[simne]

> Do nand flash chips and magnetic platters have a distinct smell?

Not chips. I'm electronics engineer with large experience. You will not believe, how many extremely non-nature chemicals used in electronics. Number is really huge.

And these chemicals really have strong smell, when touch with soldering iron I feel it even when powerful ventilation working, and I've tried to feel smell even when finished device and washed it with alcohol - something left anyway for months.

For about storage, I'm not sure, but have hypothesis - electronics likes volume and some fabs extremely specialized - for example, 80% of storage in whole world made in just THREE fabs (also exist fabs specialized on CPUs, on radio, on sound amplifiers and other analog circuits), and they might have their own unique list of used chemicals, and dog could detect this list and could feel difference from other lists.