<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:14px"><div style="" class=""><span style="" class="">To more succinctly illustrate the root issue, the counterfeit chip creators have duplicated the hardware IDs, in addition to the function of the hardware itself. So trying to identify the (counterfeit) chipset by looking at the ID tags in device manager is fruitless, likewise when the driver is flagged to be updated, it will update without regard to whether you have genuine or counterfeit chips. There's not a lot an end user can do here except return their bricked device back to whomever they purchased it from. My thinking in this case is the early bird gets the worm in the if the vendors are going to be flooded with return requests, only the first few are gonna get attention before they close the floodgates. <br
style="">|</span></div><div class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="" class="">There been alot of chatter on this on the net over the last couple days:<br style="" class=""><a style="" class="" href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/10/22/185244/ftdi-reportedly-bricking-devices-using-competitors-chips">FTDI Reportedly Bricking Devices Using Competitors' Chips. - Slashdot</a> <br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="width:450px; font-family: 'Georgia', 'Times', 'Times New Roman', 'serif';margin-top:5px; margin-bottom: 5px;" id="enhancrCard_0" class="link-enhancr-attachment link-enhancr-element" contenteditable="false"><table class="link-enhancr-element" style="width:450px; height:170px; position: relative; display: block;" border="0" cellpadding="0"
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style="line-height:16.5px; background-color: #ffffff; height: 135px; width: 245px;"><div class="link-enhancr-element" style="word-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-all;"><span class="link-enhancr-element icon icon-shrink link-enhancr-toggle"></span><span class="link-enhancr-element icon icon-close link-enhancr-delete"></span><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/10/22/185244/ftdi-reportedly-bricking-devices-using-competitors-chips" class="link-enhancr-card-urlWrapper link-enhancr-element" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: #000000 !important; line-height: 100%; font-size: 18px; display: block;"><span class="link-enhancr-element link-enhancr-card-title" style="margin: 0; font-weight: normal;margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21px; max-height: 43px; color: #000000; overflow: hidden !important; display: inline-block;">FTDI Reportedly Bricking Devices Using Competitors' Chip...</span></a><div style="font-size: 13px;
line-height: 20px; color: #999999; max-height: 81px; font-family: 'Georgia', 'Times', 'Times New Roman', 'serif';overflow: hidden;" class="link-enhancr-card-description link-enhancr-element">janoc writes It seems that chipmaker FTDI has started an outright war on cloners of their popular USB bridge chips. At first the clones stopped working wit...</div></div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="link-enhancr-element" style="height: 4px; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 0pt; border-collapse: collapse;"><div class="link-enhancr-element" style="height: 4px; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 4pt;"></div></td></tr><tr><td class="link-enhancr-element" style="vertical-align: middle; font-family: 'Arial', 'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'sans-serif';"><div class="link-enhancr-element" style="font-size: 0pt;"><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/10/22/185244/ftdi-reportedly-bricking-devices-using-competitors-chips"
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line-height:0px"> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br>Mike KJ4UKY<br><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); font-style: normal;" class=""><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); font-style: normal;" class=""><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;" class=""><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"
class=""><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;" class=""><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;" class=""><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 1px; font-family: "Georgia","Times","Times New Roman","serif"; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;" class=""><br style="" class=""></div> <div class="" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <div class="" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style=""
class="" dir="ltr"> <hr style="" class="" size="1"> <font style="" class="" size="2" face="Arial"> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> "larc2@evanszone.com [LakelandARC]" <LakelandARC@yahoogroups.com><br style="" class=""> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> LakelandARC@yahoogroups.com <br style="" class=""> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, October 23, 2014 12:12 PM<br style="" class=""> <b style="" class=""><span class="" style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [LakelandARC] USB to RS-232 Device/Dongle Warning<br style="" class=""> </font> </div> <div style="" class=""><br style="" class=""><div style="" class="" id="yiv7866480190">
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<div style="" class=""><span style="" class="">If you own a USB to RS-232 Dongle that you are using with Windows, and it uses the FTDI chipset, you might want to consider NOT upgrading to the latest FTDI drivers. FTDI's new driver will brick (as in render useless) any device that uses a fake FTDI chipset. So before you upgrade, make sure you have a real FTDI chip by checking with the manufacturer or searching the Internet.</span></div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class="">You can check the chipset used by looking at the driver in the Windows Device Manager.</span></div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class="">This also applies to any device that has a built-in FTDI chip used to convert USB to RS-232.</span></div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class=""><br style=""
class=""></span></div><div style="" class=""><span class="" style="word-spacing:normal;">More detailed info here:</span><br style="" class=""></div><div style="" class=""><a style="" class="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/windows-update-drivers-bricking-usb-serial-chips-beloved-of-hardware-hackers/">Windows Update drivers bricking USB serial chips beloved of hardware hackers</a><br style="" class=""></div><div style="width:450px;" id="yiv7866480190enhancrCard_2" class="" contenteditable="false"> <table class="" style="width:450px;height:170px;margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody style="" class=""><tr style="" class=""> <td colspan="6" class="" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> </tr> <tr style="" class=""> <td rowspan="2" class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;">
