Disk Utility - Won't Repair Flash/Thumb Drive

Question

Disk Utility - Won't Repair Flash/Thumb Drive

So my Mac froze for some reason, while my Kingston thumb/flash drive was in. I tried to eject it, but I could only force eject (which it said may cause issues). After that, whenever I put the thumb drive in, it said something like the drive won't work and I had to copy the files to my desktop. When I go into disk utility and click repair disk, it says this: "Disk Utility stopped repairing “UNTITLED 1”: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."

I can't erase the thumbdrive, because it says I need a source, which I don't know what that means.

Can anybody help? The files are useless now as I have transferred them to a CD, so I'm fine with erasing the whole thing. And yes, I know I can get a new on at any store for cheap, but I'd like to know if this can be repaired. Thanks.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Mar 10, 2012 6:40 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Mar 10, 2012 7:17 PM in response to gretschdrummer

gretschdrummer wrote:

I can't erase the thumbdrive, because it says I need a source

In Disk Utility, select the thumb drive, rather than any volume on it. Go to Erase and reformat it. If it doesn't work, post here the exact error message.

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Answer 2

Mar 10, 2012 7:32 PM in response to fane_j

Two error messages showed up:

1 (with a red !): MAC OS X can't repair the disk "UNTITLED 1." Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

2: Disk Erase failed with the error:

POSIX reports: The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory

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Answer 3

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Mar 10, 2012 7:39 PM in response to gretschdrummer

gretschdrummer wrote:

2: Disk Erase failed with the error:

POSIX reports: The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory

Try this

<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10430235-263.html>

(Make sure you get the correct disk identifier -- it cannot be disk0.)

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Answer 4

Mar 10, 2012 8:25 PM in response to fane_j

tried it, and terminal says this: Error: -10000: Could not unmount disk

when i try to erase the drive, disk utility says this: Volume Erase failed with the error: File system formatter failed

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Answer 5

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Mar 10, 2012 9:43 PM in response to gretschdrummer

In Disk Utility, unmount any volume on the thumb drive. Then try again diskutil in Terminal. If it doesn't work, copy the command and the result from Terminal and post it here.

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Answer 6

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,804 points

Mar 11, 2012 3:04 AM in response to gretschdrummer

You may want to insert the Mac OS X DVD in the drive, and boot from that, then select the Disc Utility option and then see if you can format the drive from there.

Normally you shouldn't have to do that, but we're trying to eliminate all kinds of odd possibilities here.

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Answer 7

Mar 11, 2012 3:56 AM in response to gretschdrummer

You haven't mentioned how the thumb drive was formatted to begin with; is it GUID partition map and Mac OS Extended (Journalled), or is it FAT 32 with MBR partition map?

If it's the latter, DU can't repair it, but should be able to format it. However, the forced ejection may have damaged the file system to prevent that.

If it's FAT32, re-format it on a PC and try again on the Mac.

If it's Mac formatted, you could try erasing and reformatting on another Mac (or as Hackintosh says, from the DVD), but if that doesn't work, try the PC route; reformat to FAT32 on a PC (if the PC will recognise it - thay don't always), then go back to the Mac, repartition and format.

If that fails, it's recycling fodder.

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Answer 8

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Mar 11, 2012 4:16 AM in response to noondaywitch

noondaywitch wrote:

You haven't mentioned how the thumb drive was formatted to begin with

I don't see how the issue the OP ran into has anything to do with the original format. It's probably a complex interaction of several factors -- there's a long-running thread somewhere in the forum on the same topic.

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Answer 9

Mar 11, 2012 4:49 PM in response to fane_j

I tried that, and this is what I got:

Started erase on disk2s1 UNTITLED 1

Unmounting disk

Error: -9986: Could not modify partition map

For reference, the thumb drive is FAT32. I remember I had to change the format for it to work on my PS3.

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Answer 10

HACKINT0SH

Level 5

5,804 points

Mar 12, 2012 1:37 AM in response to gretschdrummer

Ok, try using the drive in another port.

Also, do you have another thumb drive around, just to test this isn't something that's restricted to the thumb-drive itself.

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Answer 11

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Mar 12, 2012 1:57 AM in response to gretschdrummer

gretschdrummer wrote:

I tried that

It's a doozie. I don't think there is a software solution. Changing USB ports might work, but I'd try a self-powered port. I'd also try formatting it with a different device -- a PC, the PS3, etc.

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Answer 12

petermac87

Level 5

7,447 points

Mar 12, 2012 4:28 AM in response to gretschdrummer

gretschdrummer wrote:

I tried that, and this is what I got:

Started erase on disk2s1 UNTITLED 1

Unmounting disk

Error: -9986: Could not modify partition map

For reference, the thumb drive is FAT32. I remember I had to change the format for it to work on my PS3.

Some simply have a short life span. I have been through a few over the years that simply died. Mostly cheap ones. Have some Sandisks still running along that are just as old but never a problem. Hit and miss sometimes and after they have played up like yours they can never really be trusted. Ditch it and buy a better quality one. IMHO.

Pete

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