electro-magnetic fields

Ok, I was listening to my mp3 player while in college. I was going into the library. If you've ever noticed those tickers that beep at you in the entrence(all ive seen look like giant squares with an x in them) they click three times when you pass through them.
Anyway, my mp3 player cut out, but i didn't loose all my data.

So, Is it possible to actually loose data that way? I don't want to test it out, and there doesn't seem to be much about every-day electromagnetic interference devices to watch out for.

Hmmm...scary...i guess there are somethings to watch out for when your taking something so compact...i dont think that ever happens to CD players....lol

yes, it the electromagnetic field from teh detector are intense enough. but you don't have to worry about it. Those thingy will not generate such intense fields.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

It's hard to say.... One would think that the device would be designed to withstand common electro-magnetic fields such as anti-shoplifting tags and airport metal detectors. However, subjecting the device to a STRONG electro-magnetic field such as a near miss lightning strike, or a Tesla Coil, any normal electronic device would be FRIED!!!

There was already a thread about this awhile ago, somebody worried about his portable MP3 or hardrive, I don't quite remember. Easy enough to respond to your question, if your product (MP3 Player) were to go through a magnetic scanner such as the ones at your library or at the commercial store, it shouldn't be at all affected by the magnetic fields generated by the detection units. Your sudden cut-off may have been due to that, but have you experienced the same problem at multiple ocasions? Magnetic fields of this strenght do not produce enough power to cause damage to the internal drive component of your player, that is why at places like an airport, they will verify certain objects containing magnetic tapes/hard drives, through special devices, since passing it directly through the carry-on bagage examiner can be a bit risky. Nonetheless, technology with magnetic field generating units such as detectors is reliable enough, so that you can be sure that your player will not receive any "permanent" damage. If ever your unit does receive harmful damage from the detectors, I suggest you contact the manufacturer of that product and complain.

most likly the fact that the player cut out was a built in safty device that is designed to cut power if an external electro-magnetic field is detected that is strong enough to corrupt data that is currently being read. cutting the power prevents any data loss. the MP3 player uses what is known as FLASH memory which is a type of EEPROM (Electrinic Eraseable Programable Read Only Memory) that would not normaly be effected by exeternal electo-magnettic fields. now if you stand in the middle of a 2 or 3 tesla magnetic field then you can expect to have the data at least warped (by comparison a standard refrigerator magnet has less than 1/100,000,000 tesla magnetic field). so your data is safe, you will just have to hit play again after you walk through the security scanners.

Hmm... :lurk: I'm thinking I probably should have known this, but thanks.

nah not really i'm a techie so i know alot of stuff. :D

there wont be any problem for you. now if you had an ipod...