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iSight magnet is teh suck

Posted by Robby Russell Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:41:00 GMT

46 comments Latest by throw blankets Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:01:03 GMT

We picked up an iSight for those of us in the office who have older powerbooks without a builtin webcam… and I was playing with the magnet that came with it and somehow didn’t think twice about setting it down on my laptop… loud noise… 2 seconds later…. black screen!

...yeah… I lost a hard drive.

Fun times. :-)

UPDATE

...the magnet is now in the garbage. TAKE THAT!

UPDATE #2

I’m not the only person that this happened to…

It’s interesting to hear so many people say, “It takes a really powerful magnet to destroy a hard drive. I doubt that happend in your case. That magnet is not strong enough.”

...perhaps it is.

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  1. Avatar
    Joe Fri, 11 Aug 2006 07:01:14 GMT

    Ouch… That sucks. You’d think they’d shield hard drives now or something.

  2. Avatar
    Sammy Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:22:57 GMT

    OUCH. Condolences.

  3. Avatar
    Winston Fri, 11 Aug 2006 12:40:45 GMT

    I didn’t think you could affect a HD to that degree with a magnet. Guess you showed them. ouch

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/116572-1/article.html

    “A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells,” says Frank. The same goes for hard drives.

    =====

    “In the real world, people are not losing data from magnets,” says Bill Rudock, a tech-support engineer with hard-drive maker Seagate.

  4. Avatar
    DGM Fri, 11 Aug 2006 14:26:28 GMT

    Despite all the assurances from people that computers and HD’s are shielded, I still treat magnets as evil around the computer.

  5. Avatar
    Matthew Williams Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:29:53 GMT

    Why didn’t you use the notebook mount that it comes with? The magnetic mount is meant for the cinema displays.

  6. Avatar
    Robby Russell Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:39:28 GMT Recommend me on Working with Rails

    Matthew…. I said that I was playing with the magnet... as people often do with things that are neat. I was using the notebook mount… but the magnet just intrigued me and I felt like a kid… and now I have a dead hard drive. ;-)

  7. Avatar
    Christophe Sat, 12 Aug 2006 07:58:44 GMT

    Sorry to say that, but… Pwn3d !

    (condoleances for your HD)

  8. Avatar
    Bill Gates Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:29:54 GMT

    Yep, magnets will do that to a hard drive.

  9. Avatar
    John Mon, 14 Aug 2006 23:52:57 GMT

    The magnet probably didn’t affect the bits on the platter. If that were the case, the drive would likely just have data damage but wouldn’t be dead. Given the loud noise, my first guess would be that the Big Honkin’ Magnet deformed one of the drive arms and the drive head augered into the platter as a result. No fun, that!

  10. Avatar
    Amr Tue, 15 Aug 2006 01:18:53 GMT

    This is really weird, cuz HD’s do come with very powerful magnets right next to the platter, that is what powers the arm assembly. The powerbook HD’s must have an aluminum enclosure.. even then its odd.

    I just fixed my old 500 mhz ibook a month ago and there are at least two magnets embedded in the ibooks. and I was playing around with a fairly powerful magnet trying to find the embedded magnets on my ibook. I guess I just was lucky.

    you can also find where they are by running a quarter or any iron/nickel coin on the sids of the ibook. The magnet that controlls the screen sleep functions is embedde in the lower right corner if my G4 ibook and is strong enough to hold a quarter coin.

    good to know.

  11. Avatar
    Wanker Tue, 15 Aug 2006 03:44:45 GMT

    I can only laugh. WOW OMG LOLZ!!! In the words of Eazy E—“ya shoulda known better”.

    Do people really still say “teh suck” in 2006? OMG LOL

  12. Avatar
    null Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:04:11 GMT

    Doooood, I did exactly the same thing. Is it just me or is it slightly ridiculous to supply a magnet with the iSight in the first place? I mean not all of us know the in’s and out’s of a friggin hard-drive!

  13. Avatar
    spyke Sun, 01 Oct 2006 03:19:15 GMT

    cinema displays do not have hard drives. that’s what that part was intended for.

  14. Avatar
    wild_eep Sun, 08 Oct 2006 13:29:30 GMT

    Hey, sell me your magnetic mount. I lost mine and could really use a replacement.

  15. Avatar
    philipe Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:40:20 GMT

    wtf! i came with this page coz i have same problem with my hard drive. icant reformat it either.. i tried chkdsk but still unrecoverable.. the last thing that happened is i put a magnet at the Function (Fn) keyboard on my laptop for a couple of minutes. Then the the whole system crashes up! im tired of this piece of shit! it just happened yesterday!

  16. Avatar
    philipe Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:40:48 GMT

    wtf! i came with this page coz i have same problem with my hard drive. icant reformat it either.. i tried chkdsk but still unrecoverable.. the last thing that happened is i put a magnet at the Function (Fn) keyboard on my laptop for a couple of minutes. Then the the whole system crashes up! im tired of this piece of shit! it just happened yesterday!

