Finally, FTDI having clone trouble is inevitable. Their chips are too expensive, and they are using the same design for years. Microchip, WCH and Silabs all have perfect substitutes for 1/4 of its price, probably even cheaper than clone FTDIs.
I don't see that - Digikey prices, $, 1000q
MCP2221 1.62
CP2104 1.25
FT230XQ 1.48
I didn't look for equivalent packages, but they are pretty much in the same ballpark.
I was talking about the old, clumsy FT232RL.
The bottom line remains the same: People who unknowingly bought products with fake FTDI chips are being harmed and FTDI's actions are alienating their own customers.
When the U.S. Secret Service confiscates counterfeit currency, even if you received it unknowingly, they are NOT going to replace the bogus currency they seize with genuine dollars.
That's fine. But dumping trash data or frying chips are not fine.
And if counterfeiting was a widespread problem (it's not) and the government suddenly had a widespread policy of seizing and not replacing a large number of average peoples cash that would be similarly wrongheaded and self-destructive.
And if counterfeiting was a widespread problem...
The bottom line remains the same: People who unknowingly bought products with fake FTDI chips are being harmed and FTDI's actions are alienating their own customers.
They're being harmed all right--by the counterfeit chip makers and the people who have lost control of their supply chain--not FTDI. While I'm sorry these people ended up with unusable products, the blame lies with whoever they bought it from (or upstream from there).
When the U.S. Secret Service confiscates counterfeit currency, even if you received it unknowingly, they are NOT going to replace the bogus currency they seize with genuine dollars. They're effectively denying you the use of that money. Same with FTDI--they're denying your use of their drivers with your counterfeit product, even though you may not have knowingly bought it with bogus parts (although I'm sure that a lot of people would buy such an item even knowing that it had counterfeit parts if it's cheaper than the same thing with legitimate chips).
That's fine. But dumping trash data or frying chips are not fine.
Cloning die is a big no go. Cloning protocol, as long as it was not patented, is fine at least in China. But you CAN NOT put FTDI logo on the chip, of course.
the government suddenly had a widespread policy of seizing and not replacing a large number of average peoples cash that would be similarly wrongheaded and self-destructive.
This. Refuse to load the driver and print a message to the system log, but don't spew trash data out and don't brick the chips. This isn't hard to understand...
Again No one responded yet about purchasing the fake Art Of Electronics 3rd edition or forcing the authors to bring the price down to the same cost as the counterfeiters.
That is entirely different.
If Horowitz and Hill were breaking into peoples homes and burning or defacing the copies people had unknowingly bought - then that might be analogous.
No one here has been defending the cloners. The issue is the way FTDI is responding.
This. Refuse to load the driver and print a message to the system log, but don't spew trash data out and don't brick the chips. This isn't hard to understand...
And if counterfeiting was a widespread problem (it's not) and the government suddenly had a widespread policy of seizing and not replacing a large number of average peoples cash that would be similarly wrongheaded and self-destructive.
They already do it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States
This. Refuse to load the driver and print a message to the system log, but don't spew trash data out and don't brick the chips. This isn't hard to understand...
And if counterfeiting was a widespread problem (it's not) and the government suddenly had a widespread policy of seizing and not replacing a large number of average peoples cash that would be similarly wrongheaded and self-destructive.
They already do it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States
You've missed the point.
What if tomorrow the government announced that they had determined that there was in circulation a large number of counterfeit $20 bills - say encompassing 10% of bills in circulation - that were not easy for the average person to detect. If they then stationed secret service agents in front of every grocery store in the country who then proceeded to, without permission, go through each person's wallet and remove the counterfeit bills, would you support that? How do you think the public would respond?
The government would never be so stupid to do this. Instead of focusing on the average end user of currency - they appropriately put a lot of effort into making it difficult to counterfeit and then directly target the counterfeiters in their enforcement.
The currency analogy is better than others but still imperfect. Why? Because, unlike currency, FTDI could choose another way to to target the end user as others have pointed out. Simply - make the driver non functional with fake chips. Bricking chips and generating erroneous output is not ok and will only contribute to their ongoing fall.
The analogy is not spot on. Fake cash can be spotted/tested the moment you receive it. A device with a fake FTDI chip is impossible to spot. Every time I have to deal with a relatively large amount of cash I have it tested. Now show me a device which can test whether a device has a fake FTDI chip in it or not.
The analogy is not spot on. Fake cash can be spotted/tested the moment you receive it. A device with a fake FTDI chip is impossible to spot. Every time I have to deal with a relatively large amount of cash I have it tested. Now show me a device which can test whether a device has a fake FTDI chip in it or not.LOL! That's actually what this firmware does! Put FTDIs in a jig and attach them to a windows PC, it will now scream out at you that it's fake! Any suspect device with a FTDI chip in it will now self test with this driver.
The analogy is not spot on. Fake cash can be spotted/tested the moment you receive it. A device with a fake FTDI chip is impossible to spot. Every time I have to deal with a relatively large amount of cash I have it tested. Now show me a device which can test whether a device has a fake FTDI chip in it or not.LOL! That's actually what this firmware does! Put FTDIs in a jig and attach them to a windows PC, it will now scream out at you that it's fake! Any suspect device with a FTDI chip in it will now self test with this driver.Buzzzz wrong! You never know if your device has a better fake the driver cannot detect yet but the next driver will. Money has clearly defined markers which tell whether it is genuine or not so a test for real/fake money is well defined. Detecting fake FTDI chips on the other hand is a moving target. Today a device can pass the test, tomorrow it may not.
Your argument is based on the scale of the problem, which as far as I know we don't have and accurate idea of the number of counterfeit vs real FTDI chips is production products, so your whole argument is based on assumptions.
My wife was a bartender in college. She's been paid and tipped with fake $50 and $100 bills all the time, and every time it came out of her take of the tips/salary.
That's the rules to make employees do a better job at screening for fakes. And it happens to bar tenders across the country, as bad guys think darken bars is the best chance of getting away with it.
No it is not. Change the number to 1% - it's the same - would you then support agents stopping everyone entering a grocery store and confiscating counterfeit currency?
50-$100 tips! What kind of bartender was she? In any case - did it happen to her? was she ok with that?
This is were your example completely breaks down. It's based on the fact that the bartender, waiter, cashier, etc can detect the fake bills before accepting them. I was a waiter years ago and we were trained to examine large bills (generally not tips) and how to detect fakes - so were the cashiers . If the bills did not show any of the tell tale signs - we were not responsible.
no way of knowing the product has a fake FTDI chip in it beforehand and are being harmed by FTDIs tactics if it does.
Again do you have accurate #s of fake FTDIs to compare?
We have that now ! It's this firmware. You can build a jig and test all incomming stock. It will self test when you connect it to a Windows PC.
Some bad FETs may overheat and catch fire. We still don't blame the fire for making the device inoperative. We blame the supply chain that gave us the fake
...
What the FTDI apologists continue to ignore ...
I don't buy it that they are victims, they are purchasing the cheapest offerings on purpose, so it's their fault for promoting unfair competition and theft.