23 Nov
2011
23 Nov
'11
10:14 a.m.
On Wed, 23 Nov 2011, Philip Pemberton wrote:
On Fri, 2011-11-11 at 05:07 -0800, Mr Ian Primus
wrote:
I like to take them apart and salvage bits like the screws, spindle motor,
magnets, platters and head assembly (the screws have a practical use, the
others are for decorating the house with and/or art projects).
Alexey
I kinda had the opposite reaction. I figured that
the whole "attaching mains power to data connectors" was a sort of rite of
passage... something every geek has done at some point. I'd wager that most of us have
some kind of EtherKiller or related device hanging around, if only for the shock value
when someone else sees it. And, of course, for demonstrating the meaning of the phrase
"magic smoke".
I have a cable which consists of a UK mains plug, a length of
low-current mains cable... and a bare end.
I use it for testing power supplies, specifically AC-DC "industrial" or
"embedded" PSUs with screw-terminal connectors.
Hint: a 4 pin molex connector at the end of a
power cord will make a dead hard drive even deader... with fireworks!
I don't doubt it.
But I prefer a hammer. A much more tactile (and satisfying) way of
ensuring a bricked HDD doesn't find its way back into my spares pile...
Plus it puts ruddy great dents on most sides, thus making it damn
obvious that the HDA and PCB are completely buggered.