  17. Avatar
    Singe Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:42:53 GMT
  18. Avatar
    Jon Thu, 08 Mar 2007 08:55:06 GMT

    Hey Robby, sorry to hear of the misfortune. I’ve got the opposite problem: I bought an iSight before they came with the magnets, and I could really use one with my 23” ACD. I’ll buy yours if it didn’t actually go out with the trash!

  19. Avatar
    Haiyan Thu, 07 Jun 2007 02:35:03 GMT

    A couple of weeks ago, the same Apple iSight magnet totally damaged the hard disk on my PowerBook G4. I just can’t believe it was a pure coincidence that the hard disck underwent failure just at the moment the magnet was around. After having seen numerous similar cases on the Net, the myth that “magnet can do no harm” should be bashed once and for all!!! Why can’t they stop lying about that?

    I invite those who ever suffered the same damage to thier hard disk caused by iSight magnet to come to sign in their name or email me: zhouhy2008@gmail.com

  20. Avatar
    David Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:53:08 GMT

    I am pissed. I was playing with a few “rattle” magnets and I accidently dropped one on my MacBook. Next thing you know its my screens black and it can’t get it to boot up. It’ll only stay at the gray screen. Only a gray screen…

    They don’t have any warning about no maganets near the hard drive. Ill use that against them.

  21. Avatar
    Haiyan Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:33:49 GMT

    Dear David,

    Has your problem solved? I hope your hard disk has not been crashed totally, which is unfortunately my case.

    I agree with you. Strong magnet like that should NEVER be there! What’s more, the fact that the warning is not sufficient is Apple’s negligence. I contacted Apple and was told over and over again that “it is impossible that magnet can cause problem as such”. I just CANNOT agree! And I am disappointed by their attitude. I wonder if we may exchange further to discuss further possibilities in this regard. My email address is: zhouhy2008@gmail.com. Any news from you is highly welcomed!

  22. Avatar
    atif Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:02:56 GMT

    if anyone has an isight magnet mount that they dont need please contact me atifateeq@gmail.com i will pay for it

    thank you

  23. Avatar
    we are the manufacturer and exporter of magnetic sticks,magnetic name badge,magnetic dartboard, mouse pads..... Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:26:11 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products.It products including magnetic name badges,magnetic sticks,magnetic dartboards,magnetic eggs…Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

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    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  24. Avatar
    we are the manufacturer and exporter of magnetic sticks,magnetic name badge,magnetic dartboard, mouse pads..... Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:26:35 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products.It products including magnetic name badges,magnetic sticks,magnetic dartboards,magnetic eggs…Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

    As a Manufacturer & Exporter, Hengsheng Located at Ningbo city, We have facility on the export transportation by sea.

    R&D and Sales of Hengsheng will assure you that regardless of what your specific requirements may be, service will earn your trust, your respect, and your continuing component.

    Mission of Hengsheng, is to be a growth oriented, world class provider of quality products and service designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of our customers, consistent with an acceptable return to ensure an “best” future for our customers.

    Just contact us for the best future cooperation. Contact Details Company Name: Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic Factory Company Address: No.38 Huangshu East Road,Hongshu Industrial Park,Dongqiang Lake Town,Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tel: 86-0574-88366682 Fax: 86-0574-88366681 Website: www.nb-hengsheng.com

    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  25. Avatar
    we are the manufacturer and exporter of magnetic sticks,magnetic name badge,magnetic dartboard, mouse pads..... Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:26:46 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products.It products including magnetic name badges,magnetic sticks,magnetic dartboards,magnetic eggs…Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

    As a Manufacturer & Exporter, Hengsheng Located at Ningbo city, We have facility on the export transportation by sea.

    R&D and Sales of Hengsheng will assure you that regardless of what your specific requirements may be, service will earn your trust, your respect, and your continuing component.

    Mission of Hengsheng, is to be a growth oriented, world class provider of quality products and service designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of our customers, consistent with an acceptable return to ensure an “best” future for our customers.

    Just contact us for the best future cooperation. Contact Details Company Name: Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic Factory Company Address: No.38 Huangshu East Road,Hongshu Industrial Park,Dongqiang Lake Town,Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tel: 86-0574-88366682 Fax: 86-0574-88366681 Website: www.nb-hengsheng.com

    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  26. Avatar
    we are the manufacturer and exporter of magnetic sticks,magnetic name badge,magnetic dartboard, mouse pads..... Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:26:58 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products.It products including magnetic name badges,magnetic sticks,magnetic dartboards,magnetic eggs…Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

    As a Manufacturer & Exporter, Hengsheng Located at Ningbo city, We have facility on the export transportation by sea.

    R&D and Sales of Hengsheng will assure you that regardless of what your specific requirements may be, service will earn your trust, your respect, and your continuing component.

    Mission of Hengsheng, is to be a growth oriented, world class provider of quality products and service designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of our customers, consistent with an acceptable return to ensure an “best” future for our customers.

