[Solved]Trying to format usb flash drive in PCC for PCLinuxOS LiveUSB Creator

[cubbybear]

I have used unetbootin successfully to make a bootable usb flash drive, but now would like to try our PCLinuxOS LiveUSB Creator.  This is with a Kingston 4GB DataTraveler, on a new install of PCLinuxOS 2012.02 KDE version.  I understand it must be formatted with an ext filesystem and have looked through our stickied tutorial "how to reformat a partition" for a usb flash drive.   "Manage disk partitions" in PCC opens properly before inserting the usb drive;  however after I back out of it and insert the flash drive it will not re-open, giving a warning message "this program has exited abnormally".  I opened PCC in teminal to show the output, and took the following screenshot.  Has anyone else encountered this or know what I might be doing wrong?  My old computer would give the same error in PCC with a usb flash drive plugged in, but it was not capable of booting from usb anyway so I just "shrugged it off".  Thanks for any ideas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13822993@N04/6905115677/#in/photostream

[Old-Polack]

I have used unetbootin successfully to make a bootable usb flash drive, but now would like to try our PCLinuxOS LiveUSB Creator.  This is with a Kingston 4GB DataTraveler, on a new install of PCLinuxOS 2012.02 KDE version.  I understand it must be formatted with an ext filesystem and have looked through our stickied tutorial "how to reformat a partition" for a usb flash drive.   "Manage disk partitions" in PCC opens properly before inserting the usb drive;  however after I back out of it and insert the flash drive it will not re-open, giving a warning message "this program has exited abnormally".  I opened PCC in teminal to show the output, and took the following screenshot.  Has anyone else encountered this or know what I might be doing wrong?  My old computer would give the same error in PCC with a usb flash drive plugged in, but it was not capable of booting from usb anyway so I just "shrugged it off".  Thanks for any ideas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13822993@N04/6905115677/#in/photostream

Insert the flash drive, open a terminal, su to root, then;

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l                   <Enter>

Post your results, leave the terminal open and the flash drive attached.

[DeBaas]

I used (in Synaptic) with succes to partition and format USB in bootable ext2

partitionmanager
KDE Partition Manager
(after install in More Programs > Configuration)

and made some Live USB sticks with

PCLinuxOS-liveusb
Create a live OS install on removable media

For older PC's with only limited USB boot support I used the KDE partition manager and made a bootable FAT16 partition on USB followed by an Unetbootin Live install.

For the oldest PC's with no USB boot support is the PLOP (Google) floppy boot manager to the resque,
followed by the Unetbootin USB.

Go booting
Ed

[cubbybear]

I have used unetbootin successfully to make a bootable usb flash drive, but now would like to try our PCLinuxOS LiveUSB Creator.  This is with a Kingston 4GB DataTraveler, on a new install of PCLinuxOS 2012.02 KDE version.  I understand it must be formatted with an ext filesystem and have looked through our stickied tutorial "how to reformat a partition" for a usb flash drive.   "Manage disk partitions" in PCC opens properly before inserting the usb drive;  however after I back out of it and insert the flash drive it will not re-open, giving a warning message "this program has exited abnormally".  I opened PCC in teminal to show the output, and took the following screenshot.  Has anyone else encountered this or know what I might be doing wrong?  My old computer would give the same error in PCC with a usb flash drive plugged in, but it was not capable of booting from usb anyway so I just "shrugged it off".  Thanks for any ideas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13822993@N04/6905115677/#in/photostream

Insert the flash drive, open a terminal, su to root, then;

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l                   <Enter>

Post your results, leave the terminal open and the flash drive attached.

