Detecting Fake BluePills - BEWARE

[rubber_jonnie]

@BrettRogersUK recently sent me his home built ACSI2STM device for testing, since it wasn't working on either his, or his Dad's STEs.

Looking at the docs, the ACSI2STM should show it's firmware version at boot if there is no SD card installed.

This one didn't, so I tested it with a program called Blinky (Attached, just change it from .TXT to .HEX). It's simple and blinks the LED, but it only works on genuine BluePills. (Source: Detecting Fake BluePills)

It works on my 2 BluePills (A relief, I thought they might be fakes), but not on Bretts.

In addition, despite being marked the same as mine, as an STM32F103C8T6:

PXL_20230807_145618719.jpg (512.21 KiB) Viewed 1422 times

ST-Link saw it like this:

Brett_BluePill.jpg (26.45 KiB) Viewed 1422 times

But mine shows like this:

My_BluePill.jpg (27.79 KiB) Viewed 1422 times

Which I believe may be the lesser STM32F103C6T6, or even a re-marked bad chip. That said, mine could also still be fakes, just better ones that pass the visual and Blinky tests.

So, I'm posting this just as a warning. Take care to be sure you're getting what you pay for.

[PhilC]

Thanks @rubber_jonnie I'll test mine later on

[rubber_jonnie]

Thanks @rubber_jonnie I'll test mine later on

I'm not saying it's 100%, but along with the visual checks, it's definitely worth doing. Be interesting to see your device ID too.

[czietz]

Though, if yours is marked STM32F103C8 but claims to have 256 kiBytes of flash, that's questionable, too:

stm32.png (675.23 KiB) Viewed 1404 times

[BrettRogersUK]

Hi Jonathan,

I got THREE of those Blue Pill boards. Two of them identify as 0x410 chips (as you have one of them) and my other one here identifies with a code of 0x414 and passes the blinky test.

Chip markings on the blue pill

chip markings

PICT0001.jpg (169.73 KiB) Viewed 1404 times

Device detection in the stm32CubeProgrammer - 256kb memory

STM32CubeProgrammer

Screenshot from 2023-08-07 17-05-23.png (19.09 KiB) Viewed 1404 times

Passes blinky test as have got a flashing LED on PC13 however, it flashed without having the BOOT0 jumper set to programming mode.

Thanks for testing it though for me, I have got a known working ACSI2STM device by a guy called Masteries over on the atari-forum. It came from Spain today and I plugged it in and it worked strait away. no messing about. So, at least I know there isn't a problem with the ACSI side on my STE. It can turn into a rather expensive game of operation if not careful with these vintage machines. The blue pill on the Masteries version is marked as a C6T6A.

I know there are others that have built the device based on the github (https://github.com/retro16/acsi2stm) and they have worked straight away without fault so it would appear that I have been extremely unlucky with my blue pill boards. I Have just noticed however that this one may also be a fake as they have printed on the silk screen next to the reset button 'RESRT' instead of reset

Thanks again,

Brett

[elterwater]

Out of curiosity, is there a known trusted source of genuine blue pill boards here in the UK? I've fallen down the rabbit hole of Farnell and Mouser and can't find anything resembling the boards, just the chips themselves. Any pointers would be gratefully received please

[stephen_usher]

It depend upon whether you want the STM or "compatible" ones. AZ-Delivery do one of those. I don't know if it's close enough though.

[BrettRogersUK]

It depend upon whether you want the STM or "compatible" ones. AZ-Delivery do one of those. I don't know if it's close enough though.

One of the boards I used for this was an AZ-Delivery one from Amazon. it was purchased in Jun 2022 with the intention of building the project straight away but life got in the way and I only got round to having a look at the project a few weeks ago.

[rubber_jonnie]

Though, if yours is marked STM32F103C8 but claims to have 256 kiBytes of flash, that's questionable, too:

stm32.png

You're quite right, which is why I am not 100% convinced that mine are real, despite the blinky test passing.

Do you have a link to the data you posted, it would be really useful to have, thanks.

[Higgy]

Out of curiosity, is there a known trusted source of genuine blue pill boards here in the UK? I've fallen down the rabbit hole of Farnell and Mouser and can't find anything resembling the boards, just the chips themselves. Any pointers would be gratefully received please

This is a UK based company. I've used them before, but not sure if I actually bought this device from them, i definitely bought the programmer from them:

https://hobbycomponents.com/st-micro-el ... ment-board

They even answer questions on their forum to assist.