Chinese STM32F407VET6 Fakes?

[chuck guzis]

I've got a few of the Aliexpress Chinese STM32F407VET6 development boards that arrived recently. I became suspicious when the content of 0x1FFF7A22 is reported as 0xffff, when it should be the flash size in KB. The MCU chip itself reads:

STM32f407

VET6

991ES 9R

MYS 99 145 4

ST e3 ARM

04

Note that there's no revision number, which immediately made me suspicious. The MCU at first blush, seems to work okay, but what should I be aware of if I should try to use it?

Thanks!

Chuck

[AScha.3]

maybe. i think, the "chinese" are not "bad", it is just - business.

if you can get some money, when a big company is lazy - why not ?

just -a "clone" - to make a chip, maybe invest 200000 $ , then you want some back...

nothing wrong, so far. if chip is marked as ... "CKS32Fxxx" , ok. nothing wrong.

if label is "STM32Fxxx" , but not by STM -- thats wrong.

but - if CKS didnt re-label, it will be difficult, to find out, who did this.

so first, you have to proof, this chip is not by STM. then find out, where it coming from...

to find the source of who changes label - then try to start a process against that someone - in chinese. 🙂

good luck.

[chuck guzis]

Here's a photo of the MCU that shows 0xffff for the flash size. While it seems to work, I'm going to swap it out for one that reports flash correctly. I don't need another thing to worry about. What's notable on this one is how "ARM" is quite visible from a distance, but the rest of the chip labeling is a bit faded.

[chuck guzis]

That's my problem--if the chips were "GD32F4" or "CKS32F4" labeled, at least I'd know what I was getting.

So, to answer my own question "Are there STM32F407 fakes out there?" The answer is clearly "Yes!"

[Douglas MILLER]

This forum thread was marked by the moderator as needing a little more investigation, so a Support case was created in your name and will be handled off-line. Should anyone have any similar questions, please feel free to open a Support case directly at your myST portal: https://st.com/ols