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I just wanted to format my usb drive, and followed an advice to use default "Disks" utility . But it failed and now whenever I try to launch GParted or Disks with USB drive inserted, they just hang for some time and then USB stick become disconnected and utility reports it can't find corresponding drive: enter image description here

Moreover, it gets disconnected from system completely, so even lsblk output doesn't list it: enter image description here

Here is an example of it's output when stick was just plugged in: enter image description here

When I stick it in after fresh reboot, all files are still there, and I perfectly can work with it. Still, after calling for GParted and being disconnected first time, if I replug it, it doesn't start properly as well, auto-disconnecting after some time.

Stick was working perfectly just an hour ago on Windows machine and my Ubuntu 20.04.3 system before I tried to format it, and works perfectly now after fresh reboot (until GParted called), so I don't think it's hardware issue.

I've done

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

and rebooted; outcome is still the same - GParted just fail to list it.

I failed to find anything alike in other questions, so would appreciate if anybody can advice me with any clues how to format it and use properly.

UPD1: Following the suggestion by sudodus, I tried to make use of mkusb tool from this advice, but it resulted with the following error:

enter image description here

UPD2: Regarding possibility of it being hardware issue with my USB stick. I've removed all other USB devices on my Ubuntu laptop and result is the same for all USB ports. Still, when I try it on another PC, this particular USB stick works great, and I can format it properly under Windows system, write there some data and then read it back on my Ubuntu system. So I believe stick itself is totally healthy and there is some issue with my Ubuntu & ThinkPad. For some reason system seems just fail to recognize stick back after unmounting it during formatting process.

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  • You can analyze the problem according to this link, and if you are lucky solve it. (If bad luck, the drive is gridlocked, which means that it is damaged beyond repair. Such things can happen suddenly with USB pendrives.)
    – sudodus
    Sep 16, 2021 at 19:25
  • @sudodus thank you for your advice! I tried to use mkusb tool, but it produced about the same error as the others. I updated my original post with it's output. Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with this tool, so I'd very appreciate if you could hint me what to do next with it... For some reason all tools just fail to recognize drive after their operations?
    – username
    Sep 16, 2021 at 20:59
  • mkusb is rather good at identifying drives, wiping bad partition tables and creating new partition tables. Have you tried the other alternatives: remove all other USB devices, try all USB ports, try in another computer or with another operating system ... according to the list in the link in my first comment? If still no luck, I'm afraid that your USB drive is damaged beyond what a normal user (you and I) can fix.
    – sudodus
    Sep 16, 2021 at 21:36
  • This quick start manual for mkusb could be useful.
    – sudodus
    Sep 17, 2021 at 6:23
  • @sudodus thank you for your advice! Yes, I've removed all other USB devices and result is the same for all USB ports. Still, when I try it on another PC, this particular USB stick works great, and I can format it properly under Windows system, write there some data and then read it back on my Ubuntu system. I'll update my original post now, and I believe stick itself is totally healthy and there is some issue with my Ubuntu&ThinkPad. For some reason it seems just fail to recognize stick back after unmounting it during formatting process. I'd appreciate if you could hint me what to check next?
    – username
    Sep 17, 2021 at 7:38

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