Thanks Old-Polack, here's what it shows:

[stuart@localhost ~]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 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: 0x000aceb1

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048    78147583    39072768   83  Linux
/dev/sda2        78147584   156293119    39072768   83  Linux
/dev/sda3       156293120   234440703    39073792   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 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: 0xffffffff

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1              63    78140159    39070048+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb2   *    78140160   234420479    78140160    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdg: 4013 MB, 4013948928 bytes
5 heads, 32 sectors/track, 48998 cylinders, total 7839744 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: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1   *        8064     7839743     3915840    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
[root@localhost ~]#

[Old-Polack]

Disk /dev/sdg: 4013 MB, 4013948928 bytes
5 heads, 32 sectors/track, 48998 cylinders, total 7839744 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: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1   *        8064     7839743     3915840    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
[root@localhost ~]#

Not actually having one of these devices, but knowing how most Linux partitioning tools work, I'd be changing the drive geometry to 255 heads, and 63 sectors per track, to meet the standard layout of drive geometry The total sectors will then also change, automatically. The partitioning/formatting tools should then be able to work correctly, without crashing.

[Just17]

Try using one of the other partition managers available, as DeBass posted ......

KDE Partition Manager

or maybe

Gparted

Either should do the job quite well.

Be sure to have the USB stick plugged in but not mounted, prior to launching either.

[cubbybear]

Thanks everyone for the advice!  Here is what I'm learning.  Just18, having the USB stick plugged in but not mounted made all the difference.  I discovered that because I had enabled automatic mounting of removable media in system settings, none of the partition managers would open if I had a USB stick plugged in, even if I would "click to safely remove device".  I disabled the automatic mounting and rebooted, then tried again.  With the Kingston 4GB DataTraveler that I was using, same problem regardless.  Old-Polack noticed some incompatibilities regarding this particular DataTraveler's drive geometry, which seems most likely the reason.  I am not yet familiar with modifying the drive geometry however, but the good news is that since disabling auto-mounting of media, both the KDE Partition manager that Debaas suggested as well as our PCC integrated partition manager will now work with all of my other three USB sticks.

For comparison, I plugged in all four of the USB sticks, again opened a terminal and entered fdisk -l
The 4GB Kingston DataTraveler which did not work is last in the following output:


Disk /dev/sdh: 8004 MB, 8004304896 bytes
35 heads, 21 sectors/track, 21269 cylinders, total 15633408 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: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdh1              32    15633407     7816688    b  W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdg: 15.6 GB, 15606349824 bytes
116 heads, 52 sectors/track, 5053 cylinders, total 30481152 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: 0xc3072e18

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1   *        8064    30481151    15236544    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Disk /dev/sdi: 2000 MB, 2000748032 bytes
64 heads, 63 sectors/track, 969 cylinders, total 3907711 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: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdi1             129     3907007     1953439+   6  FAT16

Disk /dev/sdj: 4013 MB, 4013948928 bytes
5 heads, 32 sectors/track, 48998 cylinders, total 7839744 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: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdj1   *        8064     7839743     3915840    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
[root@localhost ~]#


While I'm not certain if this last USB stick can be made to work, since all the others do I'm calling this solved.  Thanks again.

[Archie]

You can make it work by formatting it correctly.

You can actually use PCC > Local disks > manage disk partitions to do it for you. You'll just need to Toggle to expert mode and select the Type = Jounalised FS: ext3 or ext4.

[DeBaas]

From this unwilling USB, first remove the partition and create a new one.

[Just17]

I will go one further than the two previous posters ......  replace the partition table and create a new partition.

In KDE Partition Manager - Device - New Partition Table ....**** be sure you have the correct device selected****

Replacing the Partition Table should give a 'standard' structure which will allow the device to work correctly.

You can then create as many partitions as you wish.

It may be advantageous to have the first partition as a FAT fs for compatibility with older Win OSs if it is ever to be plugged in when running one. It can be a very small partition if it will never be required to be used to share files with Win. I often use a 100MB FAT partition as the first one.

