When the device is powered up for the first time, the condition is called Power-On Reset (POR), which sets the registers to their default values and initializes the device state machine. The internal POR controller holds the device in a reset condition until V_S has reached V_{POR_R}, at which the reset condition is released with the device registers and state machine initialized to their default values. After the initialization process is completed, the INT pin is asserted low to notify the microcontroller, and the register bit POR in the INT_STAT register is asserted to logic 1. The SPI flag bit POR is also asserted at the SPI output (SO).

During device initialization, factory settings are programmed into the device to allow accurate device operation. The device performs a self-check after the device is programmed to ensure correct settings are loaded. If the self-check returns an error, the CHK_FAIL bit in the INT_STAT register will be flagged to logic 1 along with the POR bit. If this event occurs the microcontroller is recommended to initiate software reset (see section Software Reset) to re-initialize the device to allow the correct settings to be re-programmed.