usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format it?

Using TestDisk to undelete files
Forum rules
When asking for technical support:
- Search for posts on the same topic before posting a new question.
- Give clear, specific information in the title of your post.
- Include as many details as you can, MOST POSTS WILL GET ONLY ONE OR TWO ANSWERS.
- Post a follow up with a "Thank you" or "This worked!"
- When you learn something, use that knowledge to HELP ANOTHER USER LATER.
Before posting, please read https://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.pdf
Message
Author
dummytransistor
Posts: 8
Joined: 01 Jul 2012, 23:10

usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format it?

#1 Post by dummytransistor »

Hi All,

well I have an USB (8GB, sandisk, I use windows xp) and now suddenly when I try to explore it there is a message telling me "the device is not formated, do you want to format it?"

I downloaded testdisk I tried to run it:

1. CREATE
=> the device is found:
>Disk /dev/sdb - 8039 MB / 7666 MiB - SanDisk Cruzer

2. I select the usb device and then PROCEED

3. then INTEL/PC PARTITION

4. ANALYZE
=> Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55

5. QUICKSEARCH (TRY TO LOCATE THE PARTITION)

6. yes

7. ANALYZE CILYNDER starts...
=> no partition found or selected for recovery

8. DEEPER SEARCH
=> no partition found or selected for recovery


What to do? Anybody with a suggestion?

Best Regards,

dummytransistor

User avatar
Fiona
Posts: 2835
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 17:19
Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#2 Post by Fiona »

Would it be possible to diagnose your boot sector?
Step by Step guide would be;
Start TestDisk, confirm at create a log with enter and select your thumb drive.
Confirm at partition table type with enter also
Don't confirm at Analyse but Advanced.
Your partition must be displayed correctly (normally should be FAT32 if it's listed as unknown, please let me know).
Confirm at Boot.
Highlight Rebuild BS and hit Enter.
Rebuild your BS will be in progress.
Normally, it takes some minutes.
If it's finished, please post the infos or upload a screen.
If you see a menu List, please highlight it and press enter.
Please let us know, do you see your data or an error message.
To get back to the previous screen, easily press q for Quit.

Infos will follow.

Fiona

dummytransistor
Posts: 8
Joined: 01 Jul 2012, 23:10

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#3 Post by dummytransistor »

Hi Fiona,

thanks a lot for your reply and support. I was expecting to get a notification at my email if somebody replies but I didn't. Thats why I am seeing your reply until now. Now I subscribed to this topic.

I will go step by step following your instructions:


Instructions

Would it be possible to diagnose your boot sector?
=> yes

Step by Step guide would be;

Start TestDisk, confirm at create a log with enter and select your thumb drive.
=> I selected "create" and then ENTER

=> I can see this:
Disk /dev/sda - 160 GB / 149 GiB - ST916031 4AS
Disk /dev/sdb/ - 8039MB 7666 MiB - SanDisk Cruzer (I select this, this is the external USB device)


Confirm at partition table type with enter also
=> well here I see following options:
Intel Intel/PC Partition
EFI GPT EFI GPT Partition map (mac i386, some x86_64...)
Humax Humax Partition Table
Mac Apple partition map
None non partition media
Sun Sun Solaris partition
XBox XBox partition

=> if I select Intel and then advanced then I can see: No partition available
=> if I select EFI GPT and then advanced then I can see: No partition available
=> if I select Humax and then advanced then I can see: No partition available
=> if I select Sun and then advanced then I can see: No partition available
=> if I select XBox and then advanced then I can see: No partition available

so I went for "none" and then "advanced"

=> Here I can see:

Partition: P unknown
start: 0 0 1
End: 977 99 17
Size in sectors: 15701759


I stoped here...

Thanks again and looking forward for your suggestions.

Best Regards,

User avatar
Fiona
Posts: 2835
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 17:19
Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#4 Post by Fiona »

Only in rare cases it helped to use partition table type None.
If you select partition table type None and under Advanced your partition appears as Unknown, you can check Type and choose the appropriate file system.
But geometry and size is slightly different.
That's why it's recommended to use partition table type intel first.

Fiona

dummytransistor
Posts: 8
Joined: 01 Jul 2012, 23:10

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#5 Post by dummytransistor »

Hi Fiona,

if I select any of the other options I get: No Partition Available.

