My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

ojZim · 2013-05-08 19:23:56

Hi to all.
I have a 32GB USB Flash Memory.
The partition table is missing... What can I do?
I used fdisk, cfdisk, gparted... but they are not works (
When I use gparted to create partition table, It's crashs!
When I use fdisk, It says:

The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

Error closing file

And it's won't works
What can I do? It's not my Flash drive... It's for my father...
I'm searched for 5 hours to fix the problem... but not fixed.
Very Very Important! I waiting for your answers...

Last edited by ojZim (2013-05-08 19:35:11)

ewaller · 2013-05-08 19:36:08

Most flash drives don't have, or need a partition table. Most often, the entire drive is used for a single file system.

Is the device blank? Did you want to put a fresh file system on it? Are you trying to access an existing file system?

How did you use fdisk? Please provide the exact command you are using.

ojZim · 2013-05-08 19:50:32

ewaller wrote:

Most flash drives don't have, or need a partition table. Most often, the entire drive is used for a single file system.
Is the device blank? Did you want to put a fresh file system on it? Are you trying to access an existing file system?
How did you use fdisk? Please provide the exact command you are using.

Thanks for your Answer. It's blank. I have removed the partition on it and I can't create new partition. I want to put a fresh file system on it. I can't access my Flash Memory file system. It's blank and no partition.
Thanks.
It's my fdisk result:

[root@ali-PC ali]# fdisk /dev/sdc
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.23).

Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.

Device does not contain a recognized partition table
Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0x2537e13a.

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdc: 31.6 GB, 31604080640 bytes, 61726720 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 label type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x2537e13a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System

Command (m for help): n
Partition type:
   p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
   e   extended
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-61726719, default 2048): 
Using default value 2048
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-61726719, default 61726719): 
Using default value 61726719
Partition 1 of type Linux and of size 29.4 GiB is set

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

Error closing file
[root@ali-PC ali]#

ojZim · 2013-05-08 20:32:56

It's my hexdump result, please help me!

