SOLVED - Can't format flash drive to ext4

[Maurice]

Are you unplugging the drive from the PC after reformatting and then plugging it back in again ?

Have you tried ext2 and ext3 formats?

Yes - unplug each time
Yes - tried ext2, 3 and 4

[Just17]

what is the output of

fdisk  -l  /dev/sdb

[Maurice]

what is the output of

fdisk  -l  /dev/sdb

[root@localhost maurice]# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 16.0 GB, 16039018496 bytes
247 heads, 25 sectors/track, 5073 cylinders, total 31326208 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: 0x000dab92

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048    31326207    15662080   83  Linux

[Just17]

I have a suggestion .......

use Gparted or Diskdrake

delete the existing partition

create a 100MB partition

Format it FAT32 or NTFS

In the remaining space create one more partition to fill the rest of the disk

Format it ext (2,3 or 4)

Report any errors from the Gparted progress page at each step.

Exit Gparted and unplug the device.


With the device still unplugged run LiveUSB creator and insert it when required.

The larger partition should be reported and you should be able to install a Primary or First OS on the stick.

If the results are any different please post with as much info as possible ....  copy any details and errors etc.


This is what it should look like ......

[Maurice]

I have a suggestion .......

use Gparted or Diskdrake

delete the existing partition

create a 100MB partition

Format it FAT32 or NTFS

In the remaining space create one more partition to fill the rest of the disk

Format it ext (2,3 or 4)

Report any errors from the Gparted progress page at each step.

Exit Gparted and unplug the device.


With the device still unplugged run LiveUSB creator and insert it when required.

The larger partition should be reported and you should be able to install a Primary or First OS on the stick.

If the results are any different please post with as much info as possible ....  copy any details and errors etc.


This is what it should look like ......

Followed all the steps and formatted to ext4 but, on gparted got the same unknown file system as on previous attempts.

However I used Usb Creator and, at the end, got the dialogue box as follows -

    
       No New Device Detected!
        
             Oh dear! We have a problem!

             There is no Device to select.

             This application will now exit.

If you wish to try again please restart the application.

[Just17]

Followed all the steps and formatted to est4 but, on gparted got the same unknown file system as on previous attempts.

At what point in the procedure did this occur?
Did you successfully create an NTFS partition of 100MBs?

Some more details would be helpful in trying to figure it out.

[Maurice]

Followed all the steps and formatted to est4 but, on gparted got the same unknown file system as on previous attempts.

At what point in the procedure did this occur?
Did you successfully create an NTFS partition of 100MBs?

Some more details would be helpful in trying to figure it out.

Yes I created two partitions, formatted the smaller one to fat32, and the error occurred when I formatted the larger one to ext4.

In gparted the smaller fat32 partition showed correctly with a green outline but the larger one showed the file system as unknown. Its outline was coloured black instead of the usual blue of ext4.

Past my bedtime down here - get back in the morning.

[Just17]

The next thing to try is to change the 100MBs partition to NTFS and ext to see the results ... post any errors.

Is this an aged device? .....  just wondering if it is in any way likely that part of the device has failed ......

[Maurice]

The next thing to try is to change the 100MBs partition to NTFS and ext to see the results ... post any errors.

Is this an aged device? .....  just wondering if it is in any way likely that part of the device has failed ......

Did that but same result as before - File system unknown. I then wiped both partitions and created one of 6gb and formatted it to ext4 and it worked. That would seem to indicate bad blocks on the usb.

But that size is too small to clone my Minjme so I increased it to 9gb and got File system unknown again.

So then I reduced it to 7gb and got the error message - Libparted bug found. Could not stat device /dev/sdb. No such file ....etc. After that I got the No Device available message.

I tried it in six different ports but no joy.

It's about 4 years old - is that 'aged'?

[Xenaflux]

It's about 4 years old - is that 'aged'?

Maurice..
Somewhere on this forum you will find a similar tread about this .. problem .
It was < my > tread .
Me and a few others have been trying to format/revive a usb stick for over a month.
None of us managed . Of course, we did it for sports.
We gave up eventually.
I still have it in my <junk-box> but am not spending/wasting time on it anymore.

So, <yes> it could be that it became defective over time, but I also have 2x 512 Mb sticks which are much older and are still in perfect condition.
 

[Just17]

It would seem that you have a failing device  

What size is your Minime remaster that it does not fit on 6GB?

[Maurice]

Thanks Just17 and Xenaflux.

I'll accept your verdicts.

I've added quite a bit of stuff and my Minime is around 9gb.

Many thanks for your prompt replies and help. And muungwana too. I'd better close the thread .

Maurice

[muungwana]

fat file system and reiserfs seem to work with the drive.This suggests a problem with ext family file system creation tool.

You could try to create the ext4 file using using another distro and check to see if it will work there.

[Xenaflux]

I've added quite a bit of stuff and my Minime is around 9gb.

@Maurice

Even if you ad << a lot >> of stuff, it seems to me that either your /tmp or /home/maurice/tmp or /var/cache/apt/archives or something else is filled up with unnecessary stuff.

You can use filelight to see graphically << where >> you have a < very > big folder

[Maurice]

fat file system and reiserfs seem to work with the drive.This suggests a problem with ext family file system creation tool.

You could try to create the ext4 file using using another distro and check to see if it will work there.

But if I get the message - No device available I can't do anything with it. No?