Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive


  1. zbook
    Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #1

    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive


    A 64 GB flash dive displayed RAW.



    Code:
    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> chkdsk /r /v d:
The type of the file system is RAW.
CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.


    Code:
    DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          238 GB  1024 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online           64 MB      0 B
  Disk 2    Online           29 GB      0 B

DISKPART> lis vol

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     C                NTFS   Partition    237 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 1                      FAT32  Partition    100 MB  Healthy    System
  Volume 2     D                RAW    Removable     64 MB  Healthy
  Volume 3     F                FAT32  Removable     29 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

SanDisk Firebird USB Device
Disk ID: 00000001
Type   : USB
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 2     D                RAW    Removable     64 MB  Healthy

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
* Partition 1    Primary             64 MB      0 B

DISKPART> sel par 1

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART>



    Mini tool partition wizard pro 11.5 didn't find a partition and displayed please try data recovery.
    Data recovery displayed: failed to find any file system information.

    Testdisk displayed:

    Code:
    TestDisk 7.2-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, September 2020

Disk /dev/sdb - 67 MB / 64 MiB - CHS 8 255 63
Current partition structure:
     Partition                  Start        End    Size in sectors
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        *=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
>[Quick Search]
                            Try to locate partition

    Does it appear that these tools were used properly?

    So no partition and no data to recover?
    Last edited by zbook; 09 Oct 2020 at 10:18.
      My Computer
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  3. jumanji
    Posts : 11,628
    Windows11 Home 64bit v:23H2 b:22631.3374
       New #2

    The fact that you tried to run checkdisk on D: indicates the presence of a volume. So I presume the partition exists.

    Please post a screenshot of Windows Disk Management and Partition Wizard with only your 64GB flash drive plugged in.

    From your Diskpart code, I have come to know that it is a SanDisk Firebird. I would like to know the file system that was present. FAT32/NTFS/ exFAT ? Whatever the drive shows as 64MB and not 64GB. Is it dead????

    You attempted Partition Recovery. Please show me the screen after it completed the scan - the Partitions Found Window.

    Run GetdataBack Pro free version and scan your Flashdrive. Data Recovery Software Products - Runtime Software Products Does it show your folders and files?

    If a partition is present and the drive is RAW, we assume a file system corruption and try to repair it with TestDisk. We use [Advanced] - File System Utilities to check Volume Boot Sector and MFT to correct if possible.
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  4. zbook
    Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    It was FAT32.


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-disk-managemet-65-gb-flash-drive-10-09-2020.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-mini-tool-64-gb-flash-drive-part-1-10-09-2020.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-mini-tool-64-gb-flash-drive-part-2-10-09-2020.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-mini-tool-64-gb-flash-drive-part-3-10-09-2020.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-test-disk-64-gb-flash-drive-10-9-2020.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-getdataback-64-gb-flash-drive-10-9-2020.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-test-disk-64-gb-flash-drive-part-2-10-9-2020.png
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. Megahertz
    Posts : 6,361
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP - Lubuntu
       New #4

    Let's see what jumanji think about.

    For me it seems it is dead.
      My Computers
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  7. jumanji
    Posts : 11,628
    Windows11 Home 64bit v:23H2 b:22631.3374
       New #5

    @zbook, it is dead.

    We had another thread wherein the OP reported that his HDD became unallocated. When a volume is unallocated we always assume that it is a lost partition. But Partition Recovery Wizard found only the 128MB MSR partition. No main Partition was found. GetdataBack showed data present. OP was asked to run Active@ File Recovery and it brought out the HDD with many bad sectors. TestDisk also showed only the MSR Partition and no main partition to check on the file system. No partition - No file system. . He can still recover some data which is not in bad sectors using the commercial software.

    .Here since D: was there I thought a partition should exist. But it doesn't. With every data recovery job, I am getting wiser..
    Last edited by jumanji; 09 Oct 2020 at 12:23.
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  8. zbook
    Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    The drive didn't get much use.

