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Thread: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
    Beans
    7

    I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    The USB 16 GB drive was infected with some Windows virus, I didn't want to plug it in, so I decided to
    install Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on my other computer and then I've formatted that same USB drive using Linux terminal commands (I don't remember which one).
    I've chosen quick formatting and in that moment I wasn't aware if selected file system was ext4 or ext3 or something else.
    Because of that file system the USB drive is unusable in Windows machines, so in the future I'm only going to use it in Linux environment.


    But the main problem is that today that same usb drive is unrecognized when plugged in Linux Ubuntu? I've tried to search for it using commands but I can't find it.
    In addition to that, I've also tried to check the situation using Windows machine, it seems that Windows recognizes that usb device has been plugged in, but when I click on it it's greyed out,
    it can't be formatted etc.

    Is there any chance that this USB drive will ever be usable again? I don't mind losing all the data, I want to format it in Linux or Windows but I can't find the way to do it?

    I've tried
    Code:
    df -h
    command and
    Code:
    gparted
    but with no success ...

    https://postimg.cc/vgHVyxDZ
    https://postimg.cc/D4S4JVrV
    https://postimg.cc/fJ00MNWm
    https://postimg.cc/DW5Sxf5k
    https://postimg.cc/LhJJVp1w
    https://postimg.cc/R6yVYWH8


    Last edited by saddie2; March 25th, 2023 at 11:37 PM. Reason: images

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
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    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    Links to images shown
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    Last edited by ajgreeny; March 26th, 2023 at 12:21 PM. Reason: Large images removed.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2022
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    Hidden!
    Distro
    Lubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    Is this some virtual machine setup? It looks strange.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
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    7

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    Yes it is virtual machine because I thought my USB port is not functioning, but now I'm sure that USB port is working 100% fine with other USB flash drives that I just got for testing purposes.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
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    1

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    Hmm, have you tried gnome disks?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
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    7

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!



    When I click on three dots, all options are greyed out, it only allows "Power Off"?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Beans
    4,058
    Distro
    Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    Quote Originally Posted by saddie2 View Post
    Is there any chance that this USB drive will ever be usable again? I don't mind losing all the data, I want to format it in Linux or Windows but I can't find the way to do it?
    Open Gparted
    Insert the disk
    Gparted > Refresh Devices
    Select your target device
    Device > Create Partition Table > msdos or gpt (user choice)

    If that is successful, then you can create partition(s).
    Last edited by tea for one; March 26th, 2023 at 01:00 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
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    7

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    Quote Originally Posted by tea for one View Post
    Open Gparted
    Insert the disk
    Gparted > Refresh Devices
    Select your target device
    Device > Create Partition Table > msdos or gpt (user choice)

    If that is successful, then you can create partition(s).

    Inside Gparted I've refreshed devices, but nothing changes, it doesn't want to show it in Gparted,
    I've tried multiple times, it only shows /dev/sda (60.00 GiB).
    At the same time in Gnome disks, it shows his name USB DISK 2.0 and the device name is /dev/sdb
    (see the screenshot)

    When I click on three dots (in Gnome disks), all options are greyed out, it only allows "Power Off" (like in the post #6)?

    Last edited by saddie2; March 26th, 2023 at 01:21 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Beans
    2,627

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    The first step should be finding out if it's found on the USB when connected. Use the 'lsusb' command for that, once before connecting the drive and a second time a few seconds after connecting it. 'lsusb' shows all the connected devices, so comparing the output of the two runs should tell you whether the drive is seen. If the drive is visible in 'lsusb' but isn't mounted automatically and can't be seen in Gnome disk or gparted or 'sudo parted -l' / 'sudo fdisk -l' or 'lsblk', then running 'journalctl -b 0' or 'sudo dmesg' and looking at the contents of the file /var/log/syslog might tell you something about the problem.

    Holger

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    /dev/root
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    Hidden!

    Re: I accidentally messed up USB drive in Linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!

    You can analyze the problem according to this link and if you are lucky, find a solution.

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