how to format an mp3 player thumbdrive?

[Didier Casse]

A friend gave me his usb mp3 thumbdrive and when I ran my "hwbrowser", I
saw a /dev/sda alone with no partitions having been created.

These are some of the things I tried:

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(root at microtronyx:root)# cat  /proc/scsi/scsi

Attached devices:
Host: scsi1 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
  Vendor: CREATIVE Model: MuVo TX FM       Rev: 0001
  Type:   Direct-Access                    ANSI SCSI revision: 02


(root at microtronyx:root)# cat /var/log/messages

[snip]
Sep 27 14:07:29 nusnet-142-106 kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sda,
logical block 11
Sep 27 14:07:29 nusnet-142-106 kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sda,
logical block 12
Sep 27 14:07:29 nusnet-142-106 kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sda,
logical block 13
Sep 27 14:07:29 nusnet-142-106 kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sda,
logical block 14
Sep 27 14:07:29 nusnet-142-106 kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sda,
logical block 15


(root at microtronyx:root)# fdisk /dev/sda

Unable to read /dev/sda

(root at microtronyx:root)# mkfs.vfat /dev/sda

mkfs.vfat 2.8 (28 Feb 2001)
mkfs.vfat: Will not try to make filesystem on '/dev/sda'

(root at microtronyx:root)# mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda 1440

mkfs.vfat 2.8 (28 Feb 2001)
Warning: block count mismatch: found 0 but assuming 1440.
mkfs.vfat: Will not try to make filesystem on '/dev/sda'

(root at microtronyx:root)# /sbin/mke2fs /dev/sda

mke2fs 1.35 (28-Feb-2004)
/dev/sda is entire device, not just one partition!
Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
Warning: could not erase sector 2: Attempt to write block from filesystem
resulted in short write
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
131072 inodes, 262144 blocks
13107 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
8 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
16384 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
        32768, 98304, 163840, 229376

Warning: could not read block 0: Attempt to read block from filesystem
resulted in short read
Warning: could not erase sector 0: Attempt to write block from filesystem
resulted in short write
Writing inode tables: done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information:
Warning, had trouble writing out superblocks.done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 25 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first.  Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.

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Shucks! Everything was hopeless. I can't get a decent format on that thing?
Any suggestions anybody? Thanks for helping out.


With kind regards,
Didier.

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Didier F.B Casse | PhD student | Singapore Synchrotron light Source (SSLS)
Email: didierbe AT sps dot nus dot sg | Web: http://ssls.nus.edu.sg
GPG Key 1024D/B3C57D01 2004-06-23