F3 by Michel Machado is an open source Linux software to test flash memory capacity that now runs on Mac computers!. H2testw does not run on Macs (Apple) computers as it is Windows based. This has been serious problem, now solved! Michel first developed the programme to run on Linux.
Starting with Version 2.0, F3 compiles and works on Macs!
At last, Mac users now have a software they can use to test flash memory capacity!
What Harald Bögeholz did for Windows users, Michel Machado has done for Linux and Mac Users! Both hard working champions to help people discover the true capacity of flash memory chips.
Michel Machado:
I’ve released F3 version 2.0, which compiles and works on Macs. Check the page:
F3 by Michel Machado is an open source Linux software to test flash memory capacity. H2testw does nor run in Linux. There are two programmes, one to read and one to write files to the item being tested.
If you are a Linux user and need to test flash memory cards, usb flash drives and mp players. please try out F3. Read the rest of this entry »
What does a Counterfeit Corsair Flash Voyager GT usb flash drive look like? A recent victim on eBay documented his case, complete with purchase, feedback, testing, warnings to buyers and of course photographic evidence.
CaptainVoyager’s takes you step by step examining the flash drive with photos. Then he takes it apart. What does he find? Join CapatinVoyager on his detective mission and find out. His presentation is very different for the photo section – no text. You need to be a detective too! Hint. Examine the photo’s of the fake Flash Voyager GT, hover with your mouse to see his captions.
It’s his contribution to the war against fake flash usb drives and especially counterfeited brand names!
If you purchased a fake Flash Voyager GT usb flash drive advertised as 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB on eBay please report in to SOSFakeFlash using their Report A Fake Tab.
This time they will be show casing sellers who sold false capacity MP Players. Too many buyers fall for seller claims that the units are defective. Most never learn the truth, these items have had their flash chips manipulated to report a size much larger that the chips can support. SOSFakeFlash is inviting buyers to learn more and leave comments on their experiences.
Visit this site during the next week for an eye opening education!
SOSFakeFlash begining June 24th, 2009 will launch a consumer awareness week for MP Players being sold on eBay. They will start by listing some of the best articles published by the FrankenFlash Project. This will be followed by alerts on fake flash sellers of MP Players on eBay. The canons are being loaded to fire at fraudsters who are minting money at buyers expense on eBay.
If you have solutions to fixing fake MP Players send them in to sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com for these sellers. Everyone is being asked to examine these sellers and select some eBay members who left postive feedback to test and to fight back if they were sold false capacity!
SOSFakeFlash Announces Consumer Education Week To Fight Fraud on fake up players, usb flash drives and memory cards. The FrankenFlash Project is alarmed at the escalation the selling of these devices. Consumers are made victims each day in over 63 countries.
After 15 months of investigation it is clear that consumers are ill informed. As a result they fall prey to fraudsters and scammers who sell them false capacity devices. SOSFakeFlash intends to reveal the truth and to demonstrate that when consumers hunt for bargains and cheap prices there is only one outcome – the purchase of a false capacity item. The consequences can be lethal. It is not only money that is lost but also data.
The flash nand chips used in up players, usb flash drives and memory cards are being digitally altered to report a capacity much higher than the chips can support. This digitally altering occurs in the orient and is sent around the world through internet wholesaler sites in the orient.
People interested in large profits buy these items and as a result inflict misery on others. Too many sellers do not search their products or test them properly. There is no fabulous profit in selling true capacity up players, usb flash drives and memory cards. This is a myth and the FrankenFlash project announces zero tolerance for any seller proven to have sold false capacity devices. If any seller is caught they will be published on the internet. The record will be permanent and will under no circumstances be retracted. It is a sellers duty to research and test the items they offer for sale.
Please visit http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/ to see what they reveal. eBay will be exposed as will PayPal, both are complicit in aiding and promoting the sale of false capacity items. Buyers also need to be better informed on the true costs – there is little mark up involved.
