[joe150]

I was using the program PEtoUSB to format my new 8GB USB drive so I can put a bootable XP installation on it, anyway, the program could not format this into FAT16 because 8GB is too much (now I know...)
But after I quit the program, now the USB drive is not detectable anymore, none of my 4 computers could see it, I tried it with Win 7 Win XP and Linux.

People told me to go to Disk Manager but it does not show up there either. The only place I can see it is under Device Manager under Disk Drives > USB Drive, however I cannot format it from there. It says "The Device is Working Properly" lol

I just need a way of getting this formatted back, and I'm out of ideas. Also it is werid because if I try to turn on the computer with this in the USB port it will get stuck under the "Starting Windows" screen, and I have to pull it out to continue.

Can anyone help me or is this garbage?

[jaclaz]

joe150, on Sep 16 2009, 09:43 PM, said:

Can anyone help me or is this garbage?

No, rest assured, it should be perfectly recoverable, point is whether it will be easy or difficult.

First thing you should find out whether it is seen as \\.\Physicaldrive

Easiest way would be to download this HDhacker:
http://dimio.altervi.../eng/index.html

Run it WITHOUT the USB stick inserted and take note of which PhysicalDrive it can see.

Then insert the USB stick and re-run HDhacker, see if you have an additional PhysicalDrive listed.

Then try running ChipGenius:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=4661
http://www.mydigit.cn/chipgenius.htm

And see what data it can find.

Post results of both.

jaclaz

P.S.: Be warned that it is also possible that the stick simply "died" of it's own, PEtoUSB (or any other software utility) cannot by itself render a device useless/unrecoverable (while it may make it not detectable by Windows), only a wrong firmware setting may

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 16 September 2009 - 02:06 PM

[joe150]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions.

When I run HDhacker, it displays the same results with and without the USB drive connected. This is what I see:



But when I use ChipGeniuis, I get different results when I plug in the USB drive. When I plug it in, it says "Changes Detected" in blue, then it refreshes the results. Here is what I see:

No USB:


And with USB connected:


Now what do I need to do from here?

P.S. When I plug the USB out, ChipGenius says "Changes Detected: Drive [F:] Removed". When the USB was working, it was assigned letter [F:]. I don't know if this helps. Thanks for the help!

This post has been edited by joe150: 16 September 2009 - 03:29 PM

[jaclaz]

If ChipGenius detects it it means that the drive is working (or at least is working enough to be detected). (good news )

It's an USBEST UT165.

I am not yet convinced of the HDhacker report.

With hdhacker you should check if the dropbox near "Physical Drive (MBR)", which opens by default on your foirst hard disk (physical drive 0), when clicked over shows an added entry after the USB is connected. (if you have only one harddisk, you should have just 0 when no USB is attached and 0 and 1 when it is, and so on)

Please check again.

Now, if the usb stick remains "missing", there are two possible causes of the problem:

• something in the Registry has gone beserk
  
• something in the stick has gone beserk

(or both)

Since you tested on several machines and with different OS, I think that the Registry corruption is unlikely, but since it is much safer than the alternative, do check with this:
http://www.nirsoft.n...vices_view.html
and try cleaning the Registry with this:
http://www.nirsoft.n...n_after_me.html

We'll talk later of the alternative (using the Manufacturer's Tool to reset the stick, in the meantime start reading here:
http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/2008/12/...ucceed/#more-32
and follow the instructions to find and get an appropriate tool, BUT:
DO NOT use any tool until we are certain there is no other way!

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 16 September 2009 - 05:02 PM

[joe150]

Okay maybe I'm not using HDhacker right, I get 9 numbers on the drop-down box with and without the USB plugged in:

With USB:


And with the USB inside:



I also tried the USBDview program and it recognizes it as well. When the USB is in, it says "Connected: Yes". Also it assigns letter "F:" as before.



Unfortunately there is no "Format" option in this program, which is what I need. If there could be a program like this where it would recognize the USB device and format it, I think that would fix it.

Also I have cleaned the registry, my keyboard and mouse stopped working for a while but now they are okay. Still, the USB device is not changed.
I think I'm ready for the next step, even if it is a risk. Right now the 8GB drive is broken so I might as well try anything.

This post has been edited by joe150: 16 September 2009 - 05:42 PM

[jaclaz]

Hmmm.

What if you try clicking on each of the 1 to 9 values? (selecting them one by one)

However, let's try another way.