Only by selecting "none/advanced" I get:


Partition: P unknown
start: 0 0 1
End: 977 99 17
Size in sectors: 15701759

Well, here then I selected "type/fat32/boot/rebuild bs/"

=> can't see clusters

then I sarted again and did "type/fat32/boot/rebuild bs/"

=> see atached pictures and logs

Any suggestion about how to proceed?

Best Regards,
Attachments
ntfs screenshot
ntfs screenshot
ntfs.PNG (22.03 KiB) Viewed 14792 times
fat32 screenshot
fat32 screenshot
fat32.PNG (12.88 KiB) Viewed 14792 times

dummytransistor
Posts: 8
Joined: 01 Jul 2012, 23:10

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#6 Post by dummytransistor »

fat32 log




Thu Jul 5 21:28:56 2012
Command line: TestDisk

TestDisk 6.14-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, May 2012
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org
OS: Windows XP SP3
Compiler: GCC 4.6, Cygwin 1007.9
Compilation date: 2012-06-27T08:51:50
ext2fs lib: 1.42.2, ntfs lib: 10:0:0, reiserfs lib: 0.3.1-rc8, ewf lib: 20120504
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(/dev/sda)=160041885696
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(/dev/sdb)=8039300608
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive0)=160041885696
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive1)=8039300608
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\C:)=85904792064
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\D:)=66739921920
filewin32_getfilesize(\\.\E:) GetFileSize err Unzulässige Funktion.

filewin32_setfilepointer(\\.\E:) SetFilePointer err Unzulässige Funktion.

Warning: can't get size for \\.\E:
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\F:)=8039300608
Hard disk list
Disk /dev/sda - 160 GB / 149 GiB - CHS 19457 255 63, sector size=512 - ST916031 4AS, S/N:V54CAEHL, FW:0002
Disk /dev/sdb - 8039 MB / 7666 MiB - CHS 977 255 63, sector size=512 - SanDisk Cruzer, FW:7.01

Partition table type default to Intel
Disk /dev/sdb - 8039 MB / 7666 MiB - SanDisk Cruzer
Partition table type: None

Interface Advanced
P Unknown 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Change partition type:
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759

fat32_boot_sector
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Boot sector
Bad

Backup boot sector
Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid FAT Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
rebuild_FAT_BS p_fat12 0, p_fat16 0, p_fat32 1
fat_find_type(max_offset=122733, p_fat12=0, p_fat16=0, p_fat32=1, debug=1, dump_ind=0)
No FAT found, reserved=0, fat_length=0
find_sectors_per_cluster skip_sectors=718 (skip_offset=367616)
Can't find cluster size

fat32_boot_sector
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Boot sector
Bad

Backup boot sector
Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid FAT Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

dummytransistor
Posts: 8
Joined: 01 Jul 2012, 23:10

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#7 Post by dummytransistor »

ntfs log






Thu Jul 5 21:28:56 2012
Command line: TestDisk

TestDisk 6.14-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, May 2012
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org
OS: Windows XP SP3
Compiler: GCC 4.6, Cygwin 1007.9
Compilation date: 2012-06-27T08:51:50
ext2fs lib: 1.42.2, ntfs lib: 10:0:0, reiserfs lib: 0.3.1-rc8, ewf lib: 20120504
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(/dev/sda)=160041885696
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(/dev/sdb)=8039300608
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive0)=160041885696
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive1)=8039300608
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\C:)=85904792064
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\D:)=66739921920
filewin32_getfilesize(\\.\E:) GetFileSize err Unzulässige Funktion.

filewin32_setfilepointer(\\.\E:) SetFilePointer err Unzulässige Funktion.

Warning: can't get size for \\.\E:
disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\F:)=8039300608
Hard disk list
Disk /dev/sda - 160 GB / 149 GiB - CHS 19457 255 63, sector size=512 - ST916031 4AS, S/N:V54CAEHL, FW:0002
Disk /dev/sdb - 8039 MB / 7666 MiB - CHS 977 255 63, sector size=512 - SanDisk Cruzer, FW:7.01

Partition table type default to Intel
Disk /dev/sdb - 8039 MB / 7666 MiB - SanDisk Cruzer
Partition table type: None

Interface Advanced
P Unknown 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Change partition type:
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759

fat32_boot_sector
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Boot sector
Bad

