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USB Thumb Drive Formatted as Ext4

Posted: 24 Apr 2013, 02:43
by cttan
Hi,

Can I format my thumb drive as Ext4 and mount it?

I have a new 32GB and format it to Ext4 using mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdd1. Confirmed it is Ext4 using Parted

Code: Select all

#mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdd1
mke2fs 1.42.6 (21-Sep-2012)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
2048000 inodes, 8191999 blocks
409599 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=4294967296
250 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8192 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
        32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, 
        4096000, 7962624

Allocating group tables: done                            
Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done   

# parted /dev/sdd
GNU Parted 2.3
Using /dev/sdd
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) p                                                                
Model: Generic Flash Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdd: 33.6GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start  End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      512B   33.6GB  33.6GB  primary  ext4
When I try to mount it, I am getting
[ 5822.338419] JBD2: no valid journal superblock found
[ 5822.338425] EXT4-fs (sdd1): error loading journal

Code: Select all

scsi9 : usb-storage 2-2:1.0
[ 5812.592691] scsi 9:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Generic  Flash Disk       1.68 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 5812.593533] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] 65536000 512-byte logical blocks: (33.5 GB/31.2 GiB)
[ 5812.594279] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[ 5812.594284] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
[ 5812.595275] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] No Caching mode page present
[ 5812.595279] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 5812.599778] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] No Caching mode page present
[ 5812.599783] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 5812.600799]  sdd: sdd1
[ 5812.603549] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] No Caching mode page present
[ 5812.603553] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 5812.603557] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI removable disk
[ 5819.882526] JBD2: no valid journal superblock found
[ 5819.882532] EXT4-fs (sdd1): error loading journal
[ 5822.338419] JBD2: no valid journal superblock found
[ 5822.338425] EXT4-fs (sdd1): error loading journal
I have searched the forum and found that locales maybe causing the problem. (Refer to : [SOLVED] Automount USB HDD - Does not work) So I have updated my locales using PSC.But the problem persist.
012-locales-zh_CN.utf8-x86_64-1prt.xzm
013-locales-en_US.utf8-x86_64-1prt.xzm

Re: USB Thumb Drive Formatted as Ext4

Posted: 24 Apr 2013, 06:46
by fanthom
hi cttan,

please delete all partitions from it and create new one using gparted/partitionmanager then format once again with ext4.

Re: USB Thumb Drive Formatted as Ext4

Posted: 28 Apr 2013, 02:54
by cttan
Hi fanthom,

I have formatted another USB thumb drive to ext4 and it is working fine and boot without problem. Maybe the first USB thumb drive is faulty.

Thanks.

Re: USB Thumb Drive Formatted as Ext4

Posted: 28 Apr 2013, 14:41
by beny
well cttan something wrong there is: 1 512B 33.6GB 33.6GB primary ext4 if the key is 32 GB you can't have more of 32 GB

Re: USB Thumb Drive Formatted as Ext4

Posted: 29 Apr 2013, 15:16
by Ahau
This is looking like a fairly odd piece of hardware to me in terms of construction -- for one thing, as beny points out, the reported size is a little larger than you'd typically see in a 32GB flash drive; also, your partition appears to start on sector 1. What brand is this drive, or perhaps it doesn't have a brand name?

You could try reformatting it as FAT to see if it can be used that way, but if you really want to use it as an ext4 drive, I would follow fanthom's advice above to delete all of the partitions using a linux partitioning tool (gparted, kdepartition manager, fdisk, cfdisk or parted, whatever you're comfortable with) and write a new partition table to it, then format the new partition.

Typically, partitioning tools will start the first partition at sector 63; this is based on the geometry of rotating hard disks and really isn't optimized for flash media; however, it should still work for you (starting the partition on sector 1 is not optimal either unless they are using a very odd setup with 512-byte page sizes or a 512-byte offset, which is why I am questioning the brand name above). Let us know how that goes if you decide to try it :)

Re: USB Thumb Drive Formatted as Ext4

Posted: 03 May 2013, 01:47
by cttan
Hi ahau,

Thanks for your interest.
The thumb drive can be used as fat32 without problem. When I format it to ext4, it cannot be mounted. Error as per initial post.
It is a Kingston 32GB but funny thing it is detected as Generic Flash Disk so I think it is a fake disk.