    These confirm that the flash drive is dead:

    Code:
    Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.1282]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.17763.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: DESKTOP-9HEBUKS

DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          238 GB  1024 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online           64 MB      0 B

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

SanDisk Firebird USB Device
Disk ID: 00000001
Type   : USB
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 2     D                RAW    Removable     64 MB  Healthy

DISKPART> clean

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

DISKPART> convert mbr

Virtual Disk Service error:
The specified disk is not convertible because the size is less than
the minimum size required for GPT disks.


DISKPART> create part pri

No usable free extent could be found. It may be that there is insufficient
free space to create a partition at the specified size and offset. Specify
different size and offset values or don't specify either to create the
maximum sized partition. It may be that the disk is partitioned using the MBR disk
partitioning format and the disk contains either 4 primary partitions, (no
more partitions may be created), or 3 primary partitions and one extended
partition, (only logical drives may be created).

DISKPART> clean all

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

DISKPART> create part pri

No usable free extent could be found. It may be that there is insufficient
free space to create a partition at the specified size and offset. Specify
different size and offset values or don't specify either to create the
maximum sized partition. It may be that the disk is partitioned using the MBR disk
partitioning format and the disk contains either 4 primary partitions, (no
more partitions may be created), or 3 primary partitions and one extended
partition, (only logical drives may be created).

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.17763.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: DESKTOP-9HEBUKS

DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          238 GB  1024 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online           64 MB      0 B

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

SanDisk Firebird USB Device
Disk ID: 00000001
Type   : USB
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 2     D                RAW    Removable     64 MB  Healthy

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\WINDOWS\system32>




    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-flash-drive-64-gb-attempted-creation-windows-10-iso-10-9-2020-displaying-we-cant-find-usb-fla.png



    These were additional testing software that confirmed flash drive failure:
    5 Free Tools to Check and Test USB Flash Drives • Raymond.CC
    Last edited by zbook; 09 Oct 2020 at 13:50.
      My Computer
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  9. zbook
    Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    How can this be explained?

    Moved the flash drive to another computer.
    It displayed files on the flash drive.
    It looked like windows 10 iso files.
    Attempted to perform an in place upgrade repair.
    The attempt worked displaying an expected failure message.

    This is an image of file explorer:

    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-flash-drive-64-gb-windows-explorer-10-9-2020.png



    Code:
    Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.1282]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.17763.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: DESKTOP-9HEBUKS

DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          238 GB  1024 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online           58 GB    26 GB

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

SanDisk Cruzer Glide USB Device
Disk ID: 2E2B553C
Type   : USB
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 2     E   ESD-USB      FAT32  Removable     32 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Primary             32 GB  1024 KB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 1
Type  : 0C
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 2     E   ESD-USB      FAT32  Removable     32 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> lis vol

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     C                NTFS   Partition    237 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 1                      FAT32  Partition    100 MB  Healthy    System
* Volume 2     E   ESD-USB      FAT32  Removable     32 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\WINDOWS\system32>e:

E:\>dir
 Volume in drive E is ESD-USB
 Volume Serial Number is 1CA4-C3F8

 Directory of E:\

10/06/2019  10:03 PM               128 autorun.inf
11/27/2019  04:40 PM    <DIR>          boot
10/06/2019  09:13 PM           409,654 bootmgr
10/06/2019  10:03 PM         1,509,688 bootmgr.efi
11/27/2019  04:40 PM    <DIR>          efi
10/06/2019  10:03 PM            73,904 setup.exe
11/27/2019  04:40 PM    <DIR>          sources
11/27/2019  04:48 PM    <DIR>          support
               4 File(s)      1,993,374 bytes
               4 Dir(s)  30,056,611,840 bytes free

E:\>


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-disk-managemet-64-gb-flash-drive-10-09-2020-after-reattached-usb-port.png


    Troubleshooting a RAW flash drive-mini-tool-64-gb-flash-drive-part-4-10-09-2020-after-reattaching-usb-port.png




    See det dis

    Somehow the disk ID was different?