Backup boot sector
Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid FAT Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
rebuild_FAT_BS p_fat12 0, p_fat16 0, p_fat32 1
fat_find_type(max_offset=122733, p_fat12=0, p_fat16=0, p_fat32=1, debug=1, dump_ind=0)
No FAT found, reserved=0, fat_length=0
find_sectors_per_cluster skip_sectors=718 (skip_offset=367616)
Can't find cluster size

fat32_boot_sector
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Boot sector
Bad

Backup boot sector
Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid FAT Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
rebuild_FAT_BS p_fat12 0, p_fat16 0, p_fat32 1
fat_find_type(max_offset=122733, p_fat12=0, p_fat16=0, p_fat32=1, debug=1, dump_ind=0)
No FAT found, reserved=0, fat_length=0
find_sectors_per_cluster skip_sectors=718 (skip_offset=367616)
Can't find cluster size

fat32_boot_sector
P FAT32 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Boot sector
Bad

Backup boot sector
Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid FAT Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.
Partition table type default to Intel
Disk /dev/sdb - 8039 MB / 7666 MiB - SanDisk Cruzer
Partition table type: None

Interface Advanced
P Unknown 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
Change partition type:
P NTFS 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759

ntfs_boot_sector
P NTFS 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
filesystem size 1
sectors_per_cluster 0
mft_lcn 0
mftmirr_lcn 0
clusters_per_mft_record 0
clusters_per_index_record 0
Boot sector
Status: Bad

Backup boot sector
Status: Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.
rebuild_NTFS_BS
Search mft stopped: 65536/15701759
Failed to rebuild NTFS boot sector.

ntfs_boot_sector
P NTFS 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
filesystem size 1
sectors_per_cluster 0
mft_lcn 0
mftmirr_lcn 0
clusters_per_mft_record 0
clusters_per_index_record 0
Boot sector
Status: Bad

Backup boot sector
Status: Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

ntfs_boot_sector
P NTFS 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
filesystem size 1
sectors_per_cluster 0
mft_lcn 0
mftmirr_lcn 0
clusters_per_mft_record 0
clusters_per_index_record 0
Boot sector
Status: Bad

Backup boot sector
Status: Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.
rebuild_NTFS_BS
file_pread(5,1,buffer,15701759(977/99/18)) ReadFile Die Anforderung konnte wegen eines E/A-Gerätefehlers nicht ausgeführt werden.

Failed to rebuild NTFS boot sector.

ntfs_boot_sector
P NTFS 0 0 1 977 99 17 15701759
filesystem size 1
sectors_per_cluster 0
mft_lcn 0
mftmirr_lcn 0
clusters_per_mft_record 0
clusters_per_index_record 0
Boot sector
Status: Bad

Backup boot sector
Status: Bad

Sectors are identical.

A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

User avatar
Fiona
Posts: 2835
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 17:19
Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#8 Post by Fiona »

Normally USB thumbs are not intended for creating partitions.
It's not a HDD.
But despite that, would it be possible to run Deeper Search?
Run it on both, on partition table type intel and None.
Please let me know if a partition would be found.
If a partition is found, please have a try to list your data by pressing p.

Fiona

dummytransistor
Posts: 8
Joined: 01 Jul 2012, 23:10

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#9 Post by dummytransistor »

Hi fiona,

I will follow your suggestions. But before that I need to clarify that it is only a normal usb device which I use to save and transfer data from a PC to another, it's not a HDD.

The problem is that it has not being synchronized for a while and at the moment many important data is only available in the usb, but for some reason I can not explore the device.


best regards,

User avatar
Fiona
Posts: 2835
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 17:19
Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: usb: the device is not formated, do you want to format i

#10 Post by Fiona »

But before that I need to clarify that it is only a normal usb device which I use to save and transfer data from a PC to another, it's not a HDD.
My comment has been, that windows often doesn't allow to partition an usb thumb/drive.
It's not intended.
Only formatting what you shouldn't do!
Please run Deeper Search again using partition table type None.
It might be possible that partition table type None finds more.
If a partition would be found containing your data, you should copy them to another intact disk/partition.
If nothing would be found you can try PhotoRec.
Then it might be possible to create an intel partition using TestDisk on your thumb drive.
It would make your USB thumb useable again.
To format your thumb drive, hp usb mass storage tool was often helpful too.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/f ... ption.html

Fiona

Locked