Computer Hope
Software => Computer software => Topic started by: Dumb_Question on June 09, 2014, 10:18:21 AM
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Or a thumb drive, pen drive, memory stick.....
I'd to find out which memory controller chip is inside a given flash drive by using software rather than by opening it up and looking (which might be an irreversibly destructive procedure)
The idea is then use some other software to reprogram an already tampered with drive so that it reads the correct amount of memory available, not some vastly inflated quantity which isn't there. e.g. to make a 'fake' 64GB drive into a 'good' 8GB drive
Maybe this should be in hardware ?
Anyone ?
Dumb_Question
9.June.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A
(Celeron 2.7 GHz)
MSI MS6577 v2.1 Xenon4 (not all v2.1's are the same !)
1.5GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6200
XP/SP3
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Maybe I should not have rushed in there....searching the internet has shown a number of leads worth pursuing:
ChipGenius
USBDeview
there may be others; I haven't tried any of them yet.
Dumb_Question
9.June.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A
(Celeron 2.7 GHz)
MSI MS6577 v2.1 Xenon4 (not all v2.1's are the same !)
1.5GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6200
XP/SP3
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What is it you want or need ? ?
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1. Flash Lineup
2. ChipEasy
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Hi, I am sorry for being attentive to this, I have been away, without internet access, and had a few other problems, as well being negligent. This is more of a sitrep on this topic than anything else, because I feel that I still have work to do on it.
-> Patio
Thanks for answering.
I carelessly omitted the word 'like' from my first post, which should read:
"...I'd LIKE to find out which memory controller chip is inside a given flash drive by using software...". The post is better understood if you read the subject header and carry straight on to the body of the text, hence
"Which memory controller is in a USB flash drive or a thumb drive, pen drive, memory stick ?"
I am sorry for any lack of clarity, or if I still have not explained myself properly.
-> Dennis
Thanks for your suggestions. I previously (eventually) found ChipEasy. I'll find Flash Lineup...sometime.
However using ChipGenius, USBDeview and ChipEasy all gave more or less the same information, except the controller chip, although searching on the internet, the numbers given for this chip seemed to be different numbers for the same or very similar chips.
I opened a flash drive, which turned out to be fairly easy in fact, and attempted to read the numbers on the chips, but there was no match (none of the numbers) with the information given by the three software programs. I wanted to take pictures of the chips, but as it turned out I have not been able to.
I have not attempted to find the reprogramming software.
That is where this project has reached, the USB flash drive is in pieces, but only the covers have been removed, it's not possible nor necessary to dissemble it further, but it's still useable (with care and difficulty). If I want to use it, I'll just have to remember that realistically it can't store more than 7GB of data, instead of the 64GB Windows thinks it can.
Dumb_Question
17.July.2014
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A
(Celeron 2.7 GHz)
MSI MS6577 v2.1 Xenon4 (not all v2.1's are the same !)
1.5GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6200
XP/SP3
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Just a quick note.
Looking back over this post, it appears the OP is concerned about the fake or bogus USB flash drives. And yes, that is a cause for concern. Advertising a flash drive as having 16 GB when it only has 4 GB is out right fraudulent merchandising.
I hear something everybody needs to know. Software programs used to identify the specifications of the USB flash memory stick do not provide enough information to catch a fraudulent company. The reason is that the information encoded in the chip is itself bogus information. Here is a reference to an article that is critical of one of the recommended software programs for analyzing a USB drives internal electronics.
Chip Genius – The Good And The Bad About This Software . (http://flashchiptech.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/chip-genius-the-good-and-the-bad-about-this-software-in-identify-flash-memory-chips-and-repairing-fake-hacked-memory-how-useful-is-chipgenius/)
If you suspect you have hacked flash memory your first step is to test to find out the real capacity using the free tool, H2testw or the Linux equivalent F3.
The fault is not with the author of the Chip genius program. The fault is with the unscrupulous manufacturers putting false information into the chip identifiers. >:(
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Well it shows up to 7G so isuspect it's an 8G counterfieted as a 64G...
Just use it as is and write off your loss.
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One last thing...
Test Cheap Flash Drive Before Using. (http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/why-you-should-test-flash-memory-storage-before-using-never-use-a-usb-flash-drive-memory-card-or-mp-player-to-store-files-or-photos-before-testing-the-actual-capacity-to-avoid-data-and-file-loss/)
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Thanks for your further responses, guys.
I have already read the article referenced in your first post, Geek-9pm, though it was probably after I first posted in Computer Hope. Even so, each time I read it I get some new angle on the problem, or maybe I didn't it thoroughly the previous times.
I hadn't read the second article before, it made me wonder why everything on this topic is so old while (presumably) the chips used and the re-programming software have moved on.
I have used H2TESTW extensively already, and that, Patio, confirmed what you said in you latest post - an 8GB chip programmed to look like a 64GB chip. I tested the drive manually with small and large transfers to it, until I started getting failure to recall data and corruption with the drive holding a little more than 7GB, confirming the H2TESTW result (that is what H2TEST basically does anyway).
I just thought it would be neater to have everything behaving as it should.
In articles such as those referenced by Geek-9pm there is also a caveat about the poor quality of chips in fake or counterfeit drives. This often results in a consequent high failure rate, which might be another cause of lost data even if using the actual memory that is there. I use USB flash drives for transferring files or storing copies, so fortunately I'm unlikely to lose anything important by this route.
Dumb_Question
18.July.2014
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A
(Celeron 2.7 GHz)
MSI MS6577 v2.1 Xenon4 (not all v2.1's are the same !)
1.5GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6200
XP/SP3
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The last article I linked also said something like this:
Do not think eBay sellers can under price the retail stores.
The retail stores buy in huge lots and ship to one address, their store.
But eBay vendors have to charge you shipping and handling on each item.
Local retailers offer easy, quick replacement. The eBay people don't.
Most retail vendors will pull a fake item .The eBay vendors seldom do.
That confirms my own experience fr paying hundreds of dollars on MP3 players and flash chips from eBay vendors. Most of the stuff I bought has failed over time. I was hoping to resell it locally. Bad idea. I lost money.
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Well it shows up to 7G so isuspect it's an 8G counterfieted as a 64G...
Just use it as is and write off your loss.