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Re: Topic: Problems with USB Sticks
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Joe
Nov 27, 2022, 11:10:08 AM11/27/22
to
On Sun, 27 Nov 2022 13:38:21 +0000
Schwibinger Michael <hb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Topic: Problems with USB Sticks
>
>
> Good Morning.
> We have about 20 USB Sticks. But we have trouble with some.
> I think we made mistakes.
> The easy problem, one stick is only readable. How can we make ist
> with Linux in terminal writable? If this is not possible, then how
> can we make the stick clean and use for write and read?
>
> Bigger problem:
> some sticks are not accepted by computer.
> Some are lights up, but terminal is not recognizing them.
> Others, there is no reaction bei putting in.
> Are they totally destroyed?
>
>
The first thing to try is, in a terminal:
sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog
(stop this listing using ctrl-C when you're finished)
then look at the output when you plug in a stick. The messages will
vary a bit, but you are basically looking for
a) many lines of output
b) that a USB device is recognised
c: that it is allocated a drive designation e.g. sdd
d) that any partitions are listed as e.g. sdd1, sdd2 etc.
The first three items are essential for the stick to work. If they
don't happen, something is broken. If the first two do not happen, the
stick is probably permanently broken. There may not be any partitions
on the stick, many sticks are formatted as one memory range, and do not
even have a partition table.
This should allow you to see which of your sticks are completely
destroyed, and which may be recoverable. There have been USB sticks
with a tiny read-only switch fitted, but I haven't seen one like that
for many years. If not, your read-only device may have a filesystem too
corrupt for the software to risk writing to. Also, Windows seems to be
able to leave sticks in this state if they were not properly unmounted.
If that is likely to have happened, it's possible that Windows can fix
it without reformatting.
Assuming a stick has been given a drive name, then fdisk should work on
it, and should show the size, any partitions and other data. fsck
should also work and show any filesystem corruption. fsck can probably
fix some of these sticks, though there will have been data loss due to
the corruption. If fsck shows errors but cannot fix them, it's time to
reformat the device, and no data will be recoverable.
Any stick which has been given a drive designation, and been formatted,
and still doesn't work properly is probably broken beyond repair.
--
Joe
Schwibinger Michael <hb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Topic: Problems with USB Sticks
>
>
> Good Morning.
> We have about 20 USB Sticks. But we have trouble with some.
> I think we made mistakes.
> The easy problem, one stick is only readable. How can we make ist
> with Linux in terminal writable? If this is not possible, then how
> can we make the stick clean and use for write and read?
>
> Bigger problem:
> some sticks are not accepted by computer.
> Some are lights up, but terminal is not recognizing them.
> Others, there is no reaction bei putting in.
> Are they totally destroyed?
>
>
The first thing to try is, in a terminal:
sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog
(stop this listing using ctrl-C when you're finished)
then look at the output when you plug in a stick. The messages will
vary a bit, but you are basically looking for
a) many lines of output
b) that a USB device is recognised
c: that it is allocated a drive designation e.g. sdd
d) that any partitions are listed as e.g. sdd1, sdd2 etc.
The first three items are essential for the stick to work. If they
don't happen, something is broken. If the first two do not happen, the
stick is probably permanently broken. There may not be any partitions
on the stick, many sticks are formatted as one memory range, and do not
even have a partition table.
This should allow you to see which of your sticks are completely
destroyed, and which may be recoverable. There have been USB sticks
with a tiny read-only switch fitted, but I haven't seen one like that
for many years. If not, your read-only device may have a filesystem too
corrupt for the software to risk writing to. Also, Windows seems to be
able to leave sticks in this state if they were not properly unmounted.
If that is likely to have happened, it's possible that Windows can fix
it without reformatting.
Assuming a stick has been given a drive name, then fdisk should work on
it, and should show the size, any partitions and other data. fsck
should also work and show any filesystem corruption. fsck can probably
fix some of these sticks, though there will have been data loss due to
the corruption. If fsck shows errors but cannot fix them, it's time to
reformat the device, and no data will be recoverable.
Any stick which has been given a drive designation, and been formatted,
and still doesn't work properly is probably broken beyond repair.
--
Joe
David
Nov 27, 2022, 5:50:05 PM11/27/22
to
On Mon, 28 Nov 2022 at 00:52, Schwibinger Michael <hb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Good Morning.
Good morning Sophie,
If you find it easier to write in German than in English,
you can send your email questions to:
debian-us...@lists.debian.org
To join that mailing list, see here:
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user-german/
If you prefer a different language, Debian has mailing
lists in many different languages.
You can find them all here:
https://lists.debian.org/users.html
> Good Morning.
Good morning Sophie,
If you find it easier to write in German than in English,
you can send your email questions to:
debian-us...@lists.debian.org
To join that mailing list, see here:
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user-german/
If you prefer a different language, Debian has mailing
lists in many different languages.
