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Usb drive vs the elements

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    #1

    Usb drive vs the elements

    Found a flashdrive in some mud today

    it had set there for some time, based on the level of rust on the USB connector...

    this unit has an aluminum case and plastic ends.

    anyway, I grabbed it and when I got home, I cleaned the mud out of the USB connector and sanded off as much rust as I could.

    I figured that since it probably doesn't have a backup battery, it is likely still good and safe tu try.

    I plugged it in... success!

    the drive is a 1gb unit. meh, but big enough to make into a live linux drive. (i checked the drive, there were no files one could use to ID the original owner).

    its ugly due to all the scrape marks on the aluminum and a few rust pits on the USB connector... but it does work after all...

    Anybody else have any electronics surviving the elements stories?
    sigpic

    (Insert witty quote here)
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    #2
    Re: Usb drive vs the elements

    You mean like when the firemain pipe burst over the Steam Generator Water Level Control System cabinets and filled them with sea water?
    [Roughly the equivalent of 20 4U units fill of sea water. - It was 'fun'.]
    We called that system 'Swiggle' BTW, it's a mouth full otherwise.
    -or-
    When the rouge wave hit the ship in the storm and showered down through the ventilation on the Rod Control cabinets and then filled the room to about 6" deep followed by sloshing back and forth as the ship rolled?
    -or-
    [This is old] The 286 that was in a house fire and then got tossed in a [really deep] mud puddle of run-off when on of my co-workers house burned down? [I never did get the smoke smell out of the PSU even though it worked so I changed that but the rest of it lived with just a clean-up.]
    -or-
    When I was in Jamaica I found a system that had been shoved under the house in the mud and my GF didn't even know it was there.
    It's rains A LOT in Jamaica. 70-85 degrees [and % humidity] all year round.
    Needless to say it was pretty rusty.
    It was on old P1 as I recall. [This was ~10 years ago now.]
    I put it back together with a newer CD and HDD and gave it to her kid.

    ~

    Use a stiff tooth brush with wet baking soda to get the corrosion off.
    [That will get the rust out of the pits too.]

    Paint the aluminum.
    .
    Mann-Made Global Warming.
    - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
    -
    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
    - Dr Seuss
    -
    You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
    -

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      #3
      Re: Usb drive vs the elements

      noted with the brush trick, I think I might leave the AL as is more or less as a joke...
      sigpic

      (Insert witty quote here)

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        #4
        Re: Usb drive vs the elements

        Cool! I found a 128MB USB flash drive on the sidewalk while it was raining, but it looked like 30 people stepped on it and the USB connector was all messed up... I tried to transplant a connector from another old broken drive but it still didn't work... upon inspection, the flash memory was cracked

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          #5
          Re: Usb drive vs the elements

          The drive got a new home.

          Some gal in my English class had her virtually new 8gb drive die on her... (dane-elec FAIL!)... and I had this drive in the junk area of my backpack along with 3 other unused flashdrives... decided to pay it forward... (I reformatted the drive first, just to be safe).

          and no, the dead drive was not fixable (not showing up with lsusb)... at least it is within the warranty period... Dane-elec
          Last edited by ratdude747; 02-23-2012, 08:43 AM.
          sigpic

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            #6
            Re: Usb drive vs the elements

            Reminds me of a security paper I read a while back. This corporate executive was bragging about how secure his network and computers were. The security consultant he hired to do an audit and penetration test, dropped a list of user accounts passwords, and a few sensitive client files on his desk at the end of the day.

            Turns out all he had to do was put some keylogger software on a few USB drives, and drop them in the parking lot. Employees faithfully plugged 'em in.
            36 Monitors, 3 TVs, 4 Laptops, 1 motherboard, 1 Printer, 1 iMac, 2 hard drive docks and one IP Phone repaired so far....

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              #7
              Re: Usb drive vs the elements

              i have accidentally washed both my 16 and 32 and after drying out they were fine. thankfully i have a ton of stuff on those things. So it is possible but i see that it didn't work out in your favor.

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                #8
                Re: Usb drive vs the elements

                Her drive just randomly died, no extreme conditions required. kinda ironic considering how the drive I gave away was found...
                sigpic

                (Insert witty quote here)

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                  #9
                  Re: Usb drive vs the elements

                  I had a 2gb a bunch of years ago that started smoking when i plugged it into the usb port lol the computer survived the drive did not live to see another day

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