Insert your USB pen drive. Let it get detected and mounted. Open Terminal. Type The Following commands
1. dmesg |tail –> here the ‘|’ key is the pipe, ie, the key before the backspace key(the upper one, so press shift)
You’ll get something like
sathya@shaman:~$ dmesg |tail
[ 9921.681164] sda: Write Protect is off
[ 9921.681174] sda: Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[ 9921.681178] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[ 9921.709138] SCSI device sda: 4030464 512-byte hdwr sectors (2064 MB)
[ 9921.720951] sda: Write Protect is off
[ 9921.720963] sda: Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[ 9921.720967] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[ 9921.721225] sda:
[ 9921.727896] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sda
[ 9921.744187] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
Note the terms in bold. In your system it will be different, maybe sdb or something. Whatever it may be, make sure to substitute it in the commands below, else your hard disk may get formatted.
2. Unmount your pen drive by using
sudo umount /dev/sda (In your case, please substitute sda with the appropriate device, listed above.
3. use the mkfs.vfat command to format to FAT32 filesystem, or mkfs.ext3 to format to ext3 filesystem
sudo mkfs.vfat -n ‘Label’ -I /dev/sda Replace Label with the name you want the pen drive to have.
4. That’s it! When done formatting, you’ll be returned to the prompt
sathya@shaman:~$ mkfs.vfat -n ‘sathya’ -I /dev/sda
mkfs.vfat 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)
sathya@shaman:~$
Remove and insert the pen drive to have mounted again!
Hmm, Interesting, Never quite tried to do that in linux, I always used to do that in Windoze.
Please how do i solve the problem below?
how do i insert sbaah in sudoers file and where can i find the file
iam a linux newbie
[sbaah@Maint-Engineers ~]$ sudo umount /dev/sdb
Password:
Sorry, try again.
Password:
Sorry, try again.
Password:
sbaah is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
[sbaah@Maint-Engineers ~]$ sudo umount /dev/sdb1
sbaah is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
Please umount the /dev/sda using root account.
# sudo umount /dev/sda
Pretty interesting.
This was very helpful. I have a few difficulties — I interpreted the -I option as -l — but I found my errors and make it happen. Thanks.
I did as well. Please change the font for this command.
Thanks a lot ;) gr8 blog post ;)
Hey..can u explain in detail what the process behind this “mkfs.vfat” or “mkdosfs” is.what does it exactly do?i don quite get how the formatting is happening :)
@Above, Explaining how they work is pretty technical stuff, I dont know how it works.
You can have a look at the man pages:
http://linux.die.net/man/8/mkfs.vfat
mkfs.ext3: invalid inode size – /dev/sdc1
what has happened here??/
Thanks. It works. I was even able to get a 2 year old non-working USB (or so I thought) after following your steps.
really its nice and worked well.thanks lot boss.
thanx dear
Nice piece of article. I got some errors. May be I should solve it and put on my blog. Thanks
Can you mention the errors you faced, Saurabh?
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ umount /dev/sdc
umount: /dev/sdc is not mounted (according to mtab)
I get above result when i use the given commands… What is happenning…??
Vishnu it means the device is not mounted. Proceed with step 3 of the post.
I got these errors at terminal-
mkfs.vfat 3.0.1 (23 Nov 2008)
mkfs.vfat: Device partition expected, not making filesystem on entire device ‘/dev/sdb’ (use -I to override)
Now command is working with ‘I’ instead of ‘L’. It is ninth alphabet rather then 12th. I think theme font of blog is somewhat confusing between ‘l’ and ‘I’. I have read manual documentation of this command and experimented for different different formats on it . Thanks and God bless
after the dmesg |tail command I get the following:
FAT: Filesystem panic (dev sdb)
fat_get_cluster: invalid cluster chain (i_pos 0)
FAT: Filesystem panic (dev sdb)
fat_get_cluster: invalid cluster chain (i_pos 0)
FAT: Filesystem panic (dev sdb)
fat_get_cluster: invalid cluster chain (i_pos 0)
FAT: Filesystem panic (dev sdb)
fat_get_cluster: invalid cluster chain (i_pos 0)
FAT: Filesystem panic (dev sdb)
fat_get_cluster: invalid cluster chain (i_pos 0)
Can anyone help.
