Ebay: clone arduino UNO, genuine Atmel chip? How to tell? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 07:53:58 am
content: /.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 09:21:59 am
content: Correct me if im wrong, but i've never seen a fake atmel tiny/mega chip that actually runs code.The counterfeit ones are just empty lumps of plastic or some other random die. So if it works, its geniune

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 10:19:37 am
content: Genuine and entirely legitimate are two different things :-)It is almost certainly "genuine" in that inside the epoxy is the appropriate silicon and it will work normally.It may well not be "legitimate" though in that it could have been sourced from anywhere, it might have been produced by a "ghost shift", it might have been a "surplus production" from a batch which quietly goes out the back door, it might have been a "reject" batch (if or not there was actually good reason to reject it) that didn't get destroyed...

author: XOIIO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 10:21:36 am
content: I wouldn't worry about it, all the arduino pro mini clones I've gotten (6 or so) for $3 each or less if it was a clearout work no issue whatsoever.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 10:25:26 am
content: There are arduino clones with "real" (AFAIK) Atmel chips for the main CPU, but "different" chips for the USB/Serial converter. (A real Arduino Uno uses a second programmable Atmel chip - an ATmega16u2. The original Arduinos used an FTDI chip, and I've seen clones with Prolific (probably counterfeit Prolific) or this currently popular CH340 chip. This is OK for most arduino applications (the idea of the 16u2 was that it would be reprogrammable to allow the board to be USB Mouse/Keyboard/Midi/etc; things other than a serial port. But that doesn't seem to be as popular as people thought it might be.)You do have to be careful WRT drivers; there have been reports than some chips don't have MacOS drivers, and Prolific doesn't support some older chips in Win8, and has apparently cracked down on counterfeits.I sorta like the CH430 chip, mechanically. USB/Serial converter in 16pin SOIC. Hobbyist friendly, if you could buy them anywhere. (?)

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 11:08:03 am
content: Quote from: Psi on August 20, 2014, 09:21:59 amThey cloned some AVR chips. I think this is one company which does that:http://www.mcugreen.com

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 12:00:29 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on August 20, 2014, 09:21:59 amThat was my understanding also?

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2014, 12:54:45 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 20, 2014, 12:00:29 pm"LGT8F88A is fully compatible with ATMega88 from architecture view. It support most of instructions from AVR8L sets, except for SPM which implemented with another way. So any software development environments for ATMega88 are also working for LGT8F88A."This wasnt suprising after some people made AVRs on opencores. In fact I dont think copying a 8 bit controller would be so much of a problem, and you can just cobble it together with your own peripherals.Most people would even notice that your code runs faster, or the ADC has more INL.