fix(lf): BigBuf download spoke the wrong protocol — LF sample download hung

download_samples sent a DOWNLOAD_BIGBUF request per chunk and read replies with the
NG-only reader. But the firmware answers ONE request by streaming the data as OLD-format
CMD_DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF frames (no magic) then a single NG ACK (appmain.c) — so the NG
reader scanned for a magic that never came and timed out (hardware repro: lf.read() ok,
download_samples -> Response timeout). This blocked all LF identify on real hardware.

- transport.download_bulk: send the request once, then read with the existing NG/OLD-
  agnostic reader, accumulating CMD_DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF payloads (trimmed to oldarg[1], not
  the 512-byte padding) until the ACK or `count` bytes; drains the trailing ACK so it
  can't poison the next command. Reusable for EML/SPIFFS/flashmem bulk reads.
- download_samples: one call into download_bulk instead of the broken per-chunk loop.

Tests: count-terminated + ACK-terminated streams, oldarg-length trimming, single request.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

pm3py/core/lf.py

@@ -180,34 +180,18 @@ class LFCommands:
                                on_progress: ProgressCallback = None) -> bytes:
         """Download raw ADC samples from the device's BigBuf.
 
-        Must call read() or search() first to capture samples.
+        Must call read() or search() first to capture samples. Returns raw bytes (1 byte per
-        Returns raw bytes (1 byte per sample, unsigned 0-255).
+        sample, unsigned 0-255). The device streams the data as OLD-format CMD_DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF
+        frames then a final ACK — handled by the transport's bulk-download reader.
         """
-        buf = bytearray()
+        data = await self._t.download_bulk(
-        remaining = count
+            Cmd.DOWNLOAD_BIGBUF, start, count, Cmd.DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF, Cmd.ACK, timeout=5.0,
-        offset = start
+        )
-
+        if on_progress:
-        while remaining > 0:
+            ret = on_progress({"type": "download", "downloaded": len(data), "total": count})
-            chunk = min(remaining, PM3_CMD_DATA_SIZE)
+            if asyncio.iscoroutine(ret):
-            resp = await self._t.send_mix(
+                await ret
-                Cmd.DOWNLOAD_BIGBUF, offset, chunk, 0, timeout=5.0,
+        return data
-            )
-            # Device responds with CMD_DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF containing the data
-            dl_resp = await self._t.read_response(timeout=5.0)
-            if dl_resp.data:
-                buf.extend(dl_resp.data)
-
-            if on_progress:
-                ret = on_progress({
-                    "type": "download", "downloaded": len(buf), "total": count,
-                })
-                if asyncio.iscoroutine(ret):
-                    await ret
-
-            offset += chunk
-            remaining -= chunk
-
-        return bytes(buf[:count])
 
     async def search(self, on_progress: ProgressCallback = None) -> "LFSearchResult":
         """Search for LF tags. Captures samples and returns a result with callable next steps.

pm3py/core/transport.py

@@ -278,6 +278,38 @@ class PM3Transport:
             frame = encode_old_frame(cmd, arg0, arg1, arg2, data)
             await self.send_frame(frame)
 
