USB stick undectected

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1

I have a 128 GB USB 3.0 stick bought last month. The first time I used it was yesterday, to install Fedora 36.

I formatted it using livecd-iso-to-disk, creating a GPT table with an EFI boot loader, then installed a persistent live system with Fedora Workstation 36. To backup the /home of the PC to install, I resized the main partition to the bare minimum and created a FAT32 partition for data in the free space.

I successfully installed one computer with this live USB. Then proceeded to the next (old) one, currently running Ubuntu 22.04, and backed up the /home similarly. Since then, the USB stick has been unreadable and undetected, no matter what USB port is used. It does not boot either.

Windows 10 reports an issue with its address and Rufus does not detect it.

lsusb detects it but not fdisk:

$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 012: ID 21c4:0cd1 Lexar USB Flash Drive

Interestingly, it is detected only if it is plugged in after the desktop is started. Having it plugged at booting time also makes a Thinkpad hang indefinitely at the boot screen, as if it was trying to read a corrupted boot loader.

dmesg returns:

[   36.688730] usb 2-6: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[   36.701708] usb 2-6: New USB device found, idVendor=21c4, idProduct=0cd1, bcdDevice=11.00
[   36.701712] usb 2-6: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[   36.701713] usb 2-6: Product: USB Flash Drive
[   36.701714] usb 2-6: Manufacturer: Lexar
[   36.701716] usb 2-6: SerialNumber: 04N4GTCXX69GHUI0
[   37.328273] usb-storage 2-6:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[   37.328483] scsi host0: usb-storage 2-6:1.0
[   37.328558] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[   37.331941] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[   64.661502] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Timeout while waiting for setup device command
[   70.292285] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Timeout while waiting for setup device command
[   70.500270] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 2, error -62
[   75.924330] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Timeout while waiting for setup device command
[   81.556366] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Timeout while waiting for setup device command
[   81.764273] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 2, error -62
[   81.952909] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   82.159846] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   82.364370] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 2, error -71
[   82.551923] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   82.759577] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   82.964278] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 2, error -71
[   82.980319] usb 2-6: USB disconnect, device number 2
[   83.170913] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   83.375863] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   83.580307] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 3, error -71
[   83.768905] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   83.976871] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   84.180298] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 4, error -71
[   84.188533] usb usb2-port6: attempt power cycle
[   85.092872] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   85.303587] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   85.508322] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 5, error -71
[   85.696904] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   85.903847] usb 2-6: Device not responding to setup address.
[   86.108290] usb 2-6: device not accepting address 6, error -71
[   86.116402] usb usb2-port6: unable to enumerate USB device

I get the same dmesg output on Ubuntu 22.04 or on Fedora 36, tested on 3 different computers.

Is it fried or can something be done to restore it ?

2

It looks like your USB stick gave up the ghost. Can you try plugging it into another computer to see if it mounts?

3

I tried 3 different computers, on all their USB ports. It’s the same on all of them.

4

It looks like again a power problem (searching about the error messages).

Do you use a external Hub or an extension cable to connect the USB? Or do you use the connector from a port of the cabinet. If yes power your hub externally and use ports soldered direct on the mother board.

5

If it fails on all the others, then I’m sorry to tell you that you have a dead USB stick and you’ll need to try again with another one. Unfortunately, they do have a lifespan. There are a lot of I/O operations that go into imaging that might have pushed your near failing usb stick over the edge.

6

Of course not. It’s plugged directly to the laptops or facade USB ports.

As I said, I bought it one month ago and it was its first use.

7

That’s unfortunately not uncommon. Many of them are fake and have misrepresented storage and once hit, they quit responding. Others are honest failures. Storage devices tend to fail either very young or very old. It’s a steep bell curve.

8

Agreeing with @vwbusguy , there’s been a surge recently in bogus USB sticks and external SSD drives at really low cost but scams.

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