SOSFakeFlash will reveal the sad truth with evidence: “You get what you paid for”! This will be unpopular with victims.
To begin understanding the truth of what is happening you are invited to read:
Due to heavy bandwidth and the recent attack on http://ebay.dybteam.com/ the FrankenFlash Project has removed this website.
It addressed Bayers who suffered from fake and false capacity MP Players, USB flash drives and Memory Cards Purchased on eBay. Specializing in providing translation to reach the global community, eBayers Against False Capacity Flash will be missed.
It is not easy to fight the the issue of fake MP Players, Memory Cards and Usb flash drives. Fraudsters and scammers are finding their sales decreasing. That is what the project has in mind. Eliminating the traffic in false capacity fake MP Players, Usb Flash drives and MP Players. The profits made by these scammers and fraudsters is alarming. The damage being done to buyers with lost information is terrible. It is a war. Fake Flash needs to be stopped. eBay is the first area to be addressed. Fortunately there are team members who have a solid IT background working in the project.
Who has contributed to the fight? Everyone. From housewife and causal computer user, to accountants and IT professionals. Teenagers, Truck Drivers and Octogenarians – all have tried to give a helping hand. It’s a global problem. It needs to be stopped. The project has replaced http://ebay.dybteam.com/ with:
we don’t intend to let the international community down. Ebayers Against Fake Flash Devices II has the same functionality of the old site. Translation will be slower but it is now offered in 42 languages. It offers caching but will only translate 1 article every 11 minutes. In time the cache will build to provide everyone with the information they need in languages they understand.
MP Players are hot on eBay! Beware. 8GB and 16GB Players with MP3 or MP4 are likely to be fakes or counterfeits if you bought at low prices. If you are lucky your MP player will be 2GB or 4GB – not more.
Fake MP Players on eBay are an old story and it’s been around for several years. Every day there is a new crop of victims. Why? Bargain hunting! SOSFakeFlash has no choice but to issue this warning. Do not buy any MP Players on eBay advertised as 8GB or 16GB. Period! Stop looking for bargains! You are not going to get a real 8GB or 16GB at $25 to $50.
We know that economic conditions are hard, but you need to be realistic about paying fair prices. If you want to pay less and get more – welcome to fake flash hell!
You might find SOSFakeFlash’s words harsh. They are. Too many people are being frauded and few get their money back. Many eBayers are conned into believing their MP Player is “defective”. There is nothing defective in reprogramming a flash drive chip to lie about it’s size!
Make sure to look at the reference reading presented below for additional information and advice. Also see the list of eBay Sellers caught selling fake MP Players as of April 4th, 2009 at the end of this article
Most of the Fake MP Players are coming from sellers in Hong Kong and China. There appear to be two distinct rings operating under many id’s. It is a fake flash collective. Beware that due to SOSFakeFlash’s internet presence eBay sellers are now listing advertising local countries. You will only realize the truth when your MP Player arrives.
The profits from selling fake MP Players is mind numbing! Current estimates are 1 in a 250 sold leads to a PayPal dispute, that is 249 ahead. Both eBay and fake flash seller are dancing with fake flash profit joy – at your expense!
Avoid the misery of filing disputes. The pain grows when eBay quickly suspends the seller, whoops all listings gone, all evidence gone. You will have to crawl under the hood of your Paypal account and do a lot of extra digging to file a dispute when a seller is deregistered.
eBay and PayPal are not not going to make it easy for you. The harder the better. After all they don’t want to refund you. eBay has never warned members who bought from a fake flash seller and they never will. Why? It means admitting to the fact they have a problem.
Never pay for an MP Player using your bank account, use your credit card with PayPal. It gives you a better chance of recovering your money. PayPal hates it. Fake flash sellers will hate it more! PayPal may say they can’t refund you because they need to get to the fake flash sellers funds. Funny how quickly they will claw back the money from the fraudster when the credit card company does a reversal!
