Inside eBay Seller garysin2008’s Fake 32 GB USB Flash Drive. The Flash Memory Chip FBNL63A59K3PG. 4GB.

An eBay member, a victim of ebay fake flash memory seller garysin2008, ordered a 32GB usb flash drive. You will be astonished at the price he paid.

He documented his experience and photographed the usb flash drive, outside and in with comments.

32GB USB thumb drive 1

It is interesting reading.

Right now, Gadget_Guru’s has a problem, the flash memory chip is FBNL63A59K3PG. The usb controller is MW6208E. He can’t find the software to fix it. MW6208E is either Alcor or the older Micov usb flash drive controller families.

TechChips did a little research. It appears that some one at the the Russian Site, flashboot.ru asked a similar question .

Not clear is whether the tool set needed is Ameco_MW6208E_8208_1.2.0.8_20090724 . It appears the tool identified MT29F32G08CBAAA_4GB rather than FBNL63A59K3PG. A reply simply stated “FBNL63A59K3PG – 4 gigs”.

According to InspectorTech, low level formatting tools may detect a flash memory chip, but assign it a different chip identification. In experiments performed by InspectTech’s group, this did not necessarily lead to failure, often success.

Low level formatting tools use a configuration file, usually *.ini This file is a table list of parameters for a series of flash drive chips. The name given to the chip depends on who set up the configuration file. What matters is whether the software is able to recognize the flash memory chip. If it does, most will attempt to repair the memory chip with the software. If the actual chip really is very different then the software will generate error messages. If not, then the repair appears successful and can be validated with another test of H2testw.

There are reports of some people very knowledgeable about technical specifications, understanding the geometry of the flash storage chip, who simply edited an existing entry and renamed it to the new chip name. InspectorTech warns this is ill advised for people who do not understand the meaning of the configuration file parameters. It is not to be pursued by the inexperienced.

It is possible the victim of garysin2008 may have a solution pending with Ameco_MW6208E_8208_1.2.0.8_20090724. Will it detect the FBNL63A59K3PG flash memory chip? Keyword – detect! If so, it is worth a try even if the chip name presented by the software is different.

A reminder to everyone. If you download a software tool from the internet:

a) scan it with your anti-virus software before using.
b) be aware a low level software tool normally saves the settings of the last user, so look at the options, do not blindly click if you see your memory chip recognized.
c) check the manual settings and ensure the ECC is closed, not open!

Gadget_Guru’s eBay experience is interesting. Do you see yourself in him? Was your experience similar?