Could a static shock damage a docking station?

[sltech]

I got a brand new docking station today. I took it out of the box, and then I took it out of the plastic bag covering it. As I was holding it after taking it out of the plastic bag, I heard a static shock as my finger touched part of the docking station. Is there any chance this may have caused any damage to the docking station?

 

[LTC8K6]

Have you tested it or not?

There's a chance, sure.

It's not very likely, though.

You were only touching the case, not the internals.

 

[sltech]

It looks like one of the USB ports on the docking station is defective, possibly from that static shock. When I plug a USB drive into that port, I can hear the Windows "do dun" sound effect, but the drive doesn't show up in Windows Explorer. The drive shows up when I plug it into the other USB ports.

 

[corkyg]

To confirm the effect, try it with a different device.

 

[sltech]

The USB port seems flaky, as it occasionally detects the USB thumb drive, but many times doesn't. It does detect a different USB thumb drive though.

 

[corkyg]

Then that would suggest the problem is in the thumb drive, not the port.

 

[sltech]

Then that would suggest the problem is in the thumb drive, not the port.

Not necessarily, since the thumb drive works in all the other USB ports on the docking station.

EDIT: Now the problem is happening randomly with all the USB ports on the docking station. Sometimes they detect the USB drive, sometimes they don't.