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#1 2012-10-29 22:52:26

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Problem with usb disk partition table

Hello everybody,

i have a weird problem: i have an usb disk, that seems not to be partitioned

caesar753@kroton:~$ ls /dev/sd*
/dev/sda   /dev/sda2  /dev/sda4  /dev/sda6  /dev/sda8  /dev/sdb
/dev/sda1  /dev/sda3  /dev/sda5  /dev/sda7  /dev/sda9

if i try to format /dev/sdb with ntfs/vfat/ext2/ext3 and so on terminal doesn't say any error to me, but if i try to write something on the usb drive (/dev/sdb) nothing is written ...
The really weird thing is that, if i launch fdisk this is the output

caesar753@kroton:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb 

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 4043 MB, 4043309056 bytes
125 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7897088 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: 0x70707573

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   ?  1701998450  3638285201   968143376    d  Unknown
/dev/sdb2   ?  1701995885  2246105740   272054928    a  OS/2 Boot Manager
/dev/sdb3   ?  1769087090  3538458322   884685616+  6f  Unknown
/dev/sdb4   ?  2885681152  2885734849       26849    a  OS/2 Boot Manager

Partition table entries are not in disk order

so some strange partitions are present but they are not in /dev, and i cannot modify/delete anyone of these ...

I tried to google something and I found that, if anything else works, I could write zeroes on the entire device

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb

but also this doesn't work...
any idea??

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#2 2012-10-29 23:28:06

Trilby
Inspector Parrot
Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 29,441
Website

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

sdb doesn't have a recognizable partition table - that's the first problem to deal with.  Use fdisk to *first* create a partition table, *then* create partitions (this will destroy any current data, but it looks like you probably did that already anyways).  Then create file systems on the partition(s) (eg sdb1, not sdb).  Then *mount* the partition(s).  Only then would you be able to create or modify files on the drive.


"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

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#3 2012-10-29 23:34:21

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

and this is the output

caesar753@kroton:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb 

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 4043 MB, 4043309056 bytes
125 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7897088 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: 0x70707573

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   ?  1701998450  3638285201   968143376    d  Unknown
/dev/sdb2   ?  1701995885  2246105740   272054928    a  OS/2 Boot Manager
/dev/sdb3   ?  1769087090  3538458322   884685616+  6f  Unknown
/dev/sdb4   ?  2885681152  2885734849       26849    a  OS/2 Boot Manager

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help): o
Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0xdfa84507.
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable.

Warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 4 will be corrected by w(rite)

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

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 22: Invalid argument.
The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at
the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
Syncing disks.
caesar753@kroton:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb 

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 4043 MB, 4043309056 bytes
125 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7897088 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: 0x70707573

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   ?  1701998450  3638285201   968143376    d  Unknown
/dev/sdb2   ?  1701995885  2246105740   272054928    a  OS/2 Boot Manager
/dev/sdb3   ?  1769087090  3538458322   884685616+  6f  Unknown
/dev/sdb4   ?  2885681152  2885734849       26849    a  OS/2 Boot Manager

Partition table entries are not in disk order

i launched fdisk, chose o (create a new empty DOS partition table), pressed ENTER and then w (write), relaunched fdisk and chose p (print partition table), still the old, corrupt partition table there ...

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#4 2012-10-29 23:49:49

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

What kind of disk is it?

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#5 2012-10-29 23:51:43

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

a common usb stick with a capacity of 4 GB ...

Last edited by caesar753 (2012-10-29 23:52:22)

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#6 2012-10-29 23:59:23

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

Common means what?  Was it free, or did you buy it?

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#7 2012-10-30 00:04:10

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

buy ... Specifically is a Philips usb stick

[12244.305062] scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Philips  USB Flash Drive  0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[12244.307064] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[12244.309031] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] 7897088 512-byte logical blocks: (4.04 GB/3.76 GiB)
[12244.309510] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[12244.309521] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[12244.310012] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
[12244.310017] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[12244.312884] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
[12244.312895] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[12244.472611]  sdc:
[12244.475539] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
[12244.475552] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[12244.475557] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

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#8 2012-10-30 00:05:12

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

You realize that from the logs you posted, the device is sdc not sdb?

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#9 2012-10-30 00:09:04

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

now is sdc, because i unmounted and remounted that, but there was an istance that i forgot to close ...

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#10 2012-10-30 00:10:06

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

voilà

[12613.116638] scsi6 : usb-storage 1-4:1.0
[12614.116922] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Philips  USB Flash Drive  0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[12614.118111] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[12614.122077] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] 7897088 512-byte logical blocks: (4.04 GB/3.76 GiB)
[12614.122952] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[12614.122962] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[12614.124177] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[12614.124188] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[12614.127783] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[12614.127791] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[12614.275137]  sdb:
[12614.277553] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[12614.277561] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[12614.277566] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

Btw when i launched fdisk it was sdb ...

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#11 2012-10-30 00:14:06

Rafanes
Member
Registered: 2012-10-30
Posts: 2

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

Hello smile
I had that same problem with my toshiba usb hard disk. I overwrite partition table by gparted, it works correctly.
Good luck

Last edited by Rafanes (2012-10-30 00:16:02)

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#12 2012-10-30 16:47:43

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

alsa gparted failed ... same situation as above, any other idea??

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#13 2012-10-30 19:50:02

Rafanes
Member
Registered: 2012-10-30
Posts: 2

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

Whether you used the option 'create new partition table' first ?

Last edited by Rafanes (2012-10-30 19:52:03)

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#14 2012-10-30 21:54:42

caesar753
Member
Registered: 2010-09-08
Posts: 33

Re: Problem with usb disk partition table

yep ...

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