+    async def download_bulk(self, cmd: int, start: int, count: int, data_cmd: int,
+                            ack_cmd: int, timeout: float = 5.0, on_bytes=None) -> bytes:
+        """Run a bulk BigBuf/EML/SPIFFS download and return the concatenated bytes.
+
+        The firmware answers one download request (a MIX frame) by streaming ``count`` bytes as
+        a run of *OLD*-format ``data_cmd`` frames (no magic — that's why the plain NG reader
+        can't see them and the naive download hangs), then a final ``ack_cmd`` frame. We read
+        with the NG/OLD-agnostic reader until the ACK, or until we've collected ``count`` bytes
+        (draining the trailing ACK best-effort so it can't poison the next command)."""
+        async with self._lock:
+            await self.send_frame(encode_mix_frame(cmd, start, count, 0))
+            buf = bytearray()
+            while True:
+                try:
+                    resp = await self._read_any_response(timeout=timeout)
+                except PM3Error:
+                    break                                  # timeout (e.g. ACK lost) — return what we have
+                if resp.cmd == ack_cmd:
+                    break
+                if resp.cmd == data_cmd and resp.data:
+                    length = resp.oldarg[1] if resp.oldarg and len(resp.oldarg) > 1 else len(resp.data)
+                    buf.extend(resp.data[:max(0, length)])
+                    if on_bytes is not None:
+                        on_bytes(len(buf))
+                if count and len(buf) >= count:
+                    try:                                   # got all the data; consume the trailing ACK
+                        await self._read_any_response(timeout=1.0)
+                    except PM3Error:
+                        pass
+                    break
+            return bytes(buf[:count]) if count else bytes(buf)
+
     async def _read_any_response(self, timeout: float = 5.0) -> PM3Response:
         """Read one frame that may be NG or OLD and return a PM3Response."""
         if not self._reader:

tests/test_transport.py

@@ -79,3 +79,57 @@ def test_decode_response_frame_error_status():
     resp = decode_response_frame(frame)
     assert resp["status"] == -4  # ETIMEOUT
     assert resp["data"] == b""
+
+
+# --- bulk download (BigBuf): one request -> OLD data frames -> ACK -----------------------------
+
+import asyncio
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock
+from pm3py.core.transport import PM3Transport, PM3Response
+from pm3py.core.protocol import PM3_CMD_DATA_SIZE
+
+
+def _run(coro):
+    return asyncio.get_event_loop().run_until_complete(coro)
+
+
+def _bigbuf_frame(offset, data):
+    # OLD-format CMD_DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF: oldarg=[offset, len, tracelen], data padded to 512
+    return PM3Response(cmd=int(Cmd.DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF), status=0, reason=0, ng=False,
+                       data=data + b"\x00" * (PM3_CMD_DATA_SIZE - len(data)),
+                       oldarg=[offset, len(data), 4242])
+
+
+def _ack():
+    return PM3Response(cmd=int(Cmd.ACK), status=0, reason=0, ng=False, data=b"", oldarg=[1, 0, 0])
+
+
+def _transport_with(frames):
+    t = PM3Transport("/dev/null")
+    t.send_frame = AsyncMock()
+    t._read_any_response = AsyncMock(side_effect=frames)
+    return t
+
+
+def test_download_bulk_count_terminated():
+    payload = bytes((i * 7) % 256 for i in range(1224))
+    t = _transport_with([_bigbuf_frame(0, payload[0:512]), _bigbuf_frame(512, payload[512:1024]),
+                         _bigbuf_frame(1024, payload[1024:1224]), _ack()])
+    got = _run(t.download_bulk(Cmd.DOWNLOAD_BIGBUF, 0, 1224, Cmd.DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF, Cmd.ACK))
+    assert got == payload                       # exactly count bytes, reassembled in order
+    assert t.send_frame.call_count == 1         # ONE request, not one per chunk
+
+
+def test_download_bulk_ack_terminated_early():
+    # device has fewer bytes than requested -> stops at the ACK, returns what came
+    payload = bytes(range(200))
+    t = _transport_with([_bigbuf_frame(0, payload), _ack()])
+    got = _run(t.download_bulk(Cmd.DOWNLOAD_BIGBUF, 0, 99999, Cmd.DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF, Cmd.ACK))
+    assert got == payload
+
+
+def test_download_bulk_uses_oldarg_length_not_padding():
+    # the OLD frame is always 512 bytes; only oldarg[1] bytes are valid (rest is padding)
+    t = _transport_with([_bigbuf_frame(0, b"\xAA\xBB\xCC"), _ack()])
+    got = _run(t.download_bulk(Cmd.DOWNLOAD_BIGBUF, 0, 3, Cmd.DOWNLOADED_BIGBUF, Cmd.ACK))
+    assert got == b"\xAA\xBB\xCC"               # trimmed to oldarg length, not 512 of padding