Acekard Clone Identification

Clones

• How does the Anti-counterfeit code work?

After carefully pealing back the holographic Acekard sticker, found on the back of the AK2i, a unique 20 digit code is revealed. The code must be entered into the Acekard Website from left to right. The numbers are printed into 10 digit groupings placed on top of each other and separated by a space. The top left most set of 5 digits must be entered first, the top right most set of digits entered second, the bottom left most set of digits entered third, and finally the bottom right most set of digits. All 20 digits should be entered without any white space or incorrect characters. A correct code will yield a message that "This Anti-Counterfeit code is correct! You bought a REAL Acekard!" If the code has been checked already but it's your first time checking the code then you probably purchased a fake card. Please contact your vendor for refund."

• How do I spot an Acekard clone?

So far, only the Acekard 2i model has been cloned. All known Acekard 2, 2.1, and R.P.G. kits are authentic. The Acekard 2i's previous old design used a shell with a window cut out for the FPGA. During this stage of production, the Actel ProASIC 3 chip was used. Acekard no longer produces the 2i for this board. The later variants of the AK2i carts lacked a "window cut-out" on the front, instead opting to reduce the cost of the FPGA to a single black epoxy blob, and the 48-pin flash chip by SST known as the "39VF1681" was reduced to a BG48 component called the "SST36VF160".

In some cases, the Actel FPGA can be found inside the shell with no window. The Acekard 2 may use either an SST flash chip or other chips — old revisions use 48-pin TSOP chips, whereas the new revisions use BG48 chips.

Conclusion:

• The chip underneath the label, or on the back of the PCB, is either "Actel" or a black epoxy blob — fakes may substitute for "Xilinx" (this is very important).
• The chip on the front-side of PCB is either a 48-pin "SST" chip or BGA 48-pin chip.
• Fake carts use a different website other than the official one, which is 'acekard.com' (i.e., acekard-2.com or acekard.cc); however, this is very uncommon.

HWIDs

You can find out the HWID of your Acekard from within AKAIO by pressing (start) >> more >> help. You can also find out your HWID by using the firmware update tool, this will repeat the numbers twice. ie: HWID 80 in AKAIO will be reported as 8080 by the firmware update tool.

• What are the HWID's of the different Acekard builds?

1. AK2 Green PCB pre-FAT/FAT error - HWID 40
2. AK2 Green PCB *fixed* FAT error - HWID 41
3. AK2 Green PCB, windowed CPU, FAT fix and a 2.1 sticker - HWID 41
4. AK2.1 Light/Dark Green PCB - HWID 80
5. AK2.1 Black PCB - HWID 80
6. AK2.1 Blue PCB - HWID 80
7. AK2i Black PCB - HWID 44
8. AK2i Yellow/Black PCB - HWID 81

• Acekards with HWIDs not listed above are clones! 
• Acekard 2i Green PCB HWID 44 with a 32pin Xilinx Spartan chip is a clone!
• Acekard 2i HWID 80 is a clone!

If you have a Acekard HWID combination not listed, please post it in this thread http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=217695