Flash drive woes....

[AmEv]

My SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4.0GB is giving me fits.

It all started a few minutes ago.
I plugged it in, and it said "New device detected" Hunh, strange, I've hooked it up before.

Go to My Computer, "Drive E: (Removable Device) -_o ? I put my flash drive as my name! Click: "Format drive?" -.O Click on through. 16MB:eek::mad::mad:

What is happening????
PS: I didn't format. Didn't want to risk it.


It IS a couple years old, but a) I very rarely used it, B) Why would it suddenly, completely "die"?
The other tell-tale sign that there's a problem is the orange light isn't blinking.

I am backed up. (THANK YOU UBUNTU ONE!)

[xr4man]

well, the short not so sweet answer is that electronics can go bad at any time. now usually, they don't, but it can happen.

now then, do you always carry this particular sd card in an anti-static container of some sort? if not there's a chance it could have been zapped by the nasty esd monster.

[AmEv]

It's a 4GB Flash drive, not an SD card.

[xr4man]

DOH!!!!

you're right. i read "san disk" and skipped the cruzer micro part. either way my above post is still valid.

it could be bad chips, it could be a nice esd zap, the contacts could be dirty, the usb connector could have been tweaked and isn't making good contact on the board anymore, and the list goes on.

[Neodymium]

Happened to me on one of my USB drives...had U3 on it, so if the firmware is corrupt, then basically you cannot format it using either Windows or Linux. U3 will let you format the rest of the drive to your liking.

If its not U3 based, then one of the following could have happened:
1. Memory chip is bad
2. Memory chip is loose
3. Firmware is corrupt
Another cause if U3 based or other formats:
4. AES-128bit key used to decrypt data on the NAND is invalid

In my case it was 3...

And as a last resort before you chuck it, try:
Start->Run-> Regedit
Expand: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\StorageDevicePolicies
(Note: if this key doesn't exist, then disregard this option, and close Regedit)
Double click on the string ‘WriteProtect’ and change the ‘Value Data’ box to ‘0’
Close Regedit, and Restart

Then try to format again.

[AmEv]

No U3.

Don't really like the software personally.


Or anything that makes a virtual CD drive as a back door to getting the software to launch.

[Neodymium]

I agree...try the registry stuff...if it works, great, if not...well

[AmEv]

No registry stuff :(

[Cale_Hagan]

lol, my samsung epic 4g comes with a 16 GB micro sd card, and i rebooted my phone, and it wanted to format. somehow, it got corrupted, and i didn't have anything backed up. found software to recover files, reformatted, and it kept asking to reformat. then one day, it just started working again.... who knows why.... :whistler::?:whistler:

[Neodymium]

If it's broke...MOD IT! LOL..

[AmEv]

Take it to the digital forensics lab?????

[Neodymium]

Now there is a thought...I like the way you're thinking :P

[AmEv]

The cost, though.... :think:

[Neodymium]

Generally very expensive! Try making your own...like Accessdata's FTK or some other open source stuff...

Check this: http://www2.opensourceforensics.org/tools/data-acquisition

[AmEv]

Device manager:

"SanDisk S3 UCL .Mode USB device"

There IS a big gap there.....


*Well, googling says either the FW or partitioning somehow got corrupted.


Should I try talking to SanDisk for support?

[Neodymium]

If you still have warranty, go for it. I don't think they will be able to do anything with the data...maybe you will get a replacement atleast.

[AmEv]

Dobut I have a warranty.

I'll try your suggestions, though.

[Neodymium]

Try this...http://whatrevitwants.blogspot.com/2011/06/repurposing-autodesk-usb-media_20.html...based on what this guy did, if the chip type is known...you could do what he did and see if you can "repurpose" it "again" :)

[f8l_0e]

What does Windows "Disk Management" or Ubuntu's "Disk Utility" reporting the drive as? If the data is already backed up, try removing the partition and recreating it.

[AmEv]

May do that. Once I find it again... -_-

[Konrad]

The physical USB connector can fail, clean it up and straighten anything which is bent.

Windows sometimes fails to properly eject/unmount the device. Not so much in post-WinXP, but it still happens. When it does, the device's file system is corrupted by mismatched FATs; one copy wasn't properly updated by the "helpful" drive caching (which can't be turned off, regardless what Windows claims). ScanDisk can easily repair this problem in unrecognized flash media, although the most recent "unsaved" changes are usually lost.

U3 problems can be corrected with some kind of "USB firmware tool" software. You may need to disassemble your device to learn exactly which controller chip is used (from part markings).

Flash memory is a type of EEPROM, it ultimately fails after some (large) number of write cycles. Better flash products use better part specs and clever wear-leveling algorithms to extend product life, they can also isolate bad blocks (and activate backup blocks!) to prevent further data loss or loss of capacity. Cheap flash products just slap together cheap parts any way which works. Some of the worst designs accelerate failure by simply rewriting to the same addresses every time the FAT (file contents) are changed, using one of these as a cache drive can burn out the flash block within hours.