Here is the quote from steve which worked for his key.

“I can’t take credit for this, but I found a reference to a HP Tool, designed for their DriveKey sticks to make them bootable, which seems to have done the business for my stick.

HP TOOL

I simply ran the HP Drive Key Boot Utility, and told it to make the stick bootable, and not only did it put a bunch of files on there (which I promptly deleted), but it changed the capacity of the device to it’s correct 4Gb (from 16Gb). I didn’t get the opportunity to specify the size, so it either works it out itself, or it always selects 4Gb, I’m afraid I don’t know.

It’s worth a try if, like me, you were struggling to find anything else that works, and it’s a bit less hassle than installing Ubuntu.”

Good luck and do report back if the actual disk capacity tool found at : http://www.myblog.bloggybloggy.com/hacked-usb-key-ebay-scam-07-04-2008/ worked or not

Spent few hours today fixing Tamer’s usb key’s he send to me (arrived this Friday just in nick of time before i left work for home ) . Here is yet another USB Fixing blog post, today two sticks each with Controller MXT6208A and Memory Samsung 725/ K98G08U0M/ WNE197PA ( thats actually 8 gigaBIT memory, that means 1 gigaBYTE or 1 GB of capacity).

Sticks as usual came with the fancy shiny 16 GB stickers on them. I really liked the blue looking key, I wish it had been easy to rip open, but had a metal casing on top of it so I had to peel that away first and now stick looks hideous without that casing . The white one I was able to put back together without cosmetic damage !!

Lets start by posting some pictures first .

Picture : Shows the 2 keys just out of the packaging , with the shiny 16 gig sticker.

Lets see how they look from inside now

The white one first (note the capacitor (on bottom right ), its got bad solder join, sheesh)

And here is the blue one , note on the left thats the metal casing which had to be peeled/pulled apart.

Here is the memory snap shot from the white key, as could not get the key out for its case from the blue one cause of epoxy or w/e that blob of glue is (is holding it pretty tight in place) .

Now lets begin hacking our way and fix these flashed/fake usb keys.

Took me a while to find the right version of Mptools, and the chinesse site where you can get them from now has only invitation based registerations and requires credits/money for downloads of files, tried to spend $4 to get enough credits to download the tools, but their paypal account does not accept USD , so was stuck till I googled and found the tools on other sites . Various versions were downloaded (about 6) but only 1 clicked and worked. Download this Mptool File MPTool-2007103-Fix-Usb-key

Now its the simplest fix ever (after you get right tool). Simple insert your fake pen drive into the usb port, and open up the exe file (unzip above file first) and it should show up something like this in the picture (if your stick/controller card is the list it should show up too ) .

Step 1. Insert key, open the exe file , and hit the little U icon (or the E Icon (its just your usb key drive letter only and will vary from user to user) as suggested by Barrows) if your stick is recognized off the bat, if not just hit setup ctrls and select one from the list on the left (uncheck the auto feature first on the top left there).

Step 2. After format is complete simply unplug the key from computer, and format it using win xp or any tool you like (but do not use quick format, just let it format using simple format) and your key is now all set to be used, without worry of data corruption (but do note these are not legit keys, so i wouldnt put anything that is really really important on these keys ) .

If you need any help with your keys let me know, but to find exact version of tool to fix your particular usb pen drive is hit and trial. So , it might take you some time to fix your usb drive to default factory built memory capacity.

Cheers yours,

Usb Fixing Guru

First of all here are few pretty images of my fake usb memory stick i got off ebay :

Top View of my Fake Icreate Based USB Key.

This image below shows the use of Icreate i5128 -LG L726 Controller chip

Again the memory used was Hynix (seems like they say on ebay its samsung memory but stick in Hynix memory instead Hynix HY2UU08AG5M a 2 GB capacity chip).

So, after you have confirmed that your memory stick is using icreate proceed as below to fix your stupid fake usb memory stick :

Step 1 to Fixing Fake USB Keys : Download iCreate 5128 Utility (attached for easing your pain). RAR Version- i5127-PDV1.08B3.rar

Step2 to Flashing fake usb key to original Capacity : (just follow the quick Graphical instructions , simple as pie, other controller required more efforts not this one . First unzip the file you downloaded, and execute PD.exe , hit App Flash to get going .

Step 3. Good Luck

If above does not fix up your fake usb key, i do not know what will, try googling up something will show up in the results, probably in chinesse though, use google translation to overcome that obstacle !!!

Enjoy,

Your Fake USB Key Fixing GURU

First lets fix a Memory / USB Key having AU6890 or higher controller/flash chip. I was scammed and was given a Hynix HY27UT088G2M memory which is by the way 1 Gigs space total and not 8GB or anything else. So, lets flash it back to its default 1 GB value and fix this sucker good.

First of all you will need to open up your usb key case, do not worry most ebay keys are easy to open, i opened mine with just my finger nails. Some might need exacto knife or something that will do the trick. Now look at the memory controller chip.

Flip the memory key and look at what memory you actually have on the darn usb key. Here is what I had Hynix HY27UT088G2M :

Rest of it is now pretty simple if you are lucky to have the flash files for your particular memory key. Simply download Alcor 2.1.2.0 (attached so you do not have to google it for a day or more and register on Chinese based site, ooh yaa that was not fun , its not easy trying to register on a site with language out of your dictionary !!), in the attached zip file is Update.exe file, its there only if you do not find your memory in the flash List , after installing ALCOR and trying to fix your key. Now, just follow the steps below in the figure to fix your hacked usb key to normal capacity. Post your queries if you are unable to follow.

Step 2. Simply go to Setup if you key is not regonized automatically and select from dropdown the memory you have, use update.exe file first if you have to.

Now hit START shown in the first figure and it should do the format and flash it back to normal value, and if your key is all fixed back to original capacity.

Will write about fix for keys using iCreate to hack usb keys tomorrow. Bit tired right now.

Those wishing to find Alcor or in short AU controller chip based USB Key fix , please read this another blog post we got going : Alcor Key Fix Blog Post

Have fun fixing your keys and Good luck to you all those who have been Scammed by fake usb key sellers off ebay and other locations.

Download the Zip package. Place the test.bmp file on the USB key, and open testscript.bat with NOTEPAD, and change drive letter U: to your USB key Drive letter , you do not want to fill the wrong drive up .

Run testscript.bat from your desktop (i would suggest you place it on your desktop so you do not loose track where you put the file ) , and let it rip, it goes slow till it hits the key maximum capacity after which you will see files copied really fast !!!!.

If its a 2 GB actually capacity on usb key, it will start copying really quick when you hit about 190 ish files, as the test.bmp is exactly 10 MB’s in size. And you will see corruption of images, either lines across the image, or big black rectangular block in the middle of the images.Meaning that your key has a capacity lower than what you think it has. How much does it actually have ? Use thumbnail view option and look at the images and see at which image the corrupt started, select all images that are good and check properties of the selected good images, thats your key’s real capacity, now time to open your stick up and fix it up !! Details in other post

As per tools used to flash it back to original state i will post later. As am busy trying to figure out how to flash this key back to 2 gig (K after a day or rather 6 hrs or search was able to flash my new Kingston DT 100 back to original. Damn now those scammers are ruining company names too.

Warning :

Please CHANGE drive letter U: to your usb key drive letter.

Place test.bmp on your usb key, Please format your usb key first using
quick format.