I have always been able to format my MP3 Player by right clicking on it. Presently when I right click on it, there is no such option. Only eject or safely remove is present. I tried other devices and get the same result. Any insight into this problem will be appreciated.
Ubuntu 12.04 64
I believe what you have is a scrambled flashdrive, basically there is no room on the flashdrive to reformat because the previous reformats are still present just not readable. Might be time to fork up 5bucks mate.
The steps you've listed sound like Windows not Ubuntu, are you talking about formating for the purpose of creating a bootable usb installer? Regardless, in ubuntu (or an ubuntu live cd) you can format the drive by opening gparted. 12.04 has gparted installed by default, if for some reason you don't you can always do so by typing "sudo apt-get install gparted". To format the device it must be unmounted, if it isn't already you can do so within gparted by clicking on it's parition(s) and selecting unmount. Then right click and choose "format to" and choose the desired file system. Then click apply.
If you are trying to format under windows and are having these difficulties, then try doing a format using the disk manager. You can access it from "start menu/control panel/system and security/administrative tools/computer management/disk management" it will list all storage devices, and give you the ability to eject, format, initialize. If you have trouble still, then there is a console application in windows called Diskpart it has the ability to create a new partition table, as well as format, and etc. You can find information about using diskpart here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415 . Make sure to use the "select disk #" command before trying to format.
