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alyciabresina · 03-12-2008

My ipod nano is over 2 years old and I have never had one problem with it until today. I was at work and plugged it in to charge it to my computer tower, as soon as I plugged it in the computer turned off and wouldnt come back on. Our IT person said that the motherboard was blown and needed replacement. He got me a new tower and when he tried to plug the ipod back in, it blew the second tower! Everyone said that they have never heard of this before and I am too afraid to plug it into my home laptop now.

Does anyone possibly know what is going on?

**Raven** · 03-12-2008

That sounds fairly impossible to me. iPods, particularly a Nano, would have to work pretty damn hard to generate the kind of current necessary to fry a mobo. I can't really tell you any more than that without more specifics, though. What kind of computer were these two fried ones? How old? How did the IT guy decide that the mobo was fried? (Did he just say 'whoop, won't boot, motherboard must be dead?' or was he specific? Did he check anything while you were watching?
(Also, perhaps, in the future, you should confine each topic to one thread? Posting the same thing twice seven minutes apart will not get you a faster response.)

alyciabresina · 03-13-2008

I dont know anything about computers and because it is his job i figured he knew what he was talking about. I know it was the ipod because both computers worked until it was plugged in and as soon as it was the computer turned off and wouldnt come back on. I didnt mean to post it on the first one, this is my first time on here and I wasn't sure how to delete the first one out of that specific subject.

Thanks.

**Raven** · 03-13-2008

If you want to know if it's safe to plug it in to your laptop, I'd go back and ask him. Specifically, ask why/how he determined that the motherboard was blown. There are more reasons for a machine to stop booting than a monkey has hairs, and some of them could possibly be caused by your iPod.

(I don't mean to sound snarky. There's a big difference between knowing enough computers to fix them and the kind of basic knowledge everyone should have. If you took your car to the mechanic and he said 'whoops, car's broken, you're going to have to get a new one,' you'd ask what, specifically, was broken and how/if it could be fixed, right?)

zeropur · 03-13-2008

An ipod Nano blew a motherboard???

I simply can't believe it. The only thing I can think (and I am stretching my imagination here) is that maybe your nano has a virus, that once the nano is connected is jumping onto the Computer and wiping it clean (like I said... extreme imagination here), but as RAVEN said... an Ipod nano couldn't muster up the kind of energy to "blow" a CPU.

:S

lonnie · 03-13-2008

What other items were plugged into the 2 computers than went dead on you? Other than the nano.

**baseballboy828** · 03-13-2008

I doubt this could happen too. Doesn't seem to make sense.

Quote:

I dont know anything about computers and because it is his job i figured he knew what he was talking about.

Don't assume that. You'd be surprised how frequently that is not the case. He might have been making an excuse so he didn't have to look into it further.

alyciabresina · 03-14-2008

hmmm... i'm really surprised that this is so strange. I will have to go ask him and get back to you all. He told me that I probably shouldn't plug it into my laptop at home, but do you think it might be safe? I am just so confused because this has never happened in the 2 years I have had the nano. I haven't had one single problem with it. I just don't get why this would happen all of a sudden when I just used it 3 days prior on the same computers. wow.

alyciabresina · 03-14-2008

Ok, so I got it figured out... Sorry for all of the confusion. I went back and talked to someone else and he agreed with you all that that sounded impossible. He plugged his cable into my ipod and into the computer and it worked fine, so he looked at the cable I had and (from sitting in my purse) there was a little piece of foil, from a piece of candy or something, that was lodged in there. He said that it was completeing a circuit and shooting the power back into the computer. This is what was blowing it i guess... I may have gotten some of the lingo wrong, but im sure you all know what he was talking about.

Thanks for all your help!
Im glad you all are so smart with this stuff, you saved me a lot of headaches!

**baseballboy828** · 03-14-2008

Glad your iPod is back to normal. As a tip, always switch the cable when something isn't working. When troubleshooting, one of the first things I do is to try a different cable. All kinds of things can go wrong. Cables can be crushed, cut, frayed, or just stop working for whatever reason. It's always good to have an extra that can be swapped in when troubleshooting an issue.

03-12-2008	#1 (permalink)
alyciabresina Operator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4	My ipod nano is over 2 years old and I have never had one problem with it until today. I was at work and plugged it in to charge it to my computer tower, as soon as I plugged it in the computer turned off and wouldnt come back on. Our IT person said that the motherboard was blown and needed replacement. He got me a new tower and when he tried to plug the ipod back in, it blew the second tower! Everyone said that they have never heard of this before and I am too afraid to plug it into my home laptop now. Does anyone possibly know what is going on? Last edited by Yuiichi; 03-13-2008 at 07:46 AM. Reason: Double Post.

