The New Hotness

This 2 GB flash drive arrived with datasheets & sample files for a (computerized) sewing machine Mary eventually decided she wasn’t going to get (because computerized):

Being of sound mind, we reformatted it and dropped it in the bag o’ random drives. She eventually used it for one of her gardening presentations, whereupon the library’s (Windows) laptop said it needed formatting; she pulled out a backup drive and continued the mission.

Lather, rinse, verify a good format, verify presentation files on the Token Windows Box, and repeat, right down to having another library’s laptop kvetch about the drive.

Soooo, I did what I should have done in the first place:

sudo f3probe -t /dev/sdc
F3 probe 6.0
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
         it can take longer. Please be patient.

Probe finished, recovering blocks... Done

Bad news: The device `/dev/sdc' is a counterfeit of type limbo

You can "fix" this device using the following command:
f3fix --last-sec=25154 /dev/sdc

Device geometry:
	         *Usable* size: 12.28 MB (25155 blocks)
	        Announced size: 1.86 GB (3893248 blocks)
	                Module: 2.00 GB (2^31 Bytes)
	Approximate cache size: 511.00 MB (1046528 blocks), need-reset=no
	   Physical block size: 512.00 Byte (2^9 Bytes)

Probe time: 55'18"
 Operation: total time / count = avg time
      Read: 8'35" / 3145715 = 163us
     Write: 46'37" / 18838872 = 148us
     Reset: 350.7ms / 2 = 175.3ms

Huh.

As long as you don’t write more than a few megabytes, it’s all good, which was apparently enough for its original use.

The front of the PCB looks normal:

But it seems they really didn’t want you to see the flash chip:

Given the two rows of unused pads, it must be a really small chip!

Memo to Self: Always examine the dentition of any Equus ferus received as a gift.