[SOLVED] Unrecognised disk label

Belikewater · 08-12-2016, 11:56 PM

I just recently bought two sandisk 16gb USBs. I opened the package for one today and I was going to write ISO iamage to it. However, fdisk -l is giving me this output

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 232.9 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x2299b4f8

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *         2048 484472831 484470784  231G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       484474878 488396799   3921922  1.9G  5 Extended
/dev/sda5       484474880 488396799   3921920  1.9G 82 Linux swap / Solaris




Disk /dev/sdb: 14.6 GiB, 15664676864 bytes, 30595072 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x8cb3a3f6

Gparted is showing error unrecognised diske label.

There is nothing on the USB. I have tried formatting to fat32, but the same results are occuring.

I tested the USBs on another computer and oddly enough the same issue is occuring.

I have never had this issue before is there something I am missing? I dont get how it is occuring on two new USBs. I always use Sandisk.

Thanks!

syg00 · 08-13-2016, 12:13 AM

Does look odd, but if you are wrting an iso to it (via dd ?) why do you care ?.

Belikewater · 08-13-2016, 12:21 AM

When I try to write ISO image it acts as if it writes to it, but after booting from USB it just returns me to the load up for my primary operating system.
I have tried multiple ISO images.

Here is an example:

Code:

dd if=slax-English-US-7.0.8-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdb
461880+0 records in
461880+0 records out
236482560 bytes (236 MB, 226 MiB) copied, 278.421 s, 849 kB/s

Booting by USB only loads my current operating system

beachboy2 · 08-13-2016, 01:56 AM

Belikewater,

It seems unusual to have 2 new faulty SanDisk USB drives, but it is possible.

I had a problem with an 8 year old Corsair 8GB USB flash drive recently.

Shadow 7's advice helped me to confirm that the drive was faulty and I returned it under warranty.

The key was to first install dcfldd.

Code:

sudo apt-get install dcfldd

Code:

# dcfldd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdc bs=1M

Remove and reinsert USB drive.

Code:

# cmp /dev/zero /dev/sdc

The cmp will fail at the point when it has reached the end of your drive (14.6GB) hopefully.

If it fails before then, the drive isn't usable anymore.

Post #11 on here may help you:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...em-4175584311/

hydrurga · 08-13-2016, 05:19 AM

I hope you don't mind my stupidity, but why don't you start by using parted (mklabel & mkpart) to create a valid partition table on the usb device?

After you've got it up and running, you could, as well as using beachboy2's test, also use f3 (http://oss.digirati.com.br/f3/) to test it.

michaelk · 08-13-2016, 06:44 AM

Another stupid question... It appears you downloaded the CD versus the USB file. I assume since they offer two different files that the ISO is not a hybrid so it isn't bootable if written to a USB drive. What happens when you write the USB version. I assume your computer is configured to boot from USB before the hard drive.

Typically USB drives are partitioned and formatted by the manufacture. I have bought some that did not have a partition but were formatted as FAT32. You can look at the output of the dmesg command for errors.

https://www.slax.org/en/download.php

godh8sme · 08-13-2016, 10:37 AM

Do SanDisk flash drives still come with the partition that has the utilities installed on it? At one time there was a tool for Windows that would remove it. It's possible that's what you're seeing.

sidzen · 08-14-2016, 09:02 AM

Sandisk and HP both have caused me problems in the past, as far as USB drives go. I avoid them nowadays.
AFA printers go, HP is no problem. Both brands have proprietary software on their USB sticks. This is where the problems lay. IIRR, Sandisk USB sticks cannot be formatted normally because of it. I simply AVOID certain brands, depending on the hardware, for usage with GNU/Linux.

Live and learn, and Welcome to Linux!

RockDoctor · 08-14-2016, 01:45 PM

Don't recall ever having a problem with Sandisk USB sticks; those that I have boot just fine. However, I will often invoke

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/<USB stick> bs=8M count=1

before formatting a USB stick.

Belikewater · 08-15-2016, 05:19 PM

I somehow got it to work using gparted (even tho I tried the same thing 3 times before it worked). Now I have all my USBs as bootable

It works on my pc but my spouses HP fights any USB and some dvds. I will have to try to burn an ISO image to a dvd to try on hers.

Thanks for the help!!

prowas · 10-23-2016, 12:40 PM

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...me-4175591867/ -- help me