[SOLVED] Fdisk strange USB mass storage drive

cristi92b · 06-09-2015, 01:32 PM

fdisk -l

Code:

Disk /dev/sdb: 8016 MB, 8016363520 bytes
247 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1022 cylinders, total 15656960 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6f20736b

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   ?   778135908  1919645538   570754815+  72  Unknown
/dev/sdb2   ?   168689522  2104717761   968014120   65  Novell Netware 386
/dev/sdb3   ?  1869881465  3805909656   968014096   79  Unknown
/dev/sdb4   ?  2885681152  2885736650       27749+   d  Unknown

What kind of drive is this? I've never seen such thing, "This doesn't look like a partition table", but it shows me the partition list. And "Novell Netware 386"?

rknichols · 06-09-2015, 01:51 PM

It's finding garbage where the partition table should be and then printing what these obviously invalid entries would mean if they were part of a partition table. None of the entries make any sense. All of the Start and End sector offsets are beyond the end of the disk. That "Novell Netware 386" is just from a byte that happens to have the value 0x65 in the location where the ID for partition 2 would reside. The ID field values for the other partitions don't correspond to any known system type.

[EDIT] You could run "file -s /dev/sdb" to see if there is something recognizable there.

cristi92b · 06-09-2015, 01:57 PM

Thank you!

yminus · 06-20-2023, 02:00 AM

I know it is discouraged to comment on a old threads. But I more than 7 years later I have a thumbdrive here with exactly the same garbage where a partition table is expected.

I looked it up and found this thread. So I think it is appropriate to add my findings here.

Here is the output of `file`:

Code:

sudo file -s /dev/sda
/dev/sda: DOS/MBR boot sector, code offset 0x58+2, OEM-ID "MSDOS5.0", sectors/cluster 8, reserved sectors 36, Media descriptor 0xf8, sectors/track 63, heads 255, sectors 7864320 (volumes > 32 MB), FAT (32 bit), sectors/FAT 7666, reserved 0x1, serial number 0x10f662d4, unlabeled

`lsblk` shows no partitions and `/dev/sda` is a mountable FAT volume. So the garbage seems to be a FAT filesystem descriptor.

onebuck · 06-20-2023, 01:23 PM

Not a problem when a member provides helpful information to help resolve an issue. Constructive contribution is one of our guidelines in; LQ Rules

Most posts to a necro thread are seeking help when a new thread should be encouraged to get help.. Generally old/necro threads will not get replies except to note the erroneous issues.