You can find them all here:
https://lists.debian.org/users.html
debia...@howorth.org.uk
Dec 30, 2022, 4:20:05 PM12/30/22
to
> Hello group. Hello Joe.
> Thank you for your Email.
>
> Sorry, I did bad asking.
> So I split the question.
>
> 1
> How can I repair USB stick which is readable but not writable?
>
> question 2
> What did I do wrong to create this problem?
You didn't tell us what you actually did, and especially which bits you
think might be a mistake, so it's very difficult for us to answer this
question.
For example, you might have hit them with a hammer, or connected them
to the wrong voltages, or washed them in a bath, or who knows what? Or
you might have plugged them in correctly but used some sequence of
commands that has caused a problem. But until you tell us what you did,
we can't know which bit was wrong!
> Thank you.
>
> Regards,
> Sophie
> Thank you for your Email.
>
> Sorry, I did bad asking.
> So I split the question.
>
> 1
> How can I repair USB stick which is readable but not writable?
>
> question 2
> What did I do wrong to create this problem?
You didn't tell us what you actually did, and especially which bits you
think might be a mistake, so it's very difficult for us to answer this
question.
For example, you might have hit them with a hammer, or connected them
to the wrong voltages, or washed them in a bath, or who knows what? Or
you might have plugged them in correctly but used some sequence of
commands that has caused a problem. But until you tell us what you did,
we can't know which bit was wrong!
> Thank you.
>
> Regards,
> Sophie
Joe
Dec 30, 2022, 4:50:05 PM12/30/22
to
removal on a Windows machine. This sometimes causes problems which
cause Linux to refuse to mount the device read/write. Windows can
usually fix it, though I suppose there may be data loss. It's entirely
possible that doing the same thing on Linux would sometimes cause
similar problems.
--
Joe
Cindy Sue Causey
Dec 31, 2022, 12:30:05 PM12/31/22
to
Following tips regarding hiberfil.sys fixed it both times for me, but
the method comes with a harsh "this is your last ditch option" warning
about things like that data loss.
That's on a non-Linux system, by the way. Linux triggered the second
episode while while the affected partition was mounted only as a
resource for backing up images. It wasn't mounted as an operating
system.
There's a recovery partition that keeps getting mounted even though
I'm not touching it this week. I can't help wondering if that plays
some part in how that partition ended up locked down when it wasn't
used as the primary operating system..
Cindy :)
--
Talking Rock, Pickens County, Georgia, USA
* runs with birdseed *
David Wright
Jan 22, 2023, 2:10:08 PM1/22/23
to
On Wed 11 Jan 2023 at 18:30:33 (+0000), Schwibinger Michael wrote:
> Hello Joe. Hello group.
> Thank you so much for your Emails.
This thread has been going nowhere for eight weeks now.
> How can I make an USB stick only readable but not writable?
Most sticks can't do this. Some SD cards (or their adapters)
can.
> How can I make an USB stick which is only readable again writable?
If you've tried advice already given, and failed, then you
probably can't.
1. Mount the stick and copy any information of value to somewhere
safe. You should already have done this in the course of normal backups.
2. If you need the information to be available on a stick,
and haven't got a spare one, buy a new one, and copy the
desired information onto it.
3. Destroy the old stick with a hammer to prevent any sensitive
information it contains falling into the wrong hands.
4. Dispose of the waste carefully, according to your jurisdiction.
5. Any stick can become partially or wholly unusable at any time,
so backups, backups, backups. (And perhaps buy several sticks.)
Cheers,
David.
> Hello Joe. Hello group.
> Thank you so much for your Emails.
This thread has been going nowhere for eight weeks now.
> How can I make an USB stick only readable but not writable?
Most sticks can't do this. Some SD cards (or their adapters)
can.
> How can I make an USB stick which is only readable again writable?
If you've tried advice already given, and failed, then you
probably can't.
1. Mount the stick and copy any information of value to somewhere
safe. You should already have done this in the course of normal backups.
2. If you need the information to be available on a stick,
and haven't got a spare one, buy a new one, and copy the
desired information onto it.
3. Destroy the old stick with a hammer to prevent any sensitive
information it contains falling into the wrong hands.
4. Dispose of the waste carefully, according to your jurisdiction.
5. Any stick can become partially or wholly unusable at any time,
so backups, backups, backups. (And perhaps buy several sticks.)
Cheers,
David.
to...@tuxteam.de
Jan 23, 2023, 12:20:05 AM1/23/23
to
On Sun, Jan 22, 2023 at 03:48:35PM +0000, Schwibinger Michael wrote:
> Hello group. Hello Joe.
> Thank you again for your Email.
> Hello group. Hello Joe.
> Sorry, I did bad asking.
> How can I make an USB stick writable, please?
I think USB stick is broken. If you can write to other USB sticks,
I am sure USB stick is broken.
If there are important data there, please, copy them to a safe
place and don't use this USB stick for important things.
Cheers
--
t
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