Have FTDI kicked-off round 2 of the clone wars?

Re:Have FTDI kicked-off round 2 of the clone wars? by kefka on Monday February 01, 2016 @08:31AM (#11011578)

But that's the rub: FTDI doesn't have any good process to identify fake chips, other than "install it in your board and wait and see". And if you've tried ordering from FTDI themselves, they routinely have shortages and backlogs going from 3-6 months out. Meaning you lean on reputable places like Mouser or Digikey.

And you also glossed over "FTDI compatible" chips. They too exist, and do not claim to be a legit FTDI (the markings on the case are what make a counterfeit, not the underlying silicon). Yet the FTDI driver disables them all, in one way or another.

You assume I'm talking purely about the hobbyist market: anyone who pays for a usb FTDI adapter at $1.50 should know it's likely a counterfeit.

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Re:Have FTDI kicked-off round 2 of the clone wars? by daphreak on Monday February 01, 2016 @08:42AM (#11011631)

3-6 months is not that bad. Especially if it means you can guarantee that you get genuine parts. Most real projects can easily handle this lead time for production.

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Re:Have FTDI kicked-off round 2 of the clone wars? by DanBC on Monday February 01, 2016 @09:01AM (#11011740)

6 months would be tolerated for a hard to get specialist part - a particular connector that's made in smaller batches twice a year, perhaps.

But for a normal part? It's lousy.

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