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I was trying to flash my pendrive with Ubuntu 22.04 using Rufus and tried to add persistence partition size to it, Not sure why it didn't flash properly and gave me error as device not found. So I thought I will format it and flash it normally. When I tried to format it, from then on I was not able to see the drive. (This entire above instructions were done in windows 11). The pendrive is brand new, it's been around 3 days since I bought.

I thought I can try something in Ubuntu to make it work, So far I have tried different methods to make it work, but it didn't work

I have tried all the methods that are mentioned in this thread : Can't format or access a detected USB Key. I get the exact results mentioned in the question, and no other answer resolved my issue.

Additionally GParted doesn't show my pendrive. And from the built-in Disks application shows my pendrive, but there are no options to perform on it.

disks application SS 1

disks application SS 2

I have also tried using mkusb, tried all the options:

When I choose restore to SSD it gives this output:

restore to ssd output

When I choose wipe first megabyte it gives this output:

wipe first megabyte output

When I choose "wipe the whole device" it gives this output:

Wipe the whole device output

karel
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aswanth jabba
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    New doesn't translate to good. That Rufus gave an error when likely you were trying to use the full capacity or close to it for the persistence makes me suspect you got a fake one. If it's a very large size for a very low price then you can be sure it's fake. Bin it. – ChanganAuto Aug 30 '22 at 16:40
  • And, of course this has nothing to do with Ubuntu. That Ubuntu installer was the ISO you were trying to flash is incidental and immaterial. – ChanganAuto Aug 30 '22 at 16:41
  • @ChanganAuto it's a 64gb 3.0 SanDisk pendrive priced around 8$, this is standard rate for SanDisk pendrive right ? I gave around 40gb for persistent partition and 18 gb was remaining on that – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 16:52
  • @ChanganAuto sorry I didn't meant fault of Ubuntu i thought we may be able to have more accessibility on usb and make it work or something. – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 16:54
  • A genuine SanDisk 64GB USB stick goes for 16€-20€ in Amazon Europe. So, definitely a fake. – ChanganAuto Aug 30 '22 at 16:55
  • you can check the drive to be sure, usually 64GB drives are not fake, only larger ones (might as well fake 1-2 TB if you're making fake drives) – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 16:56
  • @ChanganAuto you can get one for like $11.50 from Western Digital web site, so finding one for $8 is not such a stretch. I would not say "definitely a fake." – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 16:59
  • Let's hope I'm wrong but the reported symptom clearly points that way. – ChanganAuto Aug 30 '22 at 17:01
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    try f3 to check if the drive is real, sudo apt install f3 and then https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 17:05
  • @Esther there are no mountpoints of the pendrive to add in the command. – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 17:11
  • @aswanthjabba so mount the drive... – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 17:14
  • @Esther Even that's giving out error as mount: /mnt: no medium found on /dev/sda , I have checked pendrives path name from lsblk, Not sure why it does this. And another thing is the pendrive shows No Media in builtin disks application. – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 17:21
  • https://superuser.com/questions/1163375/cant-format-nor-access-a-detected-usb-key-no-medium-found does this help? – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 17:22
  • @Esther I have mentioned this in the question, I have tried all the methods in that thread no outcome. I believe its the same question but different forums. – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 17:23
  • @aswanthjabba this is a different thread with different advice, did you read/try the accepted answer? – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 17:24
  • specifically, run eject -t /dev/sda and see if it shows up in disks application. – Esther Aug 30 '22 at 17:25
  • @Esther sorry, Let me try this !! – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 17:25
  • @Esther It still shows in the disks application after running the command – aswanth jabba Aug 30 '22 at 17:28
  • You can analyze the problem according to this link and if you are lucky, find a solution. But your results with mkusb point in the wrong direction. You should reboot and try again, try in another computer and after unplugging all other devices etc to be sure. Maybe there is 'only confusion'. – sudodus Aug 30 '22 at 17:52

1 Answers1

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Not sure why it didn't flash properly and gave me error as device not found.

It didn't flash properly because your hardware was already defective, and what you saw was the result of that (i.e. the error messages were a consequence of the already existing hardware issue and not the cause of it).

Please be mindful that the flash memory used in consumer USB drives is a lot more unreliable than people realize and it tends to fail at a much higher rate than owners of such devices expect. This has nothing to do with the application being used, or the type of device you create (such as one with or without persistence) but everything to do with the unreliability of the technology being used. Flash memory cells have a limited number of rewrites and, because it's governed by statistics, even if the datasheet may indicate a mean of 10,000 rewrites or more, if you happen to be unlucky, it may be a lot lower than that for the flash memory cells of your specific drive... And when that happens then, there is not much you can do software wise to try to "fix" what is essentially an irreversible hardware issue.

So, typically when an application like Rufus reports an error and then you find that your drive is no longer accessible, it simply means that Rufus was the first application to detect that your hardware was defective. And if you tried to reformat/repartition your drives using various utilities and you weren't able to recover it, I'm afraid that you're just going to have to purchase a new drive.

Akeo
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