Please try again with Beeblebrox:
http://students.cs.byu.edu/~codyb/

same thing with the drop down box "Physical Disk 0"


jaclaz

[joe150]

If I try to click on the numbers 1-8 in HDhacker then re-run the program by clicking "Read Sector from Disk" then I get nothing back (just white space), doesn't matter if I have the USB in or out. It only works for the number "0" and I get the screen I posted earlier.

I tried to run the Beeblebrox program ( .bat file) but my computer cannot run it, it opens a DOS-type window then closes it in about 1/10th of a second (too fast, I cannot read what it says). I tried running in compatibility mode and "run as administrator" and still did not work (same thing happened).

Why is it important to see what this says? If HDhacker cannot see it, then it means that the USB device is not recognized as a drive. I am thinking that the software arrangement on the drive got screwed up when PEtoUSB tried to format it, so now the computer is confused when it tires to read it.

[jaclaz]

joe150, on Sep 17 2009, 03:17 AM, said:

If I try to click on the numbers 1-8 in HDhacker then re-run the program by clicking "Read Sector from Disk" then I get nothing back (just white space), doesn't matter if I have the USB in or out. It only works for the number "0" and I get the screen I posted earlier.

Just wanted to make sure.

joe150, on Sep 17 2009, 03:17 AM, said:

I tried to run the Beeblebrox program ( .bat file) but my computer cannot run it, it opens a DOS-type window then closes it in about 1/10th of a second (too fast, I cannot read what it says). I tried running in compatibility mode and "run as administrator" and still did not work (same thing happened).

Which .bat file?
There is a .zip file to be downloaded:
http://students.cs.b...broxntsetup.zip that you unzip somewhere and then run SETUP.EXE to install the soft.

joe150, on Sep 17 2009, 03:17 AM, said:

Why is it important to see what this says? If HDhacker cannot see it, then it means that the USB device is not recognized as a drive. I am thinking that the software arrangement on the drive got screwed up when PEtoUSB tried to format it, so now the computer is confused when it tires to read it.

It is important because there are different methods to (hopefully) fix different failures.

Let's put it this way:
in your home a side wall at the second floor level has a hairline crack:
are you gonna put some plaster on it or demolish the house and rebuild it from its foundations in order to fix it?

What do you mean by software arrangement?
Is/was it a U3 kind of drive?
U3 drives have two "partitions" (actually two devices with different LUNs), one which is a CD-ROM drive and one which is a "normal" disk.

Check this:
http://www.msfn.org/board/install-xp-boota...38.html&hl=

The "standard" utility instructions should be these:
http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...4nRuQR2bjhkEhcQ

though maybe this other is easier:
http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...Vl9FKaB1tvwUEDQ

If the thingy is/was an U3, you might need this other one:
http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...ozKMdWNhKzr58hA

I would first thing try this one:
http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...p22iKQPu3C12IYw

and before anything else, try only reading the info of the device with this:
http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...GvrpsW_HBgC4gUg

You must understand that any of the above (exception made for the very last tool that is an "information only" one) are DANGEROUS, as they can potentially put the device in an actually unrecoverable state (with same utility, the "actual" "Manufacturer Tool should always be able to start again from scratch).
BEFORE using any of them, take your time reading the (scarce) info available, try googling to see if you can find anything about the settings that your particular make/model USB stick had been set to.

In any case read the manual for the MP tool:
http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...8XFgqchNZRyxMow

You must be sure of what you are doing, when you actually run the utility.

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 17 September 2009 - 02:31 AM

[joe150]

Okay the problem was that Firefox would not download the Beeblebrox program, it would get stuck at 55%. So what I did was searched for it on Google, then went to archive.org to get a copy which did not work. But now I tried that link you have me in IE 8 and it worked. There is no new entries in the drop-down if I insert the USB drive, nothing changes the screen just looks like this:



This particular device is just an ordinary pen drive, no partitions or anything like that.

Chipgenius says the drive is UT165 but when I try to utilities I get error messages: "Could not find device" or "Device is not plugged in". This happens with "Super Stick Recovery Tool" and "UT165_UFDUtility".

I installed the UT165MP program and I read through the manual, but I dont know what to do. Seems complicated to me. What can I do next?

Also, how do you know about all these programs? Have you used them before or did you find them with google? I tried to look for recovery utilities before and I have found nothing.

[jaclaz]

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 07:13 AM, said:

This particular device is just an ordinary pen drive, no partitions or anything like that.

OK , I thought that by "software arrangement" you meant that some software was actually installed on the drive (which made me think at an U3 stick, or however to a CD+HD device, since the UT165 has this feature):

Quote

I am thinking that the software arrangement on the drive got screwed up when PEtoUSB tried to format it, so now the computer is confused when it tires to read it.

