Why can't I copy a large number of files to my USB flash drive?

Question

Final Update:

So it turns out that the drive was indeed defective and I was able to get it replaced - the replacement works great!

What happens:

1. I insert the flash drive.
2. I try to copy 2GB of files.
3. About 600MB (but not always the same amount) in to the transfer, it aborts and forcefully dismounts the drive.
4. Plugging it in again mounts it as read only due to filesystem errors.

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Information in /var/log/syslog:

Apr  4 20:19:09 my-laptop kernel: [10720.130076] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 20:19:09 my-laptop kernel: [10720.284655] scsi6 : usb-storage 1-4:1.0
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.280796] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Corsair  Survivor GTR     0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.281920] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.284361] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] 63438848 512-byte logical blocks: (32.4 GB/30.2 GiB)
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.284863] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.284870] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.284876] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.287862] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.287873]  sdc: sdc1
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.301238] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Apr  4 20:19:10 my-laptop kernel: [10721.301243] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk
Apr  4 20:20:03 my-laptop kernel: [10774.494709] FAT: Filesystem error (dev sdc1)
Apr  4 20:20:03 my-laptop kernel: [10774.494714]     fat_free_clusters: deleting FAT entry beyond EOF
Apr  4 20:20:03 my-laptop kernel: [10774.494718] FAT: Filesystem has been set read-only
Apr  4 20:22:04 my-laptop kernel: [10895.160070] usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 20:22:04 my-laptop kernel: [10895.700029] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 2, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:04 my-laptop kernel: [10895.820047] usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 20:22:04 my-laptop kernel: [10895.950038] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:05 my-laptop kernel: [10896.191050] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:05 my-laptop kernel: [10896.420054] usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 20:22:05 my-laptop kernel: [10896.840042] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 2, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:05 my-laptop kernel: [10896.962678] usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.380047] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 2, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.380095] usb 1-4: USB disconnect, address 2
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.380122] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled error code
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.380125] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.380130] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB: Write(10): 2a 00 00 12 9e 00 00 00 f0 00
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.380141] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 1220096
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.382530] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Unhandled error code
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.382534] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Result: hostbyte=DID_NO_CONNECT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.382539] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] CDB: Write(10): 2a 00 00 12 9e f0 00 00 f0 00
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.382549] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 1220336
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.385121] FAT: FAT read failed (blocknr 329)
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.385150] FAT: FAT read failed (blocknr 322)
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.385173] FAT: FAT read failed (blocknr 329)
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.385188] FAT: FAT read failed (blocknr 322)
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.390581] FAT: unable to read inode block for updating (i_pos 496133)
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.830055] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Apr  4 20:22:06 my-laptop kernel: [10897.962671] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:07 my-laptop kernel: [10898.200060] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:07 my-laptop kernel: [10898.432548] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
Apr  4 20:22:07 my-laptop kernel: [10898.560068] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:07 my-laptop kernel: [10898.802603] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:07 my-laptop kernel: [10899.030075] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
Apr  4 20:22:08 my-laptop kernel: [10899.460032] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 5, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:08 my-laptop kernel: [10899.580064] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
Apr  4 20:22:08 my-laptop kernel: [10900.000071] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 6, error -71
Apr  4 20:22:08 my-laptop kernel: [10900.000101] hub 1-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 4
Apr  4 20:22:09 my-laptop kernel: [10900.322588] usb 4-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
Apr  4 20:22:09 my-laptop kernel: [10900.466510] usb 4-2: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
Apr  4 20:22:19 my-laptop kernel: [10910.471597] usb 4-2: string descriptor 0 read error: -110
Apr  4 20:22:24 my-laptop kernel: [10915.471643] usb 4-2: can't set config #1, error -110

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Other steps taken:

• I tried plugging it into different USB ports.
• I tried plugging it into one of the root ports on the PC.
• I ran badblocks on the device and it came up clean.
• I tried wiping the partition table before formatting - no difference.
• I have an external USB 2.0 1TB hard drive that runs fine and can perform large transfers without incident.
• smartctl -T normal /dev/sdX fails, saying "Terminate command early due to bad response to IEC mode page. A mandatory SMART command failed: exiting."

Note: thanks to djeikyb for helping me with some of the steps.

Answer 1

Pretty sure the drive is broken.

1. Is this a file system problem? No.

   • Badblocks comes up clean.
   • I had George try wiping the FAT partition table, then try formatting with ext2. He used Gnome's Disk Utility. Formats failed.

2. Is this a usb port/bus problem? No.

   • George tried multiple ports with this drive, and said his motherboard has multiple buses, which he also took into account.
   • George tried a known good 1 TB usb hard disk (moving parts style) on these same ports/buses and sucessfully copied large amounts of data.