    The first displayed: Disk ID: 00000001

    After reinserting into the same USB port (no reboot): Disk ID: 2E2B553C


    So the USB initially was a misread?
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  10. jumanji
    Posts : 11,628
    Windows11 Home 64bit v:23H2 b:22631.3374
       New #8

    These are all specific to how Windows 10 Installation USB is created. When you create a Windows 10 ISO installation USB on larger than 32GB, as you can see it creates an unallocated space beyond 32GB. My guess is that when you create a Windows 10 Installaion USB flash drive it can be used only on that specific PC on which it is created if you had ordered it to be that way creating an Installation USB specific to that OS present in that PC.. Use it on another PC, you get into all these misleading events where we conclude that the flash drive is dead especially when you forget that it is a Windows 10 Installation USB device.

    Now if you want to repurpose that USB Flash drive and use it as an ordinary flash drive, one has to completely wipe the drive using diskpart cleanall or any other third party tool and then format it.

    Whenever I create any bootable drive and later I want to use it as a general purpose flash drive, I always write zeros to all sectors using HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool HDDGURU: HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool and then do a regular quick format.

    Henceforth whenever OPs report problems with their flash drives, I will ask a specific question whether the OP used the flash drive to create any bootable drive. This becomes all the more pertinent with Windows 10.
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  12. zbook
    Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    When the flash drive was connected the orange light was frequently blinking.
    So something was happening.
    But all of the tests were indicating RAW, no partition, or no data.

    So I attempted to clean the drive which appeared to work.
    Creating a partition or formatting failed.

    The drive was removed from one computer and placed in another.
    It was a surprise to see data on the drive.
    I'd thought that there were many other files but none were seen.


    This was info about the iso:

    Code:
    Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.1282]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.17763.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: DESKTOP-9HEBUKS

DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          238 GB  1024 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online           58 GB    26 GB

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

SanDisk Cruzer Glide USB Device
Disk ID: 2E2B553C
Type   : USB
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 2     E   ESD-USB      FAT32  Removable     32 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Primary             32 GB  1024 KB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 1
Type  : 0C
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 2     E   ESD-USB      FAT32  Removable     32 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> lis vol

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     C                NTFS   Partition    237 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 1                      FAT32  Partition    100 MB  Healthy    System
* Volume 2     E   ESD-USB      FAT32  Removable     32 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\WINDOWS\system32>e:

E:\>dir
 Volume in drive E is ESD-USB
 Volume Serial Number is 1CA4-C3F8

 Directory of E:\

10/06/2019  10:03 PM               128 autorun.inf
11/27/2019  04:40 PM    <DIR>          boot
10/06/2019  09:13 PM           409,654 bootmgr
10/06/2019  10:03 PM         1,509,688 bootmgr.efi
11/27/2019  04:40 PM    <DIR>          efi
10/06/2019  10:03 PM            73,904 setup.exe
11/27/2019  04:40 PM    <DIR>          sources
11/27/2019  04:48 PM    <DIR>          support
               4 File(s)      1,993,374 bytes
               4 Dir(s)  30,056,611,840 bytes free

E:\>c:

C:\Windows\System32>dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:E:\sources\install.esd

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.17763.1282

Details for image : E:\sources\install.esd

Index : 1
Name : Windows 10 Home
Description : Windows 10 Home
Size : 14,513,453,277 bytes

Index : 2
Name : Windows 10 Home N
Description : Windows 10 Home N
Size : 13,698,165,844 bytes

Index : 3
Name : Windows 10 Home Single Language
Description : Windows 10 Home Single Language
Size : 14,495,067,516 bytes

Index : 4
Name : Windows 10 Education
Description : Windows 10 Education
Size : 14,780,689,298 bytes

Index : 5
Name : Windows 10 Education N
Description : Windows 10 Education N
Size : 13,967,235,459 bytes

Index : 6
Name : Windows 10 Pro
Description : Windows 10 Pro
Size : 14,782,181,615 bytes

Index : 7
Name : Windows 10 Pro N
Description : Windows 10 Pro N
Size : 13,968,715,159 bytes

The operation completed successfully.

C:\Windows\System32>

    On another computer I'm using the flash drive to boot Windows RE.

    Somehow the commands / software displayed unexpected results.
      My Computer
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