128 Gig USB Flash Drives That Don't Work (Solved!)

[Blackfish]

I just bought a couple of 128 gig flash drives and Quirky or Gparted can't do a thing with them. Can't see them. Can't format them. Is there a way around this?

[bigpup]

Try this and see if it can do it.

Gparted live CD or USB.

For partitioning I would suggest you use the Gparted live CD or USB that you can get from here.
You can download a free version to make your own Gparted live CD or USB.
It is up to date and specifically made to run Gparted.
Info:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
Download:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gparted ... ve-stable/

[bigpup]

Have you tried different USB ports on computer?

If you got them from Ebay, there is a chance you got fake or broken drives.

[Blackfish]

Have you tried different USB ports on computer?

If you got them from Ebay, there is a chance you got fake or broken drives.

Yes, they are from eBay. Not fake or broken however. We put them into another machine running windows and was able to format them ntfs and use them on that machine.

Gparted did see the device, but was not able to make a partition table or a partition.

I booted with openSUSE on this machine as well, and it made it to the start of the installation before crapping out with an error.

[Blackfish]

Try this and see if it can do it.

Gparted live CD or USB.

For partitioning I would suggest you use the Gparted live CD or USB that you can get from here.
You can download a free version to make your own Gparted live CD or USB.
It is up to date and specifically made to run Gparted.
Info:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
Download:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gparted ... ve-stable/

No love. Did the same thing as the Gparted in Quirky. But thanks for introducing me to Gparted Live! Very cool little program.

[Blackfish]

Well, now that I know these 128 gig flash drives won't worky with Quirky and I have to send them back, can anyone tell me what to get what will worky with Quirky? What is the largest size USB flash that will work?

The biggest USB flash drives I have are only 16 gig. I have to get bigger ones. I have talked to others on this board who have used 32 gig, so I know those will work, but what about 64 gig? Anyone have experience with anything 64 or larger?

[gcmartin]

Are you looking for USB2 or USB3 or USB-C? Some issues have been seen with older PCs trying to use newer USB technology.

Also, there have been observed some speed issues.

The USB stick technology is convenient, but, when deciding on selection, it depends on objective as the manufacturers have multiple categories of "build intents". In other words, some are good for storage with little to no concern for performance, while others are good for read performance while not good for writes; and still others or good for writes but suffer in long term storage; etc.
(as I recently found that an old 10GB IDE via USB outperforms a similar sized 8GB USB stick that I have)

Lots of research in an ever changing arena of USB.

Most important is to decide on your use and seek to match it with your "single" PC in mind.

[Jerror]

I have a 128GB USB2.0 flash stick running Quirky. Quirky both installs to and boots from the stick and recognizes the stick when I put it in a machine running Quirky. I've not had any problems. Have you tried them in a different computer?

[Blackfish]

I thought so. Something was clearly wrong with these sticks I bought. The Windows machine could see them and use them, but the Linux machines could not. Something was clearly amiss. It doesn't matter anymore. The seller took them back and I am getting different ones. If anyone knows where the good deals are... I am looking for two at least 128 gig, preferably 256.

Thanks for your help!

[Ted Dog]

They are most likely exFAT formatted and requires a different linux FUSE driver almost all puppylinux spins do not included it. Due to its size and lack of use its not added. I have read Fatdog64 support can be added from repo but still not in current ( maybe add in 701 due to increase in filesystems support for devices which was the BIG change from 700. )
I myself is likely a year or two from such devices... so can't say from experience.

[gcmartin]

Also, when you do recieve your new sticks, DO THIS FIRST! This may save you a tremendous amount of headaches. Do a single PUP or 2.

Report there or here when you boot the new stick.

[slavvo67]

Get the PNY USB sticks from Amazon. I use the usb 3.0 but I haven't gone up to 128... yet.

[Blackfish]

It took a little time and a few mistakes before I discovered the best value I can find in flash drives: I get them from eBay as name-brand only refurbished units that come with money back guarantee. I got several SanDisk 32 gig refurbs for under eight bucks each. I found a 64 gig for twelve bucks. And they all work perfectly. I didn't have to do anything to them. Buying oddball, off-brand goods, like i did the first time around, just ain't gonna cut it.

[slavvo67]

Agreed but as a heads-up, I've had a few Sandisk USB's completely stop working. No USB is perfect, so it's always a good idea to have a backup or two.

[8Geee]

Dunno about eBay refurb sticks. on this side of the Atlantic, USB2.0 8Gb's run $4 each, and 16Gb $6... I've seen some 32Gb's 4 for $40.

[Blackfish]

I know what you mean. I have had a few USB sticks stop working, too. Others, most of them, seem to keep going no matter how much I abuse them. So I do not trust them either. I always do my USB stick back up with at least two sticks, another back up on another laptop, and still another on an external hard drive. And I still burn to CD and DVD now and again. I like flash drives the best. They are just too handy, too portable, and too easy to use.