03-12-2008	#2 (permalink)
Raven TAB Author Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Greater Bostonia Posts: 521	That sounds fairly impossible to me. iPods, particularly a Nano, would have to work pretty damn hard to generate the kind of current necessary to fry a mobo. I can't really tell you any more than that without more specifics, though. What kind of computer were these two fried ones? How old? How did the IT guy decide that the mobo was fried? (Did he just say 'whoop, won't boot, motherboard must be dead?' or was he specific? Did he check anything while you were watching? (Also, perhaps, in the future, you should confine each topic to one thread? Posting the same thing twice seven minutes apart will not get you a faster response.) __________________ PowerMac DualG5 2 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 820 GB hard drives 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.16 Ghz, 2 GB RAM - oh, and the Apple IIe

03-13-2008	#4 (permalink)
Raven TAB Author Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Greater Bostonia Posts: 521	If you want to know if it's safe to plug it in to your laptop, I'd go back and ask him. Specifically, ask why/how he determined that the motherboard was blown. There are more reasons for a machine to stop booting than a monkey has hairs, and some of them could possibly be caused by your iPod. (I don't mean to sound snarky. There's a big difference between knowing enough computers to fix them and the kind of basic knowledge everyone should have. If you took your car to the mechanic and he said 'whoops, car's broken, you're going to have to get a new one,' you'd ask what, specifically, was broken and how/if it could be fixed, right?) __________________ PowerMac DualG5 2 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 820 GB hard drives 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.16 Ghz, 2 GB RAM - oh, and the Apple IIe Last edited by Raven; 03-13-2008 at 10:34 AM.

03-13-2008	#6 (permalink)
lonnie Personal Shopping Specialist Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: -TeXaS- Posts: 283	What other items were plugged into the 2 computers than went dead on you? Other than the nano. __________________ 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 20" new slim black back iMac with 4 GB RAM \| McKinleyBrown

03-14-2008	#10 (permalink)
baseballboy828 Assistant Store Manager Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 2,159	Glad your iPod is back to normal. As a tip, always switch the cable when something isn't working. When troubleshooting, one of the first things I do is to try a different cable. All kinds of things can go wrong. Cables can be crushed, cut, frayed, or just stop working for whatever reason. It's always good to have an extra that can be swapped in when troubleshooting an issue. __________________ iMac Intel Core Duo 17" 1.83Ghz, 2GB Crucial RAM ::Twitter : Ben Drucker Photography: Professional Photography Services :: Interested in a free trial Smugmug account?

03-13-2008	#3 (permalink)
alyciabresina Operator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4	I dont know anything about computers and because it is his job i figured he knew what he was talking about. I know it was the ipod because both computers worked until it was plugged in and as soon as it was the computer turned off and wouldnt come back on. I didnt mean to post it on the first one, this is my first time on here and I wasn't sure how to delete the first one out of that specific subject. Thanks.

03-13-2008	#5 (permalink)
zeropur Inventory Control Specialist Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: at the moment... Santiago, Chile... born in UK Posts: 82	An ipod Nano blew a motherboard??? I simply can't believe it. The only thing I can think (and I am stretching my imagination here) is that maybe your nano has a virus, that once the nano is connected is jumping onto the Computer and wiping it clean (like I said... extreme imagination here), but as RAVEN said... an Ipod nano couldn't muster up the kind of energy to "blow" a CPU. :S

03-14-2008	#8 (permalink)
alyciabresina Operator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4	hmmm... i'm really surprised that this is so strange. I will have to go ask him and get back to you all. He told me that I probably shouldn't plug it into my laptop at home, but do you think it might be safe? I am just so confused because this has never happened in the 2 years I have had the nano. I haven't had one single problem with it. I just don't get why this would happen all of a sudden when I just used it 3 days prior on the same computers. wow.

03-14-2008	#9 (permalink)
alyciabresina Operator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4	Ok, so I got it figured out... Sorry for all of the confusion. I went back and talked to someone else and he agreed with you all that that sounded impossible. He plugged his cable into my ipod and into the computer and it worked fine, so he looked at the cable I had and (from sitting in my purse) there was a little piece of foil, from a piece of candy or something, that was lodged in there. He said that it was completeing a circuit and shooting the power back into the computer. This is what was blowing it i guess... I may have gotten some of the lingo wrong, but im sure you all know what he was talking about. Thanks for all your help! Im glad you all are so smart with this stuff, you saved me a lot of headaches!

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