USB Partitions (floppy disk in XP)

song2asdaq · 05-02-2010, 10:18 AM

After a netbook instalation of Jolicloud, the USB stick I used was partitioned in two:
- 1.44Mb partition recognized as A: (floppy drive) in XP and /dev/sdd in Ubuntu
- the rest (4Gb - 1.44Mb) recognized as F: (removable media) in XP and /dev/sdc in Ubuntu.

Now, I want to have again only one partition on the USB drive and I can't.
I tried the "HP format tool" and some low level format tool in XP but it only formats the F: drive, skipping A:
In Ubuntu I tried fdisk but, apparently, because the drive is seen as two different drives (sdc and sdd) I cannot unify the partitions. The only thing I can do is to format and delete each one separately.

I wouldn't mind having the two partitions but this means that the dongle is no longer bootable

.

Do you have any other idea on how to unify those two partitions?

Thanks!

first one: erased partition
http://bayimg.com/image/camojaace.jpg
second one: erased partition
http://bayimg.com/image/camokaace.jpg

DragonSlayer48DX · 05-02-2010, 10:37 AM

Hi, and welcome to LQ!

You need to use GParted in Ubuntu to delete both partitions, and then create a single partition set to the maximum size of the device. You can do the same with FDisk in XP; however, you'll be restricted to FAT32 or NTFS.

Cheers

song2asdaq · 05-02-2010, 11:23 AM

Thank you for your reply.

I installed Gparted, and it says that I have two different drives: /dev/sdc/ 3.82Gib and /dev/sdd/ -512.00 B (minus !).
I can format the first partition only at 3.82Gb and if I try to format the second, I get: "A partition cannot have a length of -1 sectors" (duh!).
So, I have two separate devices on one USB dongle and I have no idea how to get them back in the initial phase: Only one partition on the stick.

I have no idea what the Jolicloud installer did, but I'm beginning to regret that I've tried it :|.

smoker · 05-02-2010, 11:50 AM

GParted gives you the option to print the partition table. Do so, and paste it here (in code tags please).

song2asdaq · 05-02-2010, 12:12 PM

I formated both drives with Disk Utility from Ubuntu:

Code:

Model:  MEMUP (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 4111MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  4104MB  4104MB  primary  ext4


Error: Can't have the end before the start! (start sector=16065 length=-13185)
Model:  MEMUP (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdd: 1475kB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start  End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1536B  1475kB  1473kB  primary  ext4

After I deleted the partitions from Gparted I get:

Code:

Model:  MEMUP (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 4111MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start  End  Size  Type  File system  Flags


Model:  MEMUP (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdd: 1475kB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start  End  Size  Type  File system  Flags

smoker · 05-02-2010, 12:55 PM

It appears that you have a drive with the U3 format so you need a special uninstaller to remove the partition.
You can get it from here :
http://www.u3.com/support/default.aspx#CQ3

brucehinrichs · 05-02-2010, 01:15 PM

Unfortunately the uninstaller only works from windoze. I used Vbox running XP pro to remove the U3 crap from 4 of my SanDisk Cruzer sticks. What a pain. If you have a buddy that runs windoze, maybe you can convince him to let you use his machine to do it (easier).

song2asdaq · 05-02-2010, 01:29 PM

Thank you, I've tried that already but no luck:

Quote:

Please insert a U3 smart Drive

Before I have installed Jolicloud on the stick I hadn't had this 1.44Mb drive. So I don't think it's U3 related.
I also tried to install U3, thus to have something to uninstall

. But:

Quote:

Please insert a compatible SanDisk drive

No chance.

@brucehinrichs
Thanks. I have a dual-boot at this moment so I could easily go back in XP. It's not a sandisk, it's a Memup:

Code:

PnP Device ID: VID = 13FE PID = 1E20
Serial Number: 077B16B51379
Revision: PMAP/PMAP

Device Type: Standard USB device - USB2.0 High-Speed

Chip Vendor: phison
Chip Part-Number: unknown

Product Vendor: MEMUP
Product Model:

I tried also to find a way to "flush" it, but i couldn't find the software for these particular PID and VID.
So I have to stick to some idea of formatting it.

Also, /dev/sdd/ is not a ISOFS partition (like in the case of U3). I can format it, copy on it & stuff (in Ubuntu and XP). The problem is that it's seen as another drive. Which sucks, big time!

smoker · 05-02-2010, 02:08 PM

What about a low level format ?
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic63357.html

song2asdaq · 05-02-2010, 02:48 PM

I've tried it, but apparently it doesn't do sh*t. After the LLF, I can still access the drives, which remain untouched with the same file system.
I've tried to disable the floppy from Windows and then LLF. Same story.

smoker · 05-02-2010, 04:03 PM

According to Jolicloud you should be able to deal with it in windows disk management.
I don't believe you haven't already tried that, but that's the answer I keep getting from them.

song2asdaq · 05-02-2010, 05:37 PM

In Disk Management I can't see the little (1.44Mb) partition. I get only the big one (as a whole disk actually) which I can format, of course; but with no effect on the USB stick.
Disk Management:
http://bayimg.com/image/famafaacf.jpg

I don't know if it's my stick's fault or the Jolicloud installation really screwed things up. Urgh!

smoker · 05-02-2010, 06:54 PM

Are you sure it wasn't like this before ?

According to the memup guides, if you have installed their protection software, then that is where the other drive comes from.

Lock system manual
http://memup.co.uk/downloads/Install...eys_t5387.html

song2asdaq · 05-04-2010, 03:16 AM

Yes, now I'm not that sure that it's Jolicloud's fault. It's just a bad usb stick. I've decided to use it as it is.
I managed to get another ubuntu installation on it, and with some bios tweaks I got it to boot on my netbook. Simply, I just ignore the 1.44Mb partition.
Thank you for your patience

.