan Yadav]

I am trying to retrieve the PIN / HWID required for nRF Cloud onboarding using the AT command AT%XDEVICEID, but I am unable to get a valid response from the modem.

However, I am able to successfully retrieve the modem UUID using AT%XMODEMUUID.

Could you please clarify:

1. Which AT command should be used to obtain the PIN / HWID on NCS 3.1.0?
2. Is the PIN / HWID the same as the modem UUID, or are these two different identifiers?

Any guidance on the correct approach would be appreciated.

Regards

Gunjan 

[Gunjan Yadav]

As suggested, I also tried retrieving the HWID using the AT command AT%DEVICEUUID. However, I am still seeing the same behavior as before.

The command executes, but the return value is unexpected (showing a large value like 65536), and I do not get a valid HWID/PIN that can be used for nRF Cloud onboarding

[Syed Maysum Abbas Zaidi]

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out to us. AT%DEVICEUUID is not supported on nRF9160. Secondly regarding your questions for the onboarding process:

PIN/HWID is only relevant for JITP (Just-In-Time Provisioning), which is the method used for Nordic DKs and Thingy:91 devices that ship with pre-provisioned credentials. For custom hardware or production devices (nRF9160 SiPs from tape and reel), there is no PIN, JITP is not the recommended approach. In short, if you are working with a custom board, you do not need PIN/HWID. Use the Pre connect method instead:

https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/nrf-cloud/page/Devices/Associations/Onboarding.html#preconnect-onboarding 

That involves creating a CA Certificate, generating & installing Credentials on the Device and then onboarding the device to nRF Cloud. The full steps are listed here:

https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/nrf-cloud/page/Devices/Security/Credentials.html 

Or instead, you may use the Python script  the device_credentials_installer.py that automates the process. 

Note: PIN / HWID and modem UUID are different identifiers as AT%XMODEMUUID returns the UUID of the modem firmware build, it identifies the firmware version not the individual device. 

And also for informational purpose you can parse the output of the %KEYGEN AT command using the  modem_credentials_parser.py script to display the device UUID (However not required in the onboarding process)

Best Regards,
Syed Maysum