    Just contact us for the best future cooperation. Contact Details Company Name: Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic Factory Company Address: No.38 Huangshu East Road,Hongshu Industrial Park,Dongqiang Lake Town,Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tel: 86-0574-88366682 Fax: 86-0574-88366681 Website: www.nb-hengsheng.com

    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  27. Avatar
    beibeiningbo@hotmail.com Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:41:18 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products,it including magnetic name badge,magnetic sticks,magnetic tools,magnetic dartboard….Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

    As a Manufacturer & Exporter, Hengsheng Located at Ningbo city, We have facility on the export transportation by sea.

    R&D and Sales of Hengsheng will assure you that regardless of what your specific requirements may be, service will earn your trust, your respect, and your continuing component.

    Mission of Hengsheng, is to be a growth oriented, world class provider of quality products and service designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of our customers, consistent with an acceptable return to ensure an “best” future for our customers.

    Just contact us for the best future cooperation. Contact Details Company Name: Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic Factory Company Address: No.38 Huangshu East Road,Hongshu Industrial Park,Dongqiang Lake Town,Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tel: 86-0574-88366682 Fax: 86-0574-88366681 Website: www.nb-hengsheng.com

    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  28. Avatar
    beibeiningbo@hotmail.com Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:41:36 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products,it including magnetic name badge,magnetic sticks,magnetic tools,magnetic dartboard….Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

    As a Manufacturer & Exporter, Hengsheng Located at Ningbo city, We have facility on the export transportation by sea.

    R&D and Sales of Hengsheng will assure you that regardless of what your specific requirements may be, service will earn your trust, your respect, and your continuing component.

    Mission of Hengsheng, is to be a growth oriented, world class provider of quality products and service designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of our customers, consistent with an acceptable return to ensure an “best” future for our customers.

    Just contact us for the best future cooperation. Contact Details Company Name: Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic Factory Company Address: No.38 Huangshu East Road,Hongshu Industrial Park,Dongqiang Lake Town,Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tel: 86-0574-88366682 Fax: 86-0574-88366681 Website: www.nb-hengsheng.com

    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  29. Avatar
    beibeiningbo@hotmail.com Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:41:43 GMT

    Dear sir or madam This is fairy,from Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic factory.Nice to contact you. Hengsheng is a professional manufacturer of magnetic products,it including magnetic name badge,magnetic sticks,magnetic tools,magnetic dartboard….Ningbo Hengsheng are going to provide products with High quality, Best price and Qualified service since now.

    As a Manufacturer & Exporter, Hengsheng Located at Ningbo city, We have facility on the export transportation by sea.

    R&D and Sales of Hengsheng will assure you that regardless of what your specific requirements may be, service will earn your trust, your respect, and your continuing component.

    Mission of Hengsheng, is to be a growth oriented, world class provider of quality products and service designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of our customers, consistent with an acceptable return to ensure an “best” future for our customers.

    Just contact us for the best future cooperation. Contact Details Company Name: Ningbo Hengsheng Hardware & Plastic Factory Company Address: No.38 Huangshu East Road,Hongshu Industrial Park,Dongqiang Lake Town,Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tel: 86-0574-88366682 Fax: 86-0574-88366681 Website: www.nb-hengsheng.com

    Contact person: Miss fairy zhou

  30. Avatar
    JC Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:44:15 GMT

    YES! This happened to me to. I was “playing” with the magnet and dropped it and it went right onto the spot right above my Powerbook hard drive and made a brief but loud WHIRR and then everything stopped. The HD completely crashed.

    Thank GOD my Powerbook was under warranty. I took it to the Apple store and never told them about the magnet. Just told them my computer crashed. I got a new drive, came home and threw the magnet as far as I could into Puget Sound.

  31. Avatar
    JC Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:44:36 GMT

    YES! This happened to me to. I was “playing” with the magnet and dropped it and it went right onto the spot right above my Powerbook hard drive and made a brief but loud WHIRR and then everything stopped. The HD completely crashed.

    Thank GOD my Powerbook was under warranty. I took it to the Apple store and never told them about the magnet. Just told them my computer crashed. I got a new drive, came home and threw the magnet as far as I could into Puget Sound.

  32. Avatar
    Haiyan Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:47:04 GMT

    JC, Thanks for communicating. Lucky you that you had warranty. Without warranty, the story would have been very different, like what happened to me. Anyway, I am glad that you had your problem solved, except your lost data, I suppose…

  33. Avatar
    Haiyan Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:47:08 GMT

    JC, Thanks for communicating. Lucky you that you had warranty. Without warranty, the story would have been very different, like what happened to me. Anyway, I am glad that you had your problem solved, except your lost data, I suppose…

  34. Avatar
    Haiyan Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:56:12 GMT

    JC, Thanks for communicating. Lucky you that you had warranty. Without warranty, the story would have been very different, like what happened to me. Anyway, I am glad that you had your problem solved, except your lost data, I suppose…

  35. Avatar
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    e of us in the office who have older powerbooks without a builtin webcam… and I was playing with the magnet that came with it and somehow di

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    throw blankets Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:01:03 GMT

    Pretty nice post. throw blankets I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. blanket throw In any case Ill be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!ust want to say what a great blog you got here!I totally agree. faux fur throw That is xactly how I understand it. Great!“It takes a really powerful magnet to destroy a hard drive. I doubt that happend in your case.

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