Those free USB sticks in your drawer are somehow crappier than you thought
arstechnica.com
Rejected chips, hidden microSD cards plague the USB stick market.

Many have microSD cards soldered to their circuit boards.

  • Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz
    33·
    8 months ago

    Reminds me of the time when I bought a stack of microSD cards and readers from alibaba. About half of the cards and readers were dead on arrival, and the remaining ones died within a few years.

    Now I’ve learned my lesson. This is what happens when a company outsources quality control to the customer.

    • VelociCatTurd@lemmy.world
      32·
      10 months ago

      I had a less technical savvy coworker putting together a raspi for something, emulation I think. And he was notoriously cheap, he told me he got a micro SD from China for a suspiciously low price.

      Well during this endeavor, he would keep asking me about random errors he was seeing. And I kept saying bro it is that cheap SD card you bought. He wouldn’t hear it.

      Eventually, he tried out another SD card and sure enough, no more weird errors.

    • smotherlove@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      311·
      10 months ago

      The rough part is that quality products are now hard to come by even when you’re willing to spend more.

      • Squizzy@lemmy.world
        11·
        10 months ago

        Absolutely, the companies are just so big the choice is so small so they can all be shit

        • smotherlove@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          31·
          10 months ago

          I put the blame more on retailers for failing to assure the quality and authenticity of what they sell. You pay for one thing and get another.

  • KittenBiscuits@lemm.eeEnglish
    21·
    10 months ago

    Is no one else paranoid to put a free usb stick in their computer? I thought that was the classic social engineering hack.

    (full disclosure: I’m not in I.T. and my info might be older than the hills)

    • swab148@startrek.website
      6·
      10 months ago

      They used that trick in Mr. Robot, so I’m pretty sure it’s legit. As long as not too many people know about it 🤫

    • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
      3·
      8 months ago

      Yes, it is still a thing to be concerned about. Perhaps the method of handing out free usbs is less common now. If there’s a drive lying around in public, don’t plug it in.

      A new name brand 64gb usb costs around $10. The free ones are usually 2 to 8gb and a probably a 50¢ micro SD card. Free usbs go in trash.

  • rem26_art@kbin.social
    181·
    10 months ago

    i just had one of those free sticks that I got from an event die on me the other day. I should pry it open and see if it’s just a microSD card lmao. Didn’t lose anything of worth on it cuz it was only like 128MB