hacked "4, 8Gb" player

I recently purchased a "4gb" nano clone from ebay. I extensively read all of the warnings and reviews about the clones and decided to go ahead and risk it anyway...

When I received it windows said "4.08gb" and after several of the data files that I added to it went crazy (with them containing countless 0kb files in Jap. characters which I couldn't delete), I reformatted and the filesize slightly went down to 3.98gb. And according to windows, I've used about 2.63gbs of space.

And after reading about the elusive 4gb nano clone myth, I can only assume that my player, like all of the others, is hacked.

Now, my question is, how do I know for sure?

[tadad1]

Guest, You have to open the player and check the make and serial number of the memory chip, the largest chip on the board. you will find a list of Samsung and Hynix chip sizes here
http://www.mympxplayer.org/viewtopic.php?p=9204#9204

[lennep]

I am now in receipt of my second (i.e replacement) hacked 4GB nano clone from EBay seller products_foreign.

Using the tips and tools found on this website, was able to confirm the unit was 2GB and USB 1.1, not 2.0 as advertised (supicious about USB 2 because data transfer rates were v. slow).

A replacement was eventually sent, but only after negative feedback was left and a dispute lodged with EBay. No response obtained to initial emails. The replacement is an identical dud.

As payback and to convince me to remove negative feedback, the seller left some bizarre negative feeback for me (EBay member mscta ). Have responded to this by posting a link to the relevant sticky on your forum so other potential buyers won't be sucked in.

[admin]

lennep,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

I think you did a good think posting negative feedback and link on his feedback. If we can stop others falling into the same trap, that would be a start.

What size did you end up with in the end?

When people advertise "USB 2.0", there are actually TWO different versions.

Here is a summary:

"Full Speed USB is only 12Mbits/second where Hi-Speed USB mode is capable of a much faster 480Mbits/second."

Full details and FAQ on USB can be found here: http://www.everythingusb.com/usb2/faq.htm.

[lennep]

Reformatted size = 2GB. Interestingly, reformat using the HPUSBFW tool did not show true size, again displaying 4GB. Unconvinced, I used the CheckUDisc tool which confirmed 2GB.

USBInfo and SiSoft confirmed status as USB 1.1 with very slow data transfer when benchmarked against a USB 2.0 flash drive.

I sent screen grabs of the reformatted capacity and USB benchmarks to the seller. Additionally, I photographed and sent images of the flash memory chip, along with a grab of the relevant data from the Samsung website to confirm it is a 2GB chip(KWAG08U1A).

I don't yet what his counter argument will be in the face of such overwhelming evidence of his fraudulent selling, but I do think he is hurting from the -ve feedback.

[Gilbert]

Hi

One more member of the hacked 4GB club here - bought off e-bay from seller mp2_exp. How are peoples complaints to seller/ebay/paypal going? Is it worth the hassle or should I just accept the fact that I have a 2GB player for GBP40

Regards
Gilbert

[lattesurf]

Gilbert, usually if you do come an agreement with your seller for a full refund (some cases less 20-25% "restocking fee"), they would only refund your buying price, not postage price. What's more you need to pay for postage back to seller.
In the end, if you do get a buying price refund, you would have spent the postage to you (which usually is quite expensive) + postage back to seller. I would suggest you getting some refund from the seller for the price difference between 2GB & 4GB players.

I paid around AU$100 (about GBP40) including postage for a "4GB", but ended up with a 2GB. However, the seller wasn't a dealer selling all these things but just a normal person selling off her stuff.

I worked out that it wasn't worth going through the hassle of refunds and just made do with it.

[Xenobius]

Hello All.

I have just bought a 4GB MP4 which is giving me trouble. When I try to put mp3 in, it will accept upto 2gb. If I put more, they will corrupt and the only way to delete them is my running scandisc with the option to fix system file errors, and when its done, the corrupted files are then deletable. Further more I have a 1MB partition which is I cannot delete, format or access. Could this partition contain the hack? Should I use a new full firmware for my 35.37 1.8" Mp4?

Thanks all..

[lattesurf]

Xenobius , never ever use another firmware for your player, it will most definitely kill your player. Unless your player is dead and you are trying to recover it.

From your problem of corrupted files, likely your memory is a hacked 2GB chip. I would suggest that you format your player using the MP3 Utilities Disk Tool, and go to the Partition & Encrypt tab, set the slider to max (right) format it. Then repeat the steps but now set the sldier to min (left) and format it. This would most probably remove the 1MB partition and recombine everything into 1 partition.

[Xenobius]

Yes thanks for your reply. Could you kindly let me know were to get this software that you mentioned?

Thank you