[root@ali-PC ali]#  dd if=/dev/sdc bs=512 count=1 | hexdump -C
00000000  e0 73 12 00 65 00 76 00  69 00 63 00 65 00 5c 00  |.s..e.v.i.c.e.\.|
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
00000010  7b 00 46 00 34 00 39 00  33 00 41 00 39 00 42 00  |{.F.4.9.3.A.9.B.|
512 bytes (512 B) copied00000020  31 00 2d 00 33 00 33 00  46 00 39 00 2d 00 34 00  |1.-.3.3.F.9.-.4.|
00000030  32 00 45 00 42 00 2d 00  41 00 30 00 30 00 36 00  |2.E.B.-.A.0.0.6.|
, 0.00119711 s, 428 kB/s
00000040  2d 00 34 00 36 00 45 00  35 00 41 00 41 00 34 00  |-.4.6.E.5.A.A.4.|
00000050  43 00 39 00 33 00 35 00  44 00 7d 00 00 00 5c 00  |C.9.3.5.D.}...\.|
00000060  44 00 65 00 76 00 69 00  63 00 65 00 5c 00 7b 00  |D.e.v.i.c.e.\.{.|
00000070  46 00 36 00 36 00 35 00  41 00 35 00 41 00 39 00  |F.6.6.5.A.5.A.9.|
00000080  2d 00 30 00 36 00 45 00  30 00 2d 00 34 00 31 00  |-.0.6.E.0.-.4.1.|
00000090  43 00 31 00 2d 00 39 00  32 00 34 00 35 00 2d 00  |C.1.-.9.2.4.5.-.|
000000a0  42 00 31 00 39 00 41 00  35 00 44 00 45 00 37 00  |B.1.9.A.5.D.E.7.|
000000b0  46 00 46 00 36 00 42 00  7d 00 00 00 5c 00 44 00  |F.F.6.B.}...\.D.|
000000c0  65 00 76 00 69 00 63 00  65 00 5c 00 7b 00 33 00  |e.v.i.c.e.\.{.3.|
000000d0  32 00 42 00 46 00 38 00  35 00 33 00 45 00 2d 00  |2.B.F.8.5.3.E.-.|
000000e0  31 00 35 00 36 00 39 00  2d 00 34 00 41 00 37 00  |1.5.6.9.-.4.A.7.|
000000f0  42 00 2d 00 42 00 39 00  30 00 37 00 2d 00 43 00  |B.-.B.9.0.7.-.C.|
00000100  41 00 30 00 38 00 32 00  34 00 41 00 46 00 39 00  |A.0.8.2.4.A.F.9.|
00000110  42 00 33 00 39 00 7d 00  00 00 5c 00 44 00 65 00  |B.3.9.}...\.D.e.|
00000120  76 00 69 00 63 00 65 00  5c 00 7b 00 44 00 46 00  |v.i.c.e.\.{.D.F.|
00000130  34 00 42 00 43 00 39 00  45 00 45 00 2d 00 43 00  |4.B.C.9.E.E.-.C.|
00000140  46 00 45 00 37 00 2d 00  34 00 31 00 38 00 45 00  |F.E.7.-.4.1.8.E.|
00000150  2d 00 39 00 30 00 31 00  36 00 2d 00 30 00 31 00  |-.9.0.1.6.-.0.1.|
00000160  44 00 39 00 46 00 44 00  32 00 46 00 31 00 43 00  |D.9.F.D.2.F.1.C.|
00000170  42 00 33 00 7d 00 00 00  5c 00 44 00 65 00 76 00  |B.3.}...\.D.e.v.|
00000180  69 00 63 00 65 00 5c 00  7b 00 42 00 44 00 46 00  |i.c.e.\.{.B.D.F.|
00000190  39 00 38 00 46 00 35 00  34 00 2d 00 44 00 42 00  |9.8.F.5.4.-.D.B.|
000001a0  41 00 36 00 2d 00 34 00  45 00 46 00 45 00 2d 00  |A.6.-.4.E.F.E.-.|
000001b0  39 00 34 00 39 00 41 00  2d 00 44 00 43 00 30 00  |9.4.9.A.-.D.C.0.|
000001c0  31 00 45 00 42 00 45 00  37 00 35 00 42 00 34 00  |1.E.B.E.7.5.B.4.|
000001d0  43 00 7d 00 00 00 5c 00  44 00 65 00 76 00 69 00  |C.}...\.D.e.v.i.|
000001e0  63 00 65 00 5c 00 4e 00  64 00 69 00 73 00 57 00  |c.e.\.N.d.i.s.W.|
000001f0  61 00 6e 00 49 00 70 00  00 00 00 00 30 00 00 00  |a.n.I.p.....0...|
00000200
[root@ali-PC ali]#

ewaller · 2013-05-08 20:42:16

Assuming you want a vfat fs,
what happens with:

# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdc

BTW, double check that you really are formating the correct drive. Please.

ojZim · 2013-05-08 20:49:41

ewaller wrote:

Assuming you want a vfat fs,
what happens with:
# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdc
BTW, double check that you really are formating the correct drive. Please.

Thanks but it says:

[root@ali-PC ali]# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdc
mkfs.vfat 3.0.16 (01 Mar 2013)
mkfs.vfat: Device partition expected, not making filesystem on entire device '/dev/sdc' (use -I to override)

ewaller · 2013-05-08 20:52:02

Oh, Very well....

# mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdc

Last edited by ewaller (2013-05-08 20:52:20)

ojZim · 2013-05-08 21:00:29

ewaller wrote:

Oh, Very well....
# mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdc

ok. I runed this command. it's a long time and it's not action.
How much I wait? It's not working. It's 10 minutes i runned this command. but not result.

