If you are developing firmware that touches eFuse programming, follow these golden rules to avoid accidentally creating 0x146 .
In the world of hardware debugging and low-level system recovery, few messages inspire as much dread—or finality—as the error: . brom disabled by efuse 0x146
Dealing with BROM and eFuse requires caution. Incorrectly modifying these can lead to a device that is unusable or difficult to repair. Here are some recommendations: If you are developing firmware that touches eFuse
A user reported updating their Pine64 (Allwinner A64) with a third-party Android image claiming to "enable secure boot." The script erroneously wrote 0x146 to the eFuse region. Post-reboot, only BROM disabled by eFuse 0x146 appeared on UART. No FEL, no SD boot. Pine64 replaced the board after confirming the eFuse dump. Incorrectly modifying these can lead to a device
The error "BROM disabled by efuse 0x146" is a low-level security status encountered primarily on modern MediaTek (MTK) devices. It indicates that the manufacturer has permanently disabled the mode via a physical electronic fuse (eFuse) .