For now, do not buy MP Players at 8GB 16GB with MP3 MP4 on eBay. Save up until you have enough to buy a real one locally. There are just too many fakes. eBay is not cleaning things up, instead they registering sellers so they can remove listings and all traces of what these scammers sold! The fraud is astonishing.
If you bought an MP Player on eBay, tested it and found out you have a fake, make sure you leave a negative immediately! File a dispute afterwards. Never withdraw your negative in exchange for a refund. Never return a fake with the hope or promise of your refund. Also be a good citizen and do your part – contact other buyers who left positive feedback and get them to test! If you left positive feedback – do follow up feedback indicating that you really bought a fake! Add in your feedback the web address sosfakeflash.wordpress.com – our calling card and message to fake flash sellers and to assist other eBayers trying to find the truth and get help!
Are you thinking of obeying PayPals demands to return fake MP Players, Memory Cards or usb flash drives purchased on eBay from a fake flash seller to get a refund? SOSFakeFlash has published many articles on why you should not. We think you should read the latest article just published by FakeFlashNews.
The FrankenFlash Project has a new site that will be joining the project very soon. FLASHDRIVEFACTS at http://flashdrivefacts.wordpress.com/ will address consumer education on the subject of flash technology for MP Players, USB Flash Drives and Memory Cards. Chaired by Flashchiptutor, it will expose counterfeit and fake items available on the international market.
Why is there a need for a new site? How can you help?
Did you buy an 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 120GB or 128GB Kingston USB Flash drive you think is a fake or counterfeit? Countries in Asia are very vunerable to these counterfeit items, but Europe and even North America are experiencing an increase of these items circulating for sale. What does Kingston have to say? Is there a tool you can use to check quickly to determine if you have an authentic item? Yes Kingston is aware of the problem and they have set up a web page to help. Yes there is a tool. SOSFakeFlash also found technical support numbers you can call.
SOSFakeFlash at the request of victims who bought False Capacity MP Players, Memory Cards and USB Flash Drives has just released a list of Safe Sellers on eBay. Sellers who sell true capacity items and stand behind their products!
This is a new program lauched by the FrankenFlash Project. eBay members may nomiate sellers. eBay sellers may apply. The list is dynamic and will be updated. A similar program will be launched for internet sites soon.
SOSFakeFlash, part of the FrankenFlashProject would like to thank victims of fake flash devices for their contributions and efforts to fight this horrible plague of data loss – it is Global.
You can and you are making a difference!
By reporting your fakes to SOSFakeFlash it is possible to publish an alert on the internet!
By posting us in forums, we can see new traffic coming into the main site – wonderful! More people helped! Spread the news. It helps everyone.
By contributing solutions to fixing fake flash devices you help others to make a little safe flash device – an innocent no longer FrankenFlash!
The FrankenFlashProject’s – eBayers Against False Capacity Flash website is temporarily closed until January 2009. The demand for information on Fake Flash devices on eBay has been too high during the month of December 2008. We blew the bandwidth quota. Arraugh!
Fortuantely SOSFakeFlash is the main site, eBayers Against False Capacity Flash is a mirrow with additional features and translation for our international members. We apologize for the inconvience.
If you need translation please use google’s translation facilities against SOSFakeFlash in the interim. We operate like most volenteer consumer sites – on a shoe string.
We are looking into adding more independent sites outside of WordPress.com as we are limited in the features we can offer. WordPress.com is terrific but they have to limit themes and features for compatibility – they upgrade and maintain the sites they host and free of cost.
Do you want more sites with additional features? If so please leave a comment. We are a public service and have avoided any commercial ploys – volunteers are exactly that, volunteers. They have to fund expenses from their own pockets. We would like to know how you feel about us adding a donate button on outside sites to help fund the web space hosting and costs we are incurring. For example :one of our sites is temporarily closed for the moment because we exceeded bandwidth.
FixFakeFlash Inspectortech 