[cubbybear]

KDE Partition manager is now working with all of my other USB sticks, except for this one.  I do like the program.  It only crashes with the one, and here is the output:

[root@localhost ~]# partitionmanager
Backtrace has 17 calls on stack:
  17: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(ped_assert+0x29) [0xb5aa88b9]
  16: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(+0x41721) [0xb5ade721]
  15: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(+0x422b7) [0xb5adf2b7]
  14: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(+0x436aa) [0xb5ae06aa]
  13: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(+0x1028e) [0xb5aad28e]
  12: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(ped_disk_add_partition+0x271) [0xb5ab0bf1]
  11: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(+0x450e3) [0xb5ae20e3]
  10: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(+0x4530e) [0xb5ae230e]
  9: /usr/lib/libparted.so.0(ped_disk_new+0x79) [0xb5ab1a29]
  8: /usr/lib/libpartitionmanagerprivate.so(+0x1dbdc) [0xb7639bdc]
  7: /usr/lib/libpartitionmanagerprivate.so(_ZN22PartitionManagerWidget11scanDevicesEv+0x10c) [0xb769054c]
  6: /usr/lib/libpartitionmanagerprivate.so(_ZN22PartitionManagerWidget4initEP17KActionCollectionRK7QString+0x50) [0xb76949c0]
  5: /usr/lib/libpartitionmanagerprivate.so(_ZN10MainWindow4initEv+0xe1) [0xb76a1d31]
  4: /usr/lib/libpartitionmanagerprivate.so(_ZN10MainWindowC1EP7QWidgetP17KActionCollection+0xeb) [0xb76a1f0b]
  3: /usr/bin/partitionmanager-bin() [0x8048e19]
  2: /lib/i686/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe6) [0xb5e6bdf6]
  1: /usr/bin/partitionmanager-bin() [0x8048bf1]
KCrash: Application 'partitionmanager-bin' crashing...
KCrash: Attempting to start /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/drkonqi from kdeinit
sock_file=/root/.kde4/socket-localhost.localdomain/kdeinit4__0
[root@localhost ~]#


While I'm still I'm still a little curious about why this USB stick will not allow me to open a partition manager (which is needed to replace or create a partition table), I am happy that the partition managers are currently working with the others.

[AS]

While I'm still I'm still a little curious about why this USB stick will not allow me to open a partition manager (which is needed to replace or create a partition table), I am happy that the partition managers are currently working with the others.

As previously pointed out from Old-Polack, your issue is around the 'geometry' of this device:

Disk /dev/sdg: 4013 MB, 4013948928 bytes
5 heads, 32 sectors/track, 48998 cylinders, total 7839744 sectors

and a bug in libparted (library used from gparted, PCC-drakdisk, kde partition manager, ... ), the bug arise when "heads < 63"
The bug should have been fixed on recent versions of libparted but it's not (yet) available in PCLinuxOS.

BTW, I own a DataTraveler 3G, 4 GB, and it is working fine here:

Disk /dev/sdc: 3869 MB, 3869544448 bytes
99 heads, 28 sectors/track, 2726 cylinders, total 7557704 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: 0xb807e285

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1            2048     7557703     3777828   83  Linux

I have no proof right now, but it seems to me that this happening especially when using sticks previously partitioned using Windows, surely that happened to me when a friend of mine partitioned/formatted the stick using Win7.

AS

[DeBaas]

Sometimes it can (in Win) be fixed with (Google) HP USB Formatter.

[Just17]

I believe it could also be solved by wiping the Partition Table using the  'dd'  command and then creating a new Partition Table with KDE Partition Manager.

[cubbybear]

I believe it could also be solved by wiping the Partition Table using the  'dd'  command and then creating a new Partition Table with KDE Partition Manager.

Success!!  Thanks, Just18!  It took a little while to let the command run and complete, and it got the job done.  Powerful tool.  Formatted as ext2 (just one partition for now), and here is the result:


Disk /dev/sdg: 4013 MB, 4013948928 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 488 cylinders, total 7839744 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: 0x000eab72

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1              63     7839719     3919828+  83  Linux


And thank you again also to everyone for all the advice and your help!