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 07:13 AM, said:

Chipgenius says the drive is UT165 but when I try to utilities I get error messages: "Could not find device" or "Device is not plugged in". This happens with "Super Stick Recovery Tool" and "UT165_UFDUtility".

Since I don't think that both ChipGenius and USBdeview "invent" by thenmselves the data they show, I presume that some functionalities of the stick are still present, and that the stick is actually a UT165 device with VID 046D and PID C016.

It is possible that the utilities have "embedded" anothe PID or VID, and thus cannot recognize your stick.

Also are you running Vista?

There may be problems in running this kind of utilities under Vista, for this particular scope a XP is more advisable.

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 07:13 AM, said:

I installed the UT165MP program and I read through the manual, but I dont know what to do. Seems complicated to me. What can I do next?

Usually manufacturer tools have a "side app" capable of changing the VID and PID to any number you choose. (including the ones that may make the device be recognized by the above mentioned "simpler" programs.

Without going into too much details "simpler" utilities use the "simple" "standard" USB drivers, whilst Manufacturer Tools normally use a "special" driver to communicate with the device.

Also, from the USBdeview screenshot you posted, I see that you have several "other" USB devices connected, it is possible that the above programs get confused by them.

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 07:13 AM, said:

Also, how do you know about all these programs? Have you used them before or did you find them with google? I tried to look for recovery utilities before and I have found nothing.

I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you afterwards.

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 07:13 AM, said:

Have you used them before or did you find them with google?

Yes and yes, though the first yes means that I am familiar with the concept of Flash sticks and Manufacturer Tolos, but not necessarily with this specific make (USBest) and model (UT165).

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 07:13 AM, said:

I tried to look for recovery utilities before and I have found nothing.

Look at the left of any of your posts, take note of the number of posts you made and how long have you been a member here.
Look at the left of any of my posts and take note of the same data.
Compare them.

Check the "title" I have on another board:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=8710&st=4

Draw your conclusions on the reasons why I can find something you cannot....

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 18 September 2009 - 09:42 AM

[joe150]

Okay I tried all those utilities under Windows XP and the same error message came up: "Device was not found". Also I tried to plug in a couple of other (working) USB drives and still the same message. There could be a problem with the utility. I"m running Windows 7 Build 7201, not Vista. Also it is 32-bit.

I've always had a feeling that these problems are best resolved outside Windows, I remember having a problem once with partitioning a drive, Windows could not do it so I had to get a program G-parted and run it from a CD before windows started. I think these DOS-like environments are much better, that's just how I'm feeling right now.

Maybe I can get one of these programs that could see the drive I plug into the USB and just format it, then I think it will work? Do you know any programs like that? I'm not saying G-parted specifically, maybe a similar program that you think could identify my USB drive at least enough to format it. As you have proven my Finding skills aren't Pro, that's why I'm asking.

[jaclaz]

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 08:59 PM, said:

Okay I tried all those utilities under Windows XP and the same error message came up: "Device was not found". Also I tried to plug in a couple of other (working) USB drives and still the same message. There could be a problem with the utility. I"m running Windows 7 Build 7201, not Vista. Also it is 32-bit.

ALL of them, including the MP tool?

That is AFAIK, last possible chance, as it's "special drivers" are capable of accessing the device at a "lower level" then "standard" USBstor ones.

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 08:59 PM, said:

I've always had a feeling that these problems are best resolved outside Windows, I remember having a problem once with partitioning a drive, Windows could not do it so I had to get a program G-parted and run it from a CD before windows started. I think these DOS-like environments are much better, that's just how I'm feeling right now.

True, but not specifically in this case, unless some of the good Linux guys has written a specific driver/app (possible, but I don't know any of them)

joe150, on Sep 18 2009, 08:59 PM, said:

Maybe I can get one of these programs that could see the drive I plug into the USB and just format it, then I think it will work? Do you know any programs like that? I'm not saying G-parted specifically, maybe a similar program that you think could identify my USB drive at least enough to format it. As you have proven my Finding skills aren't Pro, that's why I'm asking.

No, "normal" programs cannot work.
They need a "target" to partition, if the device is not seen by windows as \\.\PhysicalDriven or under linux as /sd<something>, there is NO way they can work.

You need a lower level kind of app, something that provides it's own USB drivers or somehow accesses the port directly.

I am out of ideas, right now.