3. Is this a usb driver problem? No.

   • Same problems in Windows Vista.
   • !!! It would be helpful to know from the driver's perspective if there is a difference between a usb flash disk and a usb sata disk.

4. Is the flash drive broken? Likely.

   Evidence in favour:

   • I/O errors in /var/log/syslog
   • I/O errors happen at a consistent location.
   • The above steps.

Answer 2

Try the drive on a windows machine.

If it has the same problem on windows then this is not a ubuntu problem and is likely a hardware or firmware fault.

In which case I would send it back.

Answer 3

To me the following errors are the important ones.

[10897.385188] FAT: FAT read failed (blocknr 322) same error on blocknr 329

It shows me that their is either a failure of the device, or a corrupt FAT(file allocation table). Based on further information I would say the the actual hardware is at fault. This wiki section shows you the components of a flash drive. I would say that the flash memory controller or flash memory chip are at fault. If you can return the drive do so. If you still have the original packaging and warranty you should be able to get a replacement.

To get further information run the following to test for bad block and report verbosely put it into a file (badblocks.txt).

sudo fsck.vfat -Vtv /dev/[your_usb_dev] > badblocks.txt # was sdc in the log file

paste the badblocks.txt into your question so we can see. That command will mark all the bad block as unaccessible in the FAT and should stop the OS trying to write to those failed blocks. This should fix your problem.

To find your disk, that you need to put into the {/dev/[your_usb_dev]} run the command bellow. Please paste the contents of my_partitions.txt as well so we can see some more detail about your drive.

sudo fdisk -l > my_partitions.txt

One last note. 32bit FAT has a file limit of 4 GiB. Look right at the end of that section in the wiki article. So if you file is bigger then 4Gib you get a not enough space error. I don't think that is the problem here though.

Answer 4

Am pretty sure you have now a fake usb. You just mention all the symptoms and the linux ouput looks very similar to the one it shows me for a fake 16mb and 128mb usb drives i have here. Am sorry to say but you got ripped off. There has been many cases, not just corsair but any other pen drive company, even extreme examples like this:

CASES THAT HAVE ALREADY HAPPEN -

Big Box of nothing - http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?s=826f662d847dd2e8283552f17c161de5&t=94466 .

I went to the corsair site and seen your post here about it http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?s=826f662d847dd2e8283552f17c161de5&t=94466

You can find some cases like the following: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1397409 where they mention the fake scam with some corsairs

A friend in Costa Rica bought this one: http://wn.com/PEN_DRIVE_64GB_Kingston_FAKE!!!! and as you can see in the video he was ripped off. We watch as he tried to copy anything beyong the 4GB that was the real size with no luck.

This has been happening for a long time now, see this link for 2006: http://linuxrevolution.blogspot.com/2006/08/fake-usb-drives-sleuthing.html

FAKE CHECK SOFTWARE

Here are ways to test if you have a FAKE pen drive: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-hardware-18/fake-usb-stick-testing-tool-786415/

Another is this one: http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/linux-h2testw-alternative-program-called-f3-by-michel%C2%A0machado/ To test for FAKE pen drives.

The site for F3 Tool: http://oss.digirati.com.br/f3/ where you can compile the program with gcc. Very simple tool that verifies the size of the flash drives. IF you read the webpage you will see this user ALSO had an experience as you and me.

In any case you might have a real 512MB to 1GB flash drive that is faked as a 32GB one.

I know you might not give a correct answer here to anyone since this are really bad news. I feel you since i bought one 32gb also, a friend a 128mb and my girlfriend a 16gb. all corsair or kingston. So please review all the info in this page with an open mind. Good luck friend.

RECOMMENDATION - For my experience i recommend to run the programs i mention above and when buying a flash drive test them the minute you get your hands on it. A quick test is to fill the flash drive full of files up to its maximun said size.

Answer 5

Remember that the FAT32 is a very delicate filesystem and it does not like the electricity being switched off when it is doing any work. So you have to always safely remove the drive from USB port. If you have removed it unsafely at least once in the past - then there may be something broken in the FAT structure - then run dosfsck before using it again.

Why does it unmount on error? Well it probably depends on default configuration - it just tries to remount as read-only so you can do backup of current data and then do all the checks. I suppose it works as if errors=remount-ro option is set.

I saw a similar problem here on linuxquestions.org.

Answer 6

Are you copying files to the USB drive's root directory that already has a lot of other files in it?

It's a limitation of FAT to not allow more than a certain number of files stored in its root directory (subdirectories can contain more files).

If that is the case, try copying the files to a subdirectory on the USB drive.

Answer 7

If the file system of your USB is fat 32 or 16 Maximum file size of 4 GB (minus 1 byte) for fat32 for fat 16 less. try to format your USB to NTFS file system.

FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT on USB Flash Drives?