It is a 16GB Kingston USB drive
David, seems that the filesystem is corrupted. Please proceed with formatting.
plz tell any one how to format pen drive in linux
Dude, did you really think that the pipe key was placed at the same position, in every single keyboard? :-o
LOL, in hindsight I realize that keyboard layout differ from country to country so the position would be lot different.
omg, i formatted my windows partition C instead of usb!!!! “thanks” for help, could u please be MORE specific about sda and sbd, which do I choose, so next time I wont f..k my system
you can check with
-> parted
-> print all
it will show you the entire disks connecte in your sys.. pendrive will appears as special device…
dont do more experiments with parted command…improper use of parted results in lost of data..
thanks
root@ravi:/home/ravi# dmesg |tail
[ 5639.791402] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 65617920 512-byte hardware sectors: (33.5 GB/31.2 GiB)
[ 5639.794872] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is on
[ 5639.794879] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 80 00
[ 5639.794887] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 5639.794898] sdb:
[ 6589.481197] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 65617920 512-byte hardware sectors: (33.5 GB/31.2 GiB)
[ 6589.485998] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is on
[ 6589.486005] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 80 00
[ 6589.486016] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 6589.486033] sdb:
root@ravi:/home/ravi# sudo umount /dev/sdb
umount: /dev/sdb: not mounted
root@ravi:/home/ravi# mkfs.vfat -n ‘ravi’ -I /dev/sdb
mkfs.vfat 3.0.1 (23 Nov 2008)
mkfs.vfat: unable to open /dev/sdb
this is what happening…..
could u help me out…..
I was not able to open my pendrive
The log says write-protect is on. Try switching off write protect.
hi sathya…
I am new to linux…
could u let me know how to switch off write protect?
Regards
Ravi
Write protect is something done via the hardware. Is this a “Kingston” 32GB flash disk ? One you got it for real low price ? I have a feeling it’s a fake
Yes u are exactly right, it is Kingston 32 GB flash drive…
Is there any option to make it work?
Regards
Ravi
@Ravi: Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for it ?
@Satya: Actually it was given to me by my friend. I think he purchased it for Rs. 600/- from other person, I am not sure abt it…..
So now there is no solution to format this drive???
@Ravi: That’s a fake. Unfortunately, even if you somehow try to get it to work, it won’t retain any data.
Thank you 4 info Sathya…
hey i am following the steps but its not working in my case, probably you may help..
[root@localhost ~]# dmesg|tail
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is on
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 80 00
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] 3860630417 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.97 TB/1.79 TiB)
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is on
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 80 00
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sdb: unknown partition table
sd 12:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
sd 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[root@localhost ~]# sudo mkfs.vfat -n ‘Label’ -I /dev/sdb
mkfs.vfat 3.0.1 (23 Nov 2008)
mkfs.vfat: unable to open /dev/sdb
my pendrive was working before couple of days but now its not also its 4GB drive but its showing some TBs in the system.. what should i do?
@Parth the line “sdb: unknown partition table” means that you don’t have any partition table on the pen. This means that you have to remake your partition table. You can use the command cfdisk for doing that. Check google for it.
@sathya in you article you don’t explain users to replace /dev/sda in the command “sudo mkfs.vfat -n ‘Label’ -I /dev/sda” with the device name readed from dmesg.
If in dmesg the usb pen is called /dev/sdb they have to use /dev/sdb in the format command like “sudo mkfs.vfat -n ‘Label’ -I /dev/sdb”..
Without saying so they could end up formatting their own hard disk!
I just formatted my entire hard drive. ;) jk
@Sathya: Thanks for the sharing this knowledge! I wish you changed it to sdb or sdx for safety.
Ops… forget the second part of my comment above.. I overlooked that instruction.. sorry!
