Hey all -having a hell of a time with this brand new USB key that i'm SO psyched about but so upset that I can't get working. It's a Kingston brand DataTraveler 512MB USB Drive key.

When I plug the drive in, dmesg reports...
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 14
scsi8 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Vendor: Kingston Model: DataTraveler 2.0 Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
SCSI device sda: 974848 512-byte hdwr sectors (499 MB)
sda: assuming Write Enabled
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
/dev/scsi/host8/bus0/target0/lun0: [CUMANA/ADFS] p1<5>Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi8, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Attached scsi generic sg0 at scsi8, channel 0, id 0, lun 0, type 0
WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 14

When i do a mount command as root...

mount -t vfat /dev/sda /media/usb

I get the following results.. (oh, and /media/usb does exist)
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda,
or too many mounted file systems


here's what dmesg says about the mount command...

FAT: invalid media value (0xb9)
VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev sda.


Here's lspci...
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 14
scsi8 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Vendor: Kingston Model: DataTraveler 2.0 Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
SCSI device sda: 974848 512-byte hdwr sectors (499 MB)
sda: assuming Write Enabled
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
/dev/scsi/host8/bus0/target0/lun0: [CUMANA/ADFS] p1<5>Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi8, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Attached scsi generic sg0 at scsi8, channel 0, id 0, lun 0, type 0
WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 14
FAT: invalid media value (0xb9)
VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev sda.


and lsmod...
Module Size Used by
sd_mod 15648 0
uhci_hcd 29456 0
sg 34848 0
msdos 9856 0
ntfs 79436 0
nls_cp437 5888 1
usb_storage 58432 0
scsi_mod 109112 3 sd_mod,sg,usb_storage
snd_usb_audio 59584 0
snd_rawmidi 22816 1 snd_usb_audio
snd_seq_device 7816 1 snd_rawmidi
radeon 104748 0
md5 3968 1
ipv6 221120 8
orinoco_cs 8968 1
orinoco 38412 1 orinoco_cs
hermes 7808 2 orinoco_cs,orinoco
ds 15108 3 orinoco_cs
thermal 13328 0
fan 4236 0
button 6296 0
processor 17584 1 thermal
ac 5004 0
battery 9612 0
af_packet 20360 2
snd_ali5451 21444 0
snd_ac97_codec 53764 1 snd_ali5451
snd_pcm_oss 47908 0
snd_mixer_oss 16512 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 87972 3 snd_usb_audio,snd_ali5451,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 11652 1 snd_pcm
hid 29376 0
snd_timer 23300 1 snd_pcm
snd 49124 9 snd_usb_audio,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_ali5451,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pc m,snd_timer
ohci_hcd 17412 0
usbcore 94044 7 uhci_hcd,usb_storage,snd_usb_audio,hid,ohci_hcd
ati_agp 8204 1
agpgart 29608 2 ati_agp
parport_pc 31660 0
mousedev 9684 1
tsdev 7168 0
parport 39784 1 parport_pc
psmouse 17160 0
pcspkr 3688 0
evdev 9088 0
trident 36564 1
soundcore 9696 3 snd,trident
gameport 4736 1 trident
ac97_codec 16908 1 trident
natsemi 22752 0
crc32 4608 1 natsemi
yenta_socket 15488 1
pcmcia_core 63840 3 orinoco_cs,ds,yenta_socket
ide_cd 38020 0
cdrom 34720 1 ide_cd
rtc 11960 0
reiserfs 197488 1
vfat 14208 0
fat 41792 2 msdos,vfat
isofs 32184 0
ext3 103720 0
jbd 54168 1 ext3
ide_disk 15872 3
ide_generic 1408 0 [permanent]
ide_detect 1408 0
alim15x3 11276 1
ide_core 141804 6 usb_storage,ide_cd,ide_disk,ide_generic,ide_detect,alim15x3
unix 25520 283
font 8576 0
cfbcopyarea 3968 0
cfbimgblt 3328 0
cfbfillrect 3840 0


What's getting to me is the fact that the device IS aparantly detected via lspci, so the kernel modules seem to be in order. I also have this MicroAdvantage quickdrive - a 128 MB USB drive key and it works fine. This new drive just refuses to work.