[root@ali-PC ali]# mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdc
mkfs.vfat 3.0.16 (01 Mar 2013)

Please help me It's very important work.
Thanks.

ewaller · 2013-05-08 21:07:16

I really do not know how long it should take. Give it a while.

ojZim · 2013-05-08 21:48:16

It's a long time and it's not working... (

alphaniner · 2013-05-08 22:00:07

Creating a vfat fs should not take much time at all.

More importantly, that 'error closing file' message you got when using fdisk was probably evidence of a hardware problem. Check your kernel logs and maybe journal.

Last edited by alphaniner (2013-05-08 22:00:20)

ewaller · 2013-05-08 22:03:21

Unfortunately, I have no other ideas. Well, no good ideas.

Do you have the ability to try it on a different machine? What does an Apple or a Windows box do with it?
You might try to 'Zero' the device with a command like: dd of=/dev/sdc if=/dev/zero
BUT That is an extremely dangerous command, I do not guarantee that command is correct. If you make a mistake in entering a dd command, you will destroy data someplace you did not intend to. Also, some thumb drives may not like being zeroed. Please, please read the documentation on dd. After you zero the drive, you can try partitioning or formatting again. As I said, no good ideas.

Edit: Fixed an error in the dd command -- I told you so.

Last edited by ewaller (2013-05-08 22:04:51)

ojZim · 2013-05-08 22:32:07

ewaller wrote:

Unfortunately, I have no other ideas. Well, no good ideas.
Do you have the ability to try it on a different machine? What does an Apple or a Windows box do with it?
You might try to 'Zero' the device with a command like: dd of=/dev/sdc if=/dev/zero
BUT That is an extremely dangerous command, I do not guarantee that command is correct. If you make a mistake in entering a dd command, you will destroy data someplace you did not intend to. Also, some thumb drives may not like being zeroed. Please, please read the documentation on dd. After you zero the drive, you can try partitioning or formatting again. As I said, no good ideas.
Edit: Fixed an error in the dd command -- I told you so.

I tried it on many machines... on windows machine, on arch machine, on ubuntu macine, on virtual machine... but it's not formatting
My drive was working and mounting good at the 10 hours ago. It was fat32 parition, I entered many command to convert it to ntfs. I formated it using fdisk many times, it was working very good! I formated it on windows and linux, It was not have any problem. I don't know what command I was runned, after it my USB Flash Memory is no parition and not formating.
It's not my USB Flash Memory
Before the my usb is have any problem, I runned the dd command

dd of=/dev/sdc if=/dev/zero

I was looking for removing parition table and recreating it and i entered many commands on terminal. I removed the parition table, but i can't rebuild it (
I think the problem is from dd command i was runned...
Sorry for my very bad English

teateawhy · 2013-05-08 23:30:19

With unknown probability, you might have killed the usb stick by writing to it more often than it could stand. Flash Memory can only work for a limited amount of writes. Using dd on the entire drive and recreating the partition label and filesystems can be the cause.

ewaller · 2013-05-09 01:17:36

So, if I understand correctly, you had already zeroed the device before I suggested it. Yes, some drives don't care for that.
It sounds like you are hours into this project. At less than US$1 / GB, why waste your time ? ; just replace the thing.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-05-08 19:23:56

My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#2 2013-05-08 19:36:08

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#3 2013-05-08 19:50:32

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#4 2013-05-08 20:32:56

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#5 2013-05-08 20:42:16

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#6 2013-05-08 20:49:41

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#7 2013-05-08 20:52:02

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#8 2013-05-08 21:00:29

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#9 2013-05-08 21:07:16

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#10 2013-05-08 21:48:16

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#11 2013-05-08 22:00:07

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#12 2013-05-08 22:03:21

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#13 2013-05-08 22:32:07

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#14 2013-05-08 23:30:19

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

#15 2013-05-09 01:17:36

Re: My USB Flash Memory partition Table has been removed...

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