1

In Ubuntu 12.04 using disk utility while formatting, there was an error

Error creating partition table: helper exited with exit code 1: Error calling fsync(2) on /dev/sdc: Input/output error

I tried to format even using windows failed and showed up "Windows coudn't format". How can I fix this?

Olli
  • 8,811
  • 1
  • 34
  • 40
bzl
  • 21
  • 1
  • 2
  • 1
    Your USB stick is broken. – Olli Feb 18 '14 at 11:42
  • maybe you could try this **sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M count=40** from [this thread](http://askubuntu.com/questions/144852/help-me-i-cant-format-my-usb-i-have-already-tried-with-mkdosfs-and-gparted) – Zuko Feb 18 '14 at 11:52
  • 1
    @OluDoug **NO!** That will wipe `/deb/sdb`, not `/dev/sdc` which is the required device! – Wilf Feb 18 '14 at 11:53
  • yeah specify your flash disk not that exactly or gparted – Zuko Feb 18 '14 at 11:54
  • 1
    That `dd` command will wipe it as in it will **WIPE IT** - be careful... The command needed is likely to be `sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdc bs=1M count=40`. It think this will write zeros to the first 40 bytes of the drive. – Wilf Feb 18 '14 at 11:55
  • 1
    alternatively use gparted – Zuko Feb 18 '14 at 11:57

1 Answers1

1

Using Gparted may of help - install it, open it, and you should be able to reformat the disk once you have unmounted it.

You can do this and other options by selecting the drive in the menu at the top right, and then right-clicking on the partitions.

Picture of Gparted

Wilf
  • 29,694
  • 16
  • 106
  • 164
  • Gparted also has some [add-ons](http://askubuntu.com/questions/196667/usb-drive-not-recognized-after-erase-disk/200874#200874) that may help in case there is a problem formatting the drive, for example because there is an encrypted volume on the drive. – karel May 02 '14 at 08:12