Help me Obi Wan Kernel-obi ... you're my only hope

ur 128 Mb drive works with /dev/sda?

or is it /dev/sda1?

have u tried not specifying the filesystem? (ie, remove the -t option)

Yes, my 128mb drive works with /dev/sda1.

when i try mount without the -t option, i get the following...

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

Try "fdisk -l /dev/sda" as su or root.

The command "mount -t vfat /dev/sda /media/usb" that you entered is not correct. It should be "mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /media/usb", but for mount to work you have to have created /media/usb.

I tried all that, and it's still a no-go.

FWIW - I tried this same thing on my SuSE distro (same laptop in dual-boot) and it works like a charm! My 512Mb was picked up immediately by SuSE, but Debian still refuses to let me mount it. I have SCSI support because I can mount my 128Mb drive, but the 512 is a no-go.

I've just re-formatted the key as an ext2 drive and SuSE still works with it, but Debian is still a no-go. Thought it would help but it apparantly didn't.


Any more thoughts??

Hi,
I experienced the same problems with a 256MB USB Kingston DataTraveler.

I got it to work reformatting the USB drive using filesystem type: W95 FAT16 (LBA).
See for details the filesystem formatting options in fdisk.
With this filesystem, the USB drive is still accessible under Windows as well.
The Kingston-original FAT16 is not recognised by Debian (???).

Peter

The W95 FAT16 (LBA) is not a filesystem. It is a type of partition. For FAT partitions, you should use type b for partitions. The filesystem can either be msdos, fat, or vfat in Linux. The partition have to be formatted in order it to be used. Also you will have to make sure USB is setup properly in Debian. This means loading some modules and mounting the usbdev filesystem. Also you need to make sure Debian has support for FAT. If it does not you will have to re-compile the kernel or just compile FAT as a module. If you think you have it setup properly, type "cat /proc/bus/usb/devices". You should see your USB device.

What does "fdisk -l /dev/sd[a-z]" display.

Your are right.
To be more precise in my answer:

- I repartitioned the Kingston USB stick using W95 FAT16 (LBA) (option e in fdisk)
- I created the filesystem using the command mkfs.vfat

and it worked.

Here's my fdisk -l | grep sd[a-z] results...

Disk /dev/sda: 499 MB, 499122176 bytes
/dev/sda1 * 1 1904 487416 e W95 FAT16 (LBA)

and cat /proc/bus/usb/devices...


T: Bus=01 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#= 1 Spd=12 MxCh= 4
B: Alloc= 0/900 us ( 0%), #Int= 0, #Iso= 0
D: Ver= 1.10 Cls=09(hub ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=0000 ProdID=0000 Rev= 2.06
S: Manufacturer=Linux 2.6.3-1-386 ohci_hcd
S: Product=OHCI Host Controller
S: SerialNumber=0000:00:02.0
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=40 MxPwr= 0mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub
E: Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS= 2 Ivl=255ms

T: Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=01 Cnt=01 Dev#= 2 Spd=12 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=0930 ProdID=651e Rev= 1.00
S: Manufacturer=Kingston
S: Product=DataTraveler 2.0
S: SerialNumber=2881964080E0
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=128mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 3 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage
E: Ad=81(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 64 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 64 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=83(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS= 64 Ivl=1ms

alan8373, all you need to do is mount it assuming you format the partition. Do not format if you have files on it.

I've the same problem:

two USB keys (256Mb). One (A) is brand new, one (B) were "reformat" (linux and WinXP)

A could not be mount on Linux Debian sarge
B works fine

*But* A could be used as boot disk. B can not...

Any idea to permit
1/ mount it to Linux
2/ boot from it

Erlan