Ardunio Uno owners please help.

[STCC]

Hi,

I have purchased a Arduino Uno board from ebay from a "trusted seller" and i'm 99% certain i've been duped... The stupid thing wont even power over USB and the LEDs are red.



Is this a fake?

[PeterG]

Have you contacted the seller regarding your issue?

Regards

[STCC]

Yeah, no response so far.

The seller actually refunded me $15 earlier today after i told him the board he send me wasn't the latest revision as they advertised.

Freaking dodgy all the way.

[STCC]

The person replied...

After taking off a USB cable from another device it now works with USB...

Here is what he said...

These are not official Arduino boards, and our listing did not claim they were. They definitely shouldn't have any power issues though, they are assembled from the same designs as the real boards. Did you try with a different USB cable? We have had a couple of customers finding that different USB cables fixed the problem.

and here is the advertisement

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250885367624#ht_1417wt_1163

I hope i'm not the only one who thinks this is B.S. it constantly says you're getting an "Arduino Uno with ATMega328", the board has all the Arduino logos on it. Why someone would make a forgery when the deign is open source is beyond my comprehension.

Of note he has offered me a refund, after i send it back ofcourse.

[IanB]

Did you read the note in the listing?

"Made from the same open source designs as the ones made in Italy. 100% compatible."

I don't see why you acknowledge it's an open source design and then think it is a forgery. You can't forge an Arduino, they are free for anyone to make and sell according to the published specifications. That's the whole idea. Many companies make and sell Arduino boards. The benefit is you are not restricted to one single source of supply.

[PeterG]

Ok, let me see if i got this.
You purchased an Arduino board which does work.
The same board is an Open Hardware Arduino(Arduino boards can be purchased from Arduino or any other manufacturer).

And your still fishing for a refund?

Regards

[STCC]

Did you read the note in the listing?

"Made from the same open source designs as the ones made in Italy. 100% compatible."

I don't see why you acknowledge it's an open source design and then think it is a forgery. You can't forge an Arduino, they are free for anyone to make and sell according to the published specifications. That's the whole idea. Many companies make and sell Arduino boards. The benefit is you are not restricted to one single source of supply.

I missed that note...

I think it's a forgery cause they have printed Arduino all over to make it look like it's an official Arduino product when it's not. That's all. 

Ok, let me see if i got this.
You purchased an Arduino board which does work.
The same board is an Open Hardware Arduino(Arduino boards can be purchased from Arduino or any other manufacturer).

And your still fishing for a refund?

Regards

No, i might have jumped the gun on it not working, it turns out the USB cables they have sent out with the unit don't work very well and if you have the adapter plugged into the power it'll work but won't power the unit on its own.
I don't really care if it's an Arduino or an Arduino compatible as long as it works the same, is the same quality and is compatible with the shields. I am not after a refund any more, just though it was a bit ridiculous that they have put so much effort into making people think it's an Ardunio product.

Truth be told i should have read the advertisement better.

[HLA-27b]

Did you read the note in the listing?

"Made from the same open source designs as the ones made in Italy. 100% compatible."

I don't see why you acknowledge it's an open source design and then think it is a forgery. You can't forge an Arduino, they are free for anyone to make and sell according to the published specifications. That's the whole idea. Many companies make and sell Arduino boards. The benefit is you are not restricted to one single source of supply.

Ok, let me see if i got this.
You purchased an Arduino board which does work.
The same board is an Open Hardware Arduino(Arduino boards can be purchased from Arduino or any other manufacturer).

And your still fishing for a refund?

Regards

Err...you can produce and sell a board using the Open Source design but you can not (or should not) call it "Arduino". The name Arduino as well as the other distinctive markings are trademarked by the Italian company. It is not fake because it uses the same design but because it uses the Arduino name and markings.

[PeterG]

'Arduino' is more of an Idea/Design than a tangible item.

If you read the Licensing for Arduino boards they stipulate the Arduino logo must be shown in order for it to be called an Arduino, hence the Logo you see on the board. The use of the Arduino logo may NOT be used if a company makes changes to the reference designs provided by Arduino.

Regards

[IanB]

I'm curious what is printed on the back of the board. Does it give details of the manufacturer?

[HLA-27b]

Reading the Arduino policy page here I see that the team has provided some wiggle room provided the matter was discussed in advance. They could have been more clear cut to everybody's benefit.

Code: [Select]

I'd like to make an official "Arduino" product.

