[VTXFrank]

Cliff’s Notes:

Originally Posted by VitViper

Blah….blah….blah

You are wrong. At least research so that when you DO talk out your ass, you at least seem somewhat informed.

Long, nicer version:

Originally Posted by VitViper

This has absolutely no bearing on the flash pro.

I'm not going to argue with you. But unless Hondata comes in here and says they've completely mitigated the risk using this USB cable, I guarantee you you're wrong.

Originally Posted by VitViper

Wait what? The FPro is in a case and you're not touching any electronics. Unless you're rubbing your hand on a head of hair and then touching the contacts on the OBD2 connector you're not going to damage it.

Rubbing your hand through your hair isn’t going to build up static electricity. So it's pretty evident you don’t understand the actual mechanics behind ESD. And you touch the “electronics” every single time you handle the USB cable’s male end. Where, exactly, do you think that cable leads to when plugged in and how, exactly, does electricity and data transmittal work since you don’t believe ESD can damage USB devices?

Originally Posted by VitViper

USB devices are HOT SWAPPABLE. You will not kill ANY usb device by just unplugging it. What happened is your computer's OS was in the middle of a write operation to the flash drive and someone pulled the thing out corrupting the file system so it becomes unrecognizable by the OS.

And you know the very SECOND an OS has stopped addressing a given device? Really?

You could be charged with static electricity when you grab the plastic or rubber protective cover of a given device. When you pull the device out, the static electricity can make the jump to the metal part of the male end that just came out of the computer.

While removing an external HDD, without stopping it in the OS, typically won't hurt it, the same CANNOT be said for ANY flash based electronic product. Even though you may not experience a complete material failure, and your FP not work, over time, the oscillator that controls the memory addressing and data placement, as well as the traces upon which the paths are made, can be damaged. Sometimes that damage means it will never work again. Sometimes, it means it’s damaged just barely enough so that the memory isn’t completely addressable, but the rest is. Depending on the software being run, that might make the component unusable. And then there’s the slow degradation damage. Over time, with enough repeated instances, you will eventually render the product, FP in this case, unusable. Just like a light bulb’s filament eventually getting worn out till it breaks.

ESD from static electricity may never cause your FP to give up the blue ghost. It might just work forever. But what if you live in Arizona, or some other arid environment, and it’s the middle of winter and your FP just stops working one day? Well, now you’ll know why.

It’s possible that you will never have an issue from ESD even though you plug and unplug a device ten times a day. With today’s technology and the newish ESD standards, which not everyone is required to follow, the likelihood of damaging your FP is probably quite small. But remember, electronic devices are getting smaller and smaller. The IC on this FP is probably pretty new tech. The memory might be an older type, but still, the newer the technology, the smaller the fab processes for it. The smaller the process and the lower the operating voltage of a given product, like the oscillator on memory sticks, the MORE likely it is to be damaged by ESD. Most IC’s are only capable of 5000v HBM before the metal oxides are damaged. ESD’s from human’s to metal can be 20,000-25,000 volts. You can begin to “feel” an ESD event on your fingertip at 3,000 volts just to give you some perspective.

Originally Posted by VitViper

Read response to #1.

Seriously, do some research before you give such all encompassing “advice” like you have here. Google is pretty good and so is Bing. I’m not aware of any manufacturer of memory chips who don’t include warnings about ESD with their products or on their websites. But just to get you started:

Kingston says otherwise and is one of the oldest and most well known memory suppliers out there.

PC World referring to overall computing habits and ESD considerations.

Micro hard drives can be affected by it. Hitachi is one of the leading HDD makers in the world.

A British based Blog about computing and good habits. A veritable gold mine of information.

Originally Posted by VitViper

All version's of USB are hot swappable. That's the point of USB.. "plug'n'play". The Safely Remove Hardware Windows implemented for situations such as I described later that involve file systems on USB devices.

You just love using the word hot-swappable huh? But it doesn't make one whit of difference if you aren't following basic safety guidelines. Did you know that the Antec Sonata case, just one out of hundred's, if not thousands of computer cases out there, has a serious issue with shorting on the front two USB ports due to a lack of proper grounding? The Sonata case has been used by so many white-box computer manufacturer's as to be a boring ass case now. Even if it is one of my favorites.

It's obvious you're smarter than I am when it comes to ECU tuning. For info about that, I will defer to your knowledge. You should learn when to do the same when your knowledge is lacking and not just make **** up because that's the easiest solution for you.