HELP!!! Magnet wiped my Axim!

LadyLea · 11-14-05, 03:52 PM

Its a long story, but basically some guy set a magnet down next to my purse and next thing I know he's telling me a magnet is stuck on my purse. Then he pulls off and puts it back 2 or 3 times.

I was quiet for a second then freaked out, b/c the only thing in my purse that would attract a magnet is my PDA!

Now i can't turn it on, and i checked and the screen lock is definately off.

HELP, what should I do? PLease tell me it isn't ruined b/c its not even a year old, plus its what i keep as a check register, and trying to restart my bank info would really suck.

11-14-05, 04:38 PM

Unless you are using a Comapact Flash micro drive, a magnet shouldn't affect a PDA - everthing is stored in a electronic chip, non-magnetically. They are also mostly plastic... so I very much doubt that is what the magnet was stuck to.

Things to try:
--First, is it charged?
--Second, try a soft-reset.

And, as I am sure you now know, if the info is important you should should be making regular backups.

BTW: Did you whump that guy with your purse by any chance? 'Cause it sounds like he would have deserved it!

jimbo32 · 11-14-05, 04:40 PM

Not sure a magnet can do that. I have a Sena case with a magnetic closure and no problems. You might try a soft reset, if you haven't already. I've had a couple of times where my power button was unresponsive and a soft reset fixed it.

Since it's less than a year old, it may be covered by warranty, but that doesn't help you with your data issue, if you don't have a backup.

DavidK · 11-14-05, 04:49 PM

In general, you hear that it is probably not a good idea to be putting magnets on your devices, but at the same time there are plenty of products out there (cases and mouning options) that use them. Aside from microdrives, most people say a magnet would not cause any damage. Also, I've heard people say that the magnet itself wouldn't damage anything unless you are actually moving it rapidly across the device. In other words, a static magnetic field would not be as damaging.

11-14-05, 04:50 PM

I thought if a magnet is powerfull enough it can wipe flash memory too. Could be wrong.

This is from a photography website:
"The information on flash media will not be erased and the card will not become damaged by electricity or magnets, unless the voltage or magnetic field is exceptionally high or strong."

dooroo62 · 11-14-05, 04:53 PM

I've never heard of a magnet hurting a PDA. Someone might be playing a trick on you. Look and see if the person with the magnet also took out you main battery. Your PDA doesn't boot from a hard disk, so a magnet damaging it is unlikely unless you drop the magnet into your PDA.

If your battery is there, put you PDA on the charger, maybe the battery is dead, not you PDA.

Good luck!

P.S. If it turns out to be a joke, you have my permission to get medieval with the prankster. ;-)

MCMANNUS · 11-14-05, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Kozak

I thought if a magnet is powerfull enough it can wipe flash memory too. Could be wrong.

This is from a photography website:
"The information on flash media will not be erased and the card will not become damaged by electricity or magnets, unless the voltage or magnetic field is exceptionally high or strong."

I think they mean very strong magnets which would cause massive disruptions in electric circuitry. Not something any of us would have access to...and it wouldnt be drawn to your axim...your axim would be drawn to it bc it would be huge.

ChrisM510 · 11-14-05, 06:11 PM

In general, magnets won't even hurt magnetic media devices (now let me explain). It isn't the magnetism per se that damages magnetic media, it is the movement of the media *through* the magnetic field that causes the damage. Try it sometime the next time you are about to get a new credit/debit card...take a really strong magnet and hold it to the old card - it won't do anything to it. Now take the same magnet and drag the strip across the magnet - presto, no more card... Of course, you have to test the card between the two tests to see the difference...

HAPPY BEAU · 11-14-05, 06:27 PM

What if that magnet cause a current to flow in some of the small wires in the pda?

kryten007 · 11-14-05, 07:37 PM

*cough-cough* hold switch *cough-cough*
Heaven knows I've done that!

Howard2k · 11-14-05, 08:04 PM

Let's be friends. Remember it's very easy to misinterpret text over the Internet when we lose all the subtle but vital aural information that we often depend on in real life conversations.

CornyAxim · 11-14-05, 08:07 PM

None of the comments so far have offended me at all so far. The testicle thing was funny. As for a magnet to do that.... how? I mean how big was this magnet? It would have to be a crazy obscenely sized magnet to do anything to your pda. And who the heck would carry around a magnet that big?

hotdog271 · 11-14-05, 08:18 PM

is that a magnet in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

**Frenchy** · 11-14-05, 08:29 PM

I agree with Noisy Crow on this one. You shouldn't have any problems with the PPC. Backups are always welcome when something like this happen.

11-14-05, 08:42 PM

um... i have plenty of magnets, and i tested them around my ppc and nothing happened... even on my flash card. it would have to be one of those magnets they use to pick up card with
...... anyway....... hope you fix it

here let me pretend i am a dell rep...

nate: HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET
NATHAN:HARD RESET
NATHAN : HARD RESET