Linux broke two of my USBs. How do I fix them?

[Monkeyofdoom44]

I've been trying to experiment with Linux while I wait for my new computer to arrive but so far, I'm just frying USBs. The first I installed the pop-os iso onto then realized I did something wrong. I went to format the drive but... the drive wasn't being picked up. I then went into disk manager and wiped it clean thinking this would help. It didn't. Now I still can't format it. I've tried formatting every way possible from right clicking to cmd commands. Half of them pick up the drive but pop out some sort of error, the other half refuse to acknowledge it's existence. Sometimes it would show up but wouldn't even show it had the capability of storing data. One of the errors was along the lines of "install drive into usb F:" After realizing this was probably a lost cause, I wrote the usb off and ordered another one. This time, with the new usb, I managed to use a program to make the usb a bootable drive, with the pop-os iso. After much finagling in the bios I managed to launch into pop-os. The installer experienced an error... I don't remember what the error was but I "fixed" it by just using the demo mode. I then proceeded to try to change the desktop to KDE using terminal commands. It was gong well until it wasn't. Apparently, my drive was out of space. It's a 32gb drive so I doubt this is the case and search around for how to look at total space on a disk in gnome. I find that the disk manager, or whatever it was called and realize the demo version is limiting me to 2gb, no wonder I ran out of space... I then try to install it again, from within the demo version as there's a button to install it. It looks like it's going fine until I get to selecting the partitions. I use the custom option so I don't erase my computer's drive on accident. It won't let me select any of the partitions but the buttons are working. I select the partition manager and at this point some error happened that landed me on a black screen with a flashing underscore. I wait on this screen for several minutes without change, I then try practically every key on the keyboard, and after realizing nothing is happening I turn my computer off to retry. Upon going back into the boot selector and selecting my usb drive, apparently my drive is no longer a bootable drive. After anther restart and more bios kerfuffle I get back into windows and take a look at the drive. Show's it's blank again, not empty, blank. Just like the other usb, it doesn't even show a storage bar under it in the file manager. Try to format it like I did the other one, it too apparently needs to have a drive inserted. At this point I stop messing with it and come here as I clearly don't know what to do and don't want to break it further. Please... help...

[tux_peng]

I suggest you start over.  wipe your USB (minitool partion manager is a good one for windows, gparted is a good livecd too

Use etcher.io to burn your image

I recommend kubuntu, pclinuxos or opensuse leap

[moriel5]

What flash drives are these? Since what you had described is next to impossible to do without tools that play with the hardware itself (and/or the firmware), or with a corrupt installation file (either the download was corrupted, or you have an issue with your hardware which is causing more than just this issue, whether it be dying RAM, dying HDD, dying SSD, dying PSU, or a problematic motherboard or CPU).

 

If this are generic flash drives, there is a real possibility that they are fake, and have less storage than they show you (e.g. an 8GB with only a 1GB NAND).

[Moldy Bread]

[deleted]

[C2dan88]

Yes what Moldy Bread said once you have burnt an linux ISO Windows will not be able to read the USB or recognize it.  Windows only knows how to read FAT32 or NTFS filesystems.

[moriel5]

26 minutes ago, C2dan88 said:

Yes what Moldy Bread said once you have burnt an linux ISO Windows will not be able to read the USB or recognize it.  Windows only knows how to read FAT32 or NTFS filesystems.

From personal experience, that is not true.

Windows wont recognize the partition, however it will certainly recognize the physical device, and as such should appear inside Disk Management (with an "unknown" or "unformatted" partition or partitions).