[wplug] OT- Jumpdrive

[Doug Green]

Used my multimeter to check continuity from 5Vdc pin to ground pin. Very
hard to determine if they're good, since the small metal encasing the leads
is conductive... I'll try to dremel off the metal to see if I can get a
direct connection. If it goes beyond that, I'll take some photos to share
with the group...
Any other suggestions (other than a dremel tool) for removing the metal that
encases the usb connector pins?
-Doug



On 4/9/05 1:00 PM, "Doug Green" <diego96 at mac.com> wrote:

> Hey all-
> OK, I dug up some basic info on the usb pins. Info here:
> 
>  http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/html/817-3951-11/appA
> .html#13540
> 
> Upon examination of the drive, it looks like one of the pins is depressed
> into the black plastic "bottom wedge". This pin is either the ground or the
> 5V power pin (it's the pin on the far right if you are looking into the
> connector). I'll keep you posted on what I do- for now I'm going to try to
> solder a patch to a spare usb extension cable.
> 
> -D
> 
> 
> 
> On 4/9/05 12:50 AM, "Brandon Kuczenski" <brandon at 301south.net> wrote:
> 
>> On Fri, 8 Apr 2005, Doug Green wrote:
>> 
>>> Hey all-
>>> I¹ve got a defunked Lexar Jumpdrive. Plugging it in does nada- no flashy
>>> light on the drive, computers don¹t recognize it at all- regardless of OS,
>>> this thing just stopped working. Any ideas? Bad contact? If so, any ideas on
>>> how to fix it and recover my data??
>>> Thanks,
>>> Doug
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> Is it possible that it's simply a damaged power connection?  Small USB
>> devices get power from the USB port, so if the power lead isn't making it
>> from the USB port to the device, that would kill it.  A USB specification
>> and a soldering iron (or at least a multimeter) may be of use.
>> 
>> I don't know about jump drives in particular, but it seems to me there
>> should be no reason for a purely solid-state electronic device to fail
>> except for physical damage (shock, chemicals, big nasty gouges on the
>> circuit board).  In fact, my experience as an engineer suggests that even
>> the danger of static discharge is a myth, or at least, severely
>> overstated.
>> 
>> ... google interlude ...
>> 
>> wow, information on jump drives' internals is surprisingly difficult to
>> come by on google.  Maybe it should be a WPLUG project to open this
>> ostensibly damaged device and put some pictures on the Web.  (with a tiny
>> chance of actually fixing the thing besides...).  At least you can start
>> with the USB spec: google for USB_20.pdf.  Section 6.5 seems to be about
>> the wiring configuration.
>> 
>> missing my days of hardware hacking,
>> -Brandon
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> 
> 
> 
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