You are in a situation very near to the "fakesize" problem on cheap sticks, try browsing here:
http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/

they also put in nice words what I am trying to tell you:

Quote

To repair counterfeit (fake) flash drives you need the VID and the PID for a flash drive. This will help you determine the software tool required to perform a low level reformatting (commonly known as reflashing). Reformatting in an operating system is “high level” and can not repair the drive. The controller on the flash drive has been reprogrammed to lie – this is why you normally need a special software tool. They exist and are available, but you need to know which one you must use for your drive.

jaclaz

[joe150]

The MP tool, this one

http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...8XFgqchNZRyxMow

seems to work fine, I think it does detect when I plug in the USB drive with HubScan.

The problem is that I don't know what to do with the program, I need to find a tutorial somewhere. The manual doesn't say what to input before clicking "Start".

[jaclaz]

joe150, on Sep 19 2009, 08:04 PM, said:

seems to work fine, I think it does detect when I plug in the USB drive with HubScan.

Q.E.D.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q.E.D.

joe150, on Sep 19 2009, 08:04 PM, said:

The problem is that I don't know what to do with the program, I need to find a tutorial somewhere. The manual doesn't say what to input before clicking "Start".

For the moment just post a screenshot of it, taken after having done the following:
F1->Select Device->OK (see pages 9 and 10 of manual ) ->screenshot (same image as in chapter 7. of the manual)
Parameter Input ->screenshot -> (same image as in chapter 8. of the manual)
Partition Setting ->screenshot -> (same image as in chapter 9. of the manual)

jaclaz

[joe150]

Ok is this what you are looking for?







http://img62.imagesh...p?g=mptool1.jpg

This post has been edited by joe150: 20 September 2009 - 08:34 PM

[jaclaz]

The info shown seems allright.

Next step would be going on each of the three tabs above and press OK and then Save As (to have a backup just in case).
You will be prompted for a file where to save the settings.

Then what you have to do is go back on the "main" interface and press F10 (quicktest)

See if it returns any error.

If no error is returned, CROSS YOUR FINGERS and press SPACE bar (you might appreciate the fact that they used the Space bar, in order to press it easily with crossed fingers )

Wait.

See if any error is returned.

Close the app.

Eject the key and test it on another PC for the moment.

jaclaz

[joe150]

nah, nothing happened. I think this is why:



in the manual there was some info on the "Port 1" line, I just get a blank spot.

[jaclaz]

joe150, on Sep 21 2009, 09:21 PM, said:

nah, nothing happened. I think this is why:
...
in the manual there was some info on the "Port 1" line, I just get a blank spot.

Well, you posted that the device was detected:

joe150, on Sep 19 2009, 08:04 PM, said:

The MP tool, this one

http://209.85.135.132/translate_c?hl=en&am...8XFgqchNZRyxMow

seems to work fine, I think it does detect when I plug in the USB drive with HubScan.

The problem is that I don't know what to do with the program, I need to find a tutorial somewhere. The manual doesn't say what to input before clicking "Start".

We are back to square #1.

Try reading page 6 and 7 of the manual.
Check them, again and again, there are PICTURES of what you should do and see.
Is what happens on your PC different from what is described there?


Also, wait a minute, what do you mean by "hubscan"?
DO NOT use any USB hub, insert directly the device to a USB port (one of those at the back of your computer, not one of those in the front - if you hav them)

jaclaz

[joe150]

oh shoot, i was using the front USB. Yes the HUBscan program worked so I thought thats what I needed to do. I'll try right now.

edit: Nah, the program just does not want to see my flash drive. I dont know why, USBDveiw and Chipgenius can see it fine. Also Device Manager sees it, I dont know why this program will not.

The HUBscan utility can see there is something plugged in, but the program just won't show anything like on page 8 of the manual. This is weird.

edit 2: OOOOOO hold up. I tried this on another computer with XP and it worked. I can see the device, it even recognized it as 8GB. But instead of the USB icon there was a ? icon. I clicked start and it is doing something, the computer is really old and slow so I have to wait... I hope it works.

edit 3: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Dude, you are PRO! Do you have a Ph.D?
Also, is it supposed to be 7.25GB free? I don't remember how it was before. And is it better to keep it as FAT32 or switch to NTFS?

[dencorso]

joe150, on Sep 21 2009, 05:18 PM, said:

Dude, you are PRO! Do you have a Ph.D?

Are you kidding? He's far beyond all that! He's The Finder *and* The Lord of IPL and Booting Matters!

joe150, on Sep 21 2009, 05:18 PM, said:

And is it better to keep it as FAT32 or switch to NTFS?

FAT32. NTFS is a no-no.