Stuck with a USB stick

Tossu · 07-25-2020, 01:20 PM

Hi,

I got my USB stick completely messed up. Somehow it looks like it have 3 different partitions. I can’t format, delete, or modify it in any way - at least that I know of! (GParted, USB memory stick format dont do anything and I've tried a variety of options from the terminal - which I have found some instructions online (dd, mkfs, fdisk)) Nothing....

Code:

# sudo lsblk -f

sdb
├─sdb1 iso9660 Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon 64-bit 2020-06-24-19-01-47-00 0 100% / media / mika / Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon 64-bit
├─sdb2 vfat 1AC3-20ED 7.7M 935433269457888000% / media / mika / 1AC3-20ED
└─sdb3 ext4 writable b8425d1c-7d1c-4ee5-bfd5-f398d3d86c83 53G 0% / media / Mika / writable

So ... (how) can I fix it to make it work again?

Thank's

beachboy2 · 07-25-2020, 02:30 PM

Tossu,

Code:

sudo su
fdisk -l

Next, unmount the device:

Code:

umount /dev/sdb1
umount /dev/sdb2
umount /dev/sdb3

Next, format device to FAT32:

Code:

mkdosfs -F 32 -I /dev/sdb

Tossu · 07-25-2020, 02:36 PM

root@LIFEBOOK-NH570:/home/mika# umount /dev/sdb1
root@LIFEBOOK-NH570:/home/mika# umount /dev/sdb2
root@LIFEBOOK-NH570:/home/mika# umount /dev/sdb3
root@LIFEBOOK-NH570:/home/mika# mkdosfs -F 32 -I /dev/sdb
mkfs.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
mkdosfs: Too few blocks for viable filesystem

beachboy2 · 07-25-2020, 02:42 PM

Tossu,

Try installing dcfldd and then test if the drive is faulty.

See post #6:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...dd-4175666671/

michaelk · 07-25-2020, 02:58 PM

I would either zero out the MBR or create a new partition table, partition and format that as FAT 32.

teckk · 07-25-2020, 03:05 PM

If you are sure that /dev/sdb is your usb drive.

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=2M count=1

Then see what fdisk -l says about the drive.

Edit:
Then when you get that back to all free space, tell how you tried to write that Mint .iso to drive.

ondoho · 07-25-2020, 05:00 PM

^ This. "Nuke" it.

I sometimes get a message in Gparted that "the partition table has been modified but the kernel is still using the old ones" or some such. I never quite understand whether that has any effect, but sometimes a reboot can help.

fatmac · 07-26-2020, 04:19 AM

You appear to have 'image written' an .iso file to it - effectively it is now a CD/DVD.

You need to give it a new MBR first, then repartition it, & finally put a new file system onto it.

My program of choice to do this is fdisk, see its man page if you are not familiar with it.

DavidMcCann · 07-26-2020, 09:23 AM

Been there, done that! fatmac (#8) has the explanation and teckk (#6) the solution. Gparted will then format it, which it won't do if it looks like a DVD.

Golf4Fun · 07-26-2020, 02:19 PM

Gparted has an option in the menu at the top under Device - Create Partition Table. Select msdos

Just be sure Gparted is pointing to the correct device

kareempharmacist · 07-30-2020, 06:57 PM

you could try Gnome Disks from a live Ubuntu USB drive.

jefro · 07-30-2020, 07:43 PM

Didn't Gparted report why it can't do what you asked?

If all else fails then you have to consider buying a new drive. Flash drives have a terrible MTBF in reality.