recovery of usb flash drive: extracted image is full of zeros
A usb flash drive (SanDisk cruzer micro 4 GB) of a friend of mine stopped working, no partition table is left (the only filesystem of partition should have been FAT32 or NTFS). And yes, there is no backup, I already asked this and said it wasn't a good idea to not have a backup.
With
fdisk /dev/sda
I can see the basic data
Disk /dev/sdc: 3.8 GiB, 4025810432 bytes, 7862911 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x9080e264
with no partition table.
So I tried
ddrescue --direct /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and
ddrescue /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and got zero read errors (first I was happy about it) and let foremost and photorec search this imagefile but they found nothing.
Then I had a closer look at the imagefile with mc also in hex view and only saw zeros. If I zip the 4GB imagefile, I get a 4MB file, so there is few different content that can be squeezed by the old zip compression.
I tried the USB3 and USB2 ports of my linux computer another friend of me tried the same with a windows computer.
What do you think? Why are there so much (if not only) zeros? Is the connection between the flash an the usb controller broken? Is there any chance to rescue the data?
usb ddrescue
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
A usb flash drive (SanDisk cruzer micro 4 GB) of a friend of mine stopped working, no partition table is left (the only filesystem of partition should have been FAT32 or NTFS). And yes, there is no backup, I already asked this and said it wasn't a good idea to not have a backup.
With
fdisk /dev/sda
I can see the basic data
Disk /dev/sdc: 3.8 GiB, 4025810432 bytes, 7862911 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x9080e264
with no partition table.
So I tried
ddrescue --direct /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and
ddrescue /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and got zero read errors (first I was happy about it) and let foremost and photorec search this imagefile but they found nothing.
Then I had a closer look at the imagefile with mc also in hex view and only saw zeros. If I zip the 4GB imagefile, I get a 4MB file, so there is few different content that can be squeezed by the old zip compression.
I tried the USB3 and USB2 ports of my linux computer another friend of me tried the same with a windows computer.
What do you think? Why are there so much (if not only) zeros? Is the connection between the flash an the usb controller broken? Is there any chance to rescue the data?
usb ddrescue
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
A usb flash drive (SanDisk cruzer micro 4 GB) of a friend of mine stopped working, no partition table is left (the only filesystem of partition should have been FAT32 or NTFS). And yes, there is no backup, I already asked this and said it wasn't a good idea to not have a backup.
With
fdisk /dev/sda
I can see the basic data
Disk /dev/sdc: 3.8 GiB, 4025810432 bytes, 7862911 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x9080e264
with no partition table.
So I tried
ddrescue --direct /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and
ddrescue /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and got zero read errors (first I was happy about it) and let foremost and photorec search this imagefile but they found nothing.
Then I had a closer look at the imagefile with mc also in hex view and only saw zeros. If I zip the 4GB imagefile, I get a 4MB file, so there is few different content that can be squeezed by the old zip compression.
I tried the USB3 and USB2 ports of my linux computer another friend of me tried the same with a windows computer.
What do you think? Why are there so much (if not only) zeros? Is the connection between the flash an the usb controller broken? Is there any chance to rescue the data?
usb ddrescue
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
A usb flash drive (SanDisk cruzer micro 4 GB) of a friend of mine stopped working, no partition table is left (the only filesystem of partition should have been FAT32 or NTFS). And yes, there is no backup, I already asked this and said it wasn't a good idea to not have a backup.
With
fdisk /dev/sda
I can see the basic data
Disk /dev/sdc: 3.8 GiB, 4025810432 bytes, 7862911 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x9080e264
with no partition table.
So I tried
ddrescue --direct /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and
ddrescue /dev/sdc imagefile logfile
and got zero read errors (first I was happy about it) and let foremost and photorec search this imagefile but they found nothing.
Then I had a closer look at the imagefile with mc also in hex view and only saw zeros. If I zip the 4GB imagefile, I get a 4MB file, so there is few different content that can be squeezed by the old zip compression.
I tried the USB3 and USB2 ports of my linux computer another friend of me tried the same with a windows computer.
What do you think? Why are there so much (if not only) zeros? Is the connection between the flash an the usb controller broken? Is there any chance to rescue the data?
usb ddrescue
usb ddrescue
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
edited Aug 20 '16 at 8:48
tardis
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
asked Aug 20 '16 at 8:43
tardistardis
1164
1164
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
You haven't any chance to rescue data from the USB flash. I think the flash was zeroed. But you can try to find the lost partition by testdisk , look there testdisk how to
If you can't restore partition then check the flash is good for writing as described at superuser answer.
If the flash is good then if was zeroed by humans arms.
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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You haven't any chance to rescue data from the USB flash. I think the flash was zeroed. But you can try to find the lost partition by testdisk , look there testdisk how to
If you can't restore partition then check the flash is good for writing as described at superuser answer.
If the flash is good then if was zeroed by humans arms.
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
add a comment |
You haven't any chance to rescue data from the USB flash. I think the flash was zeroed. But you can try to find the lost partition by testdisk , look there testdisk how to
If you can't restore partition then check the flash is good for writing as described at superuser answer.
If the flash is good then if was zeroed by humans arms.
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
add a comment |
You haven't any chance to rescue data from the USB flash. I think the flash was zeroed. But you can try to find the lost partition by testdisk , look there testdisk how to
If you can't restore partition then check the flash is good for writing as described at superuser answer.
If the flash is good then if was zeroed by humans arms.
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
You haven't any chance to rescue data from the USB flash. I think the flash was zeroed. But you can try to find the lost partition by testdisk , look there testdisk how to
If you can't restore partition then check the flash is good for writing as described at superuser answer.
If the flash is good then if was zeroed by humans arms.
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18
Community♦
1
1
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
answered Aug 21 '16 at 5:07
Khirgiy MikhailKhirgiy Mikhail
27415
27415
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
add a comment |
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Testdisk does not find any partion table. :(
– tardis
Aug 21 '16 at 12:00
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
Then check the flash is good or bad. You'll never restore the data form it.
– Khirgiy Mikhail
Aug 21 '16 at 13:10
add a comment |
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