Start by talking to the core team (team@arduino.cc). Like other open source projects (e.g. Linux, Ubuntu, and Firefox), we want our community to know that when they're using something called "Arduino" it meets the standards of the other devices using the name. On the other hand, we recognize that Arduino is the result of much hard work by many people and that there's more to the project than what's done by the core team. We're striving to find the right balance between these two values. As part of this process, we require you ask us before using the name "Arduino" in the name of a product, company, or domain name. In particular, we want to ensure that anything anything using the name fits into the overall project, including the software, documentation, and support.

That said, we would like to include works by many people as part of the official Arduino hardware. This could mean that we manufacture something you've designed, and share the revenue with you. Or that you manufacture it yourself and, in return, contribute to the project (with a licensing fee, by releasing your design and production files, by documenting and supporting the product, or some combination of these). These products will be featured on the main Arduino site, be supported by the Arduino software, and generally given the same backing as the hardware designed by the Arduino team (e.g. in distribution). If you want your board to be supported by us in this way, here's what we ask:

    Discuss it with us, so we can make suggestions on how it can best serve the needs of the Arduino community. We reserve the right to say no to featuring on the site anything we think isn't up to our standards.

    Send us functioning versions so we can ensure for ourselves that they work with the software well. If you've made some modifications to the software that you'd like us to incorporate, we're happy to discuss that too.

    Make every attempt to have the hardware manufactured under reasonably fair labor conditions (down to the board level). In other words, ask your vendors about their labor practices. We can't change the world, but we can try, one company at a time.

Unmodified productions of the Arduino design files are subject to the same requirements on the use of the name. If you'd like to manufacture these without making an agreement with us, you need to call them something like "ATmega168 i/o board manufactured from the Arduino USB schematic and layout" or "L293D PCB manufactured from the Arduino motor controller shield files". Please understand that the revenue from the sale of existing products is essential to being able to afford to design new ones - and to manufacture them in quantities sufficient to make them affordable. While you are free to use the layouts, we think it's only fair that anything called "Arduino" is contributing to the future of the project.

(We need some language here explaining that some of the revenue will go to supporting places that can't afford to do physical computing work because of the hardware costs)

What about other uses of the word "Arduino"?

In general, we're happy to see people talking about Arduino, writing tutorials about Arduino, discussing projects that use Arduino boards, using the Arduino software with their hardware, etc. The project depends on the creations of the community, and we want to encourage these activities.

We do, however, have a few requirements:

    what you are referring to must, in fact, meet the guidelines described above,
    you do not imply that your work is affiliated with or endorsed by the Arduino team if you haven't talked with us,
    you do not include the word "Arduino" (or derivatives thereof) in the name of your product, company, or domain name without permission

[STCC]

I'm curious what is printed on the back of the board. Does it give details of the manufacturer?

It looks like the pictures of the Arduino Uno R2 but doesn't have "MADE IN ITALY" with the picture.

It's weird that Arduino would allow random companies to use their name. Considering other companies may not have the same quality control, as was the case with my kit.

[T4P]

I have seen the board before, http://www.dealextreme.com/p/arduino-uno-2011-atmega328p-pu-2-in-1-download-board-with-usb-cable-118072?item=30
Oddly it works everytime for people on DX, maybe your seller ships O/C cables ?

[kd7eir]

Technically using the Arduino name on a clone is a trademark violation.  That is why there are so many boards with names like seeeduino, roboduino, etc.
Legitimate clones have no need to use the Arduino name, as they can stand on their own name.

Several of these auctions showing the Arduino name have been cancelled when Massimo Banzi or anyone else associated with the real Arduino group finds them.

For the most part the clones all work just fine, and you will see no difference in using them side by side with an official Arduino board.

Some clone makers just straight out copy the Arduino and add nothing to the design.  The best clone makers improve on the design in some way.
Some like the Seeeduino actually break out more of the pins than the official Arduino, some like the EKitsZone MEGA2560 improve the power supply
by replacing the LM358D with a fast response NXP OPAMP, and moving the reset switch to a right angle orientation.

Most clones survive because they are cheaper than the official versions.

[Erwin Ried]

For that price it is certainly a counterfeit, also probably does not comes with the "box" and arduino stickers

I usually buy an original arduino per generation (decimilla, duemilla, etc) but for playing with them I just order cheap "freeduinos" or the cheapest I can found using the same schematic, they all work very fine.