stm32f103c6 / fake c8

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arpruss
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:06 pm

stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by arpruss »

I ordered two blue pills in the spring and when I finally got around to flashing them, I found they had fake stm32f103c8 units on them: as far as I can tell, they are c6 units with 32K flash and 10K ram. I managed to port the bootloader to the unit: https://github.com/arpruss/STM32duino-bootloader and to add support for the board to the core: https://github.com/arpruss/Arduino_STM32

They work just fine for my project, a Genesis controller to USB adapter. And the seller refunded me 50%.
mrburnette
Posts: 633
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:23 am
Answers: 7

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by mrburnette »

Fake ...
or mislabeled/misrepresented?

Was the laser engraving removed and the package remarked?
en.STM32F103_line_LN1565.jpg
en.STM32F103_line_LN1565.jpg (50.56 KiB) Viewed 14147 times
arpruss
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:06 pm

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by arpruss »

I am guessing they are re-labeled c6 units. They have the memory of a c6, and they only have two USARTs, just as the c6 does.
ag123
Posts: 1653
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2019 5:30 am
Answers: 24

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by ag123 »

there is this strange feeling that some of the bp/mm got their mcus from rejected batches, normally this doesn't happen as qc will be quite strict.
i've 2 mm clones that run so hot i lift off finger touching it, ouch. i check the mcu temperature (using the on chip sensor) it is around 50 deg C the other runs even hotter while the sensor gives a invalid reading below room temperature.
i think stm finish some of their chips in china and i'm not sure if after all defective batches may be smuggled out and sold as chips after all.
after all mcus are prized commodities

some years ago, there have been wierd stories about thieves / robbers hijacking trucks shipping microchips and take the chips as loot.
i'm not sure if st may be among the victims. it is quite incredible what people will go to when valuable stuff are shipped in bulk. and the thing is how do they know what is in the loot/truck

re-labelling chips would be some what odd if the chips are after all laser engraved, this would mean the fraudsters would first need to sand off the engraving and re-label them using a laser engraver which isn't too hard to do. the thing is do they some how know that the chips have the same pin outs? if they do these wouldn't be 'ordinary' fraudsters

then of course are the reports that some who ordered from ads selling stm32f103 bp got cs32f103 bps instead. this is probably a fraud of the end seller itself as they probably think they are the same. it is a matter of dishonesty as buyers of stm32f103 expect stm32f103. it would probably be more reasonable if the vendors sell stm32f103 as stm32f103 and cs32f103 as cs32f103. at least that's what the customer ordered and paid for

i think i need to learn to solder basic QFP ics. it is just the close pin spacing that is intimidating as they seem rather impossible to hand solder.

if fraudsters will do this on stm32 bps and mms, i doubt the scope would be only limited to stm32 mm, bp
in fact, the higher the value of the ic, the more likely fraudsters may try to substitute with something cheaper if they figure they can do so

for now the only way is to buy from the vendors that are more reliable or manufacturers like robotdyn
in addition, my thoughts are to make a complain with the vendor if you do receive that
you can even threaten to file a return. the reason is that the vendor / seller is likely different from the maker / manufacturer of those boards
letting the vendor know it would at least have the vendor address the problem with the maker / manufacturer
vendors / sellers would normally not compromise their own reputation by being deemed a fraud especially if they carry a lot of other stocks that may be worth much more than these little boards alone
Last edited by ag123 on Sun Dec 22, 2019 7:20 am, edited 5 times in total.
ag123
Posts: 1653
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2019 5:30 am
Answers: 24

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by ag123 »

it used to be just that naive line operators solders or place the leds in the wrong direction. that's 'forgiven'. but it'd seem some of these frauds are anything but naive
arpruss
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:06 pm

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by arpruss »

Steve has just merged my support for this board into Roger's core. I think my changes to the bootloader are still being evaluated.
madias
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:51 pm
Answers: 1

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by madias »

I also got some really bad Bluepills the last days:
A bunch of 10 with "STM32F103C8" - only with 64kb (this didn't happend to me in the last years - they all were 128kb) -all with the same MY (Malaysia) code - and the funny thing:
I intentionally ordered two "CS32F103C8" Bluepills, and I got:
One STM32F103C8 (128kb able)
and one STM32F103CB bluepill !
from the same distributor. So even if I want such "CS" chips - I didn't get them.
It's a roulette game nowadays to get a working 128kb Bluepill (most problematic thing: I use them in a huge project with many members... )

So is there are trusting source getting 128kb capable Bluepills on Aliexpress?
Sadly the robodyn Blackpill isn't (pin)compatible with my project.
So the only workaround for me at the moment is to order plain STM32F103CBxxx and solder them on the fake Bluepills...
B.t.w: I got some photos from a maple mini clone with bad STM32F103C8's - so even maple mini clones are "infected"

So maybe we post our distributors on Ali with "fake" and "good" ones?
So my 10 bad ones:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32656040083.html
the two "surprise! surprise!" ones:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33017110692.html
Both of them with good reviews! So don't even trust them.
Now ordered (a trustworthy shop of mine in the past - but I didn't get them until now:)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32478120209.html
arpruss
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:06 pm

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by arpruss »

Steve's just merged my bootloader modifications, so if you have a c6 fake, you can just load the standard pc13 bootloader and it should just work (but of course you have less memory--and the bootloader takes up a chunk of the precious memory, so it might be wiser to just upload via serial or debugger).
arpruss
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:06 pm

Re: stm32f103c6 / fake c8

Post by arpruss »

I just got a c8 with 128k (according to the stm demonstrator) from this ebay seller: https://www.ebay.com/usr/extraxp?_trksi ... 2749.l2754
And it only took 16 days to get to Texas.
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