<div class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> <td class="" rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;width:168px;height:168px;background-color:#000000;"> <div class="" style="width:168px;" align="center"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/windows-update-drivers-bricking-usb-serial-chips-beloved-of-hardware-hackers/" class="" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: #000000 !important;" contenteditable="false"> <img alt="image" src="http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/387994380_81ee8a85cb_z.jpg" class="" style="margin:auto;" height="126" width="168"> </a> </div> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> <td class="" colspan="2" style="width:100%;vertical-align:middle;"> <div class="" style="background-color:#ffffff;height:130px;width:279px;">
<div class="" style="padding:7px 20px 0px 14px;"> <span style="" class=""></span> <span style="" class=""></span> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/windows-update-drivers-bricking-usb-serial-chips-beloved-of-hardware-hackers/" class="" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000000;"> <span class="" style="margin:0;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:4px;font-size:18px;max-height:43px;color:#000000;overflow:hidden;">Windows Update drivers bricking USB serial chips b...</span> </a> <div style="font-size:13px;color:#999999;max-height:81px;overflow:hidden;" class="">The move to combat counterfeit chips leaves hobbyists stuck in the middle.</div> </div> </div> </td> <td class="" rowspan="2" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> </tr><tr style="" class=""> <td class="" style="width:100%;vertical-align:middle;"> <div class=""
style="font-size:0pt;padding:7px 20px 9px 15px;"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/windows-update-drivers-bricking-usb-serial-chips-beloved-of-hardware-hackers/" class="" style="color:black;text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;"> <span class="" style="max-width:179px;min-width:119px;overflow:hidden;max-height:13px;"> <span class="" style="vertical-align:middle; font-size: 9px; line-height: 11px; color: #999999; -moz-text-size-adjust: none; -ms-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust:none; text-size-adjust:none;"> View on <span class="" style="font-weight:bold;">arstechnica.com</span> </span> </span> </a> </div> </td> <td class="" style="vertical-align:middle;width:100px;"> <div class="" style="padding:9px 20px 12px 0px;max-width:100px;min-width:80px;overflow:hidden;text-align:right;max-height:13px;font-size:0pt;"> <span class="" style="vertical-align:middle; font-size: 9px;
line-height: 11px; color: #999999; -moz-text-size-adjust: none; -ms-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust:none; text-size-adjust:none;"> Preview by Yahoo </span> </div> </td> </tr> <tr style="" class=""> <td class="" colspan="6" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div><div style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></div><div style="" class="">... and here ...</div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class=""><a style="" class="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-ftdi-ft232/">FTDI driver kills fake FTDI FT232?? - Page 1</a><br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="width:450px;" id="yiv7866480190enhancrCard_1" class="" contenteditable="false"> <table class="" style="width:450px;height:170px;margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody
style="" class=""><tr style="" class=""> <td colspan="6" class="" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> </tr> <tr style="" class=""> <td rowspan="2" class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> <td class="" rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;width:168px;height:168px;background-color:#000000;"> <div class="" style="width:168px;" align="center"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-ftdi-ft232/" class="" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: #000000 !important;" contenteditable="false"> <img alt="image" src="http://gotroot.ca/media/oinkav.png" class="" style="margin:auto;" height="168" width="168"> </a> </div> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class=""
style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> <td class="" colspan="2" style="width:100%;vertical-align:middle;"> <div class="" style="background-color:#ffffff;height:130px;width:279px;"> <div class="" style="padding:7px 20px 0px 14px;"> <span style="" class=""></span> <span style="" class=""></span> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-ftdi-ft232/" class="" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000000;"> <span class="" style="margin:0;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:4px;font-size:18px;max-height:43px;color:#000000;overflow:hidden;">FTDI driver kills fake FTDI FT232?? - Page 1</span> </a> <div style="font-size:13px;color:#999999;max-height:81px;overflow:hidden;" class="">FTDI driver kills fake FTDI FT232?? - Page 1</div> </div> </div> </td> <td class="" rowspan="2" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td>
</tr><tr style="" class=""> <td class="" style="width:100%;vertical-align:middle;"> <div class="" style="font-size:0pt;padding:7px 20px 9px 15px;"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-ftdi-ft232/" class="" style="color:black;text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;"> <span class="" style="max-width:179px;min-width:119px;overflow:hidden;max-height:13px;"> <span class="" style="vertical-align:middle; font-size: 9px; line-height: 11px; color: #999999; -moz-text-size-adjust: none; -ms-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust:none; text-size-adjust:none;"> View on <span class="" style="font-weight:bold;">www.eevblog.com</span> </span> </span> </a> </div> </td> <td class="" style="vertical-align:middle;width:100px;"> <div class="" style="padding:9px 20px 12px 0px;max-width:100px;min-width:80px;overflow:hidden;text-align:right;max-height:13px;font-size:0pt;"> <span class=""
style="vertical-align:middle; font-size: 9px; line-height: 11px; color: #999999; -moz-text-size-adjust: none; -ms-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust:none; text-size-adjust:none;"> Preview by Yahoo </span> </div> </td> </tr> <tr style="" class=""> <td class="" colspan="6" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <div class="" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"></div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="" class=""><span style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></span></div><div style="" class=""><br style="" class=""></div>
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