@Fabio: Steps 1 & 2 :-) Thanks for the re-reminder though :P
when i follow u i got below output ,what i need to do please help me
rgukt08@rgukt08-laptop:~$ dmesg |tail
[ 21.319902] [drm] writeback test succeeded in 1 usecs
[ 24.042181] atl1c 0000:06:00.0: irq 2300 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 24.042598] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready
[ 24.056992] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan1: link is not ready
[ 74.182031] atl1c 0000:06:00.0: atl1c: eth1 NIC Link is Up
[ 74.182231] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth1: link becomes ready
[ 84.285073] eth1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 529.126158] wlan1: Selected IBSS BSSID 82:be:8b:f7:80:bb based on configured SSID
[ 539.921568] wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 574.261070] wlan1: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
hello sathya..!
see this is the output
after formating my pen drive i changed it name an other time it is not at all open even there is no devise icon also please help me as early as possible please
rgukt08@rgukt08-laptop:~$ dmesg |tail
[ 21.319902] [drm] writeback test succeeded in 1 usecs
[ 24.042181] atl1c 0000:06:00.0: irq 2300 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 24.042598] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready
[ 24.056992] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan1: link is not ready
[ 74.182031] atl1c 0000:06:00.0: atl1c: eth1 NIC Link is Up
[ 74.182231] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth1: link becomes ready
[ 84.285073] eth1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 529.126158] wlan1: Selected IBSS BSSID 82:be:8b:f7:80:bb based on configured SSID
[ 539.921568] wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 574.261070] wlan1: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
after formating pen drive i changed it name an other time it is not at all open even there is no devise icon also please help me as early as possible please
Note that /dev/sda1 is the device for a partition. /dev/sda is the device for a drive. You want to mount the filesystem contained on a partition.
Look at “ls -l /dev/sda*”. See if there is both /dev/sda and /dev/sda1
Also read through the manpage for mount.
If you system uses udev, you can get more information with:
udevinfo -q env -n /dev/sda1
The filesystem uuid number supplied can be used in an /etc/fstab entry in leu of a device name. The next time that you plug the drive in, a different device may be used to access it, so it is better to use either the label or the uuid if the file system instead.
In the “man mount” manual, be sure to look at the “dmask”, “fmask”, “user”, “uid”, “gid” and “noauto” mount options. The “dmask”,”fmask”, “uid” and maybe “gid” would be used for a fat16, fat32 or ntfs filesystem. The noauto option would be used for any removable device. The “user” option will allow you to mount the filesystem as a regular user.
dear sathya i tried the formating through linux but not succeed
as u mentioned above all things was right
but after giving the command
sudo mkfs.vfat -n ‘Label’ -I /dev/sdb
i came back to command prompt but any data was not deleted .
hence the same problem persisting in my pendrive
please help
i did all the things what i can do
i dont know much about linux
give some suggestion
ditto for me. :(
ditto for me, :(
thankuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Thank you Sathya, your guide worked for me, I booted openSUSE from USB, so I wanted to try another LiveUSB OS, but I couldn’t clean my USB. Big thank you
thank you all for sharing your experiences…
nice instructions
Thanks for sharing
dmesg | tail
[14926.035488] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[14926.035498] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[14926.035986] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[14926.035994] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[14926.040881] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[14926.040894] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[14926.157156] sdb:
[14926.160109] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[14926.160114] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[14926.160120] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
can u tell me what should i do now to format my HP 4GB pendrive??
mkfs works fine with fat and ext versions. But is there a way to change the filesystem to exFAT??
Please, courier [new] in command lines… I had copied the commands to gedit before to be able read them…
Sathya!! I can’t express my joy! After a long time of finding the solution to format my mbr write-protected USB, this was the only one that was working!! THANKS A LOT!!! *worshipping Sathya ^_^
Wait, it reverted to being read-only?!! Awww come on!!!
heh, sorry about that John :(
hello Satya,
I encountered a problem with my hard disc mounted in Ubuntu, I could not paste or cut or delete any files from my hard disc.Is there any way to use my harddisk without lossing any data in it?After running the command dmesg |tail , I got the following
[ 4535.468562] scsi 8:0:0:0: Direct-Access StoreJet Transcend 0001 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
[ 4535.469560] sd 8:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[ 4535.473436] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] 976773167 512-byte logical blocks: (500 GB/465 GiB)
[ 4535.474168] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 4535.474173] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 28 00 00 00
[ 4535.474178] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 4535.476502] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 4535.476512] sdb: sdb1
[ 4535.529101] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 4535.529109] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
I hope that there will be a solution for this.
Chinnu