Issue with formatting;

[HybridZach]

Rufus was working fine with my memory stick yesterday but today it doesn't want to play ball, every time I try format it gives me this error. This happens weather it is quick format or slow format, diskmgmt.msc formats the memory stick just fine as NTFS too?

UPDATE : it seems to work perfectly fine on my tablet, any ideas why?

Formatting (NTFS)...
Using cluster size: 4096 bytes
Slow format was selected
Creating file system: Task 12/12 completed
Error while formatting
Format error: Undetermined error while formatting.
Re-mounted volume as 'D:' after error

Found USB 2.0 device 'SanDisk Cruzer Edge USB Device' (0781:556B)
1 device found
No volume information for disk 0x82
Could not get geometry for drive 0x82: [0x00000002] The system cannot find the file specified.
Device was eliminated because it is smaller than 8 MB
No file system is selectable for this drive
Found USB 2.0 device 'SanDisk Cruzer Edge USB Device' (0781:556B)
1 device found
No volume information for disk 0x82
Could not get geometry for drive 0x82: [0x00000002] The system cannot find the file specified.
Device was eliminated because it is smaller than 8 MB
No file system is selectable for this drive

Full log from fresh FAT32 Format (in windows);

Rufus version: 1.4.8.490
Syslinux versions: 4.07, 5.10
Windows version: Windows 8.1 64-bit
Locale ID: 0x0809
Found USB 2.0 device 'SanDisk Cruzer Edge USB Device' (0781:556B)
1 device found
Disk type: Removable, Sector Size: 512 bytes
Cylinders: 973, TracksPerCylinder: 255, SectorsPerTrack: 63
Partition type: MBR, NB Partitions: 1
Disk ID: 0x00000001
Drive has an unknown Master Boot Record
Partition 1:
  Type: Small FAT16 (0x04)
  Size: 7.5 GB (8004304896 bytes)
  Start Sector: 0, Boot: No, Recognized: Yes
Scanning image...
Disc image is an UDF image
ISO label: 'DVD_ROM'
  Size: 196605952 bytes
  Has a >64 chars filename: No
  Has Symlinks: No
  Has a >4GB file: No
  Uses ReactOS: No
  Uses KolibriOS: No
  Uses EFI: Yes
  Uses Bootmgr: Yes
  Uses WinPE: No
  Uses isolinux: No
Using ISO: WinPE_5.1_x86.iso

Format operation started
Requesting disk access...
Caution: Opened drive \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE2 for write access
Will use 'D:' as volume mountpoint
I/O boundary checks disabled
Analyzing existing boot records...
Drive has an unknown Master Boot Record
Volume has an unknown Partition Boot Record
Deleting partitions...
Closing existing volume...
Clearing MBR/PBR/GPT structures...
Erasing 128 sectors
Partitioning (MBR)...
Waiting for logical drive to reappear...
Formatting (NTFS)...
Could not read volume name
Format error: Undetermined error while formatting.

0 devices found
0 devices found

[pbatard]

Rufus was working fine with my memory stick yesterday but today it doesn't want to play ball

The most logical explanation, even if you don't believe this to be the case, is that something changed with your computer between yesterday and today. I see that you are using the BETA version of Rufus 1.4.8 (which was released very recently). Is that the same version as the one you were using yesterday? Can you try formatting with v1.4.7 (the latest official release) and see if you have the same issue as with the BETA? Also, did you install any disk related software, or Windows updates?

it seems to work perfectly fine on my tablet, any ideas why?

Is your tablet running Windows and if so does that above mean that when you run Rufus on your tablet, you don't see any issue? If so, that would confirm the idea that something has changed on your other PC that prevents proper Rufus behaviour. If your tablet is not Windows on the other hand, and you didn't use Rufus there, it doesn't tell anything, since you already indicated you could format the drive outside of Rufus...

Partition 1:
  Type: Small FAT16 (0x04)
  Size: 7.5 GB (8004304896 bytes)
  Start Sector: 0, Boot: No, Recognized: Yes

This is super weird... FAT16 is not compatible with 7.5 GB or larger devices, and Small FAT16 even less. How you managed to get a 7.5 GB partition as FAT16 is very puzzling. Did you do anything special with this drive, like have another application modify it's Master Boot Record or partition table?

At this stage, what I would recommend is run a bad blocks check in Rufus (at least for a few minutes) and then try to reformat again. But not before having tried with 1.4.7 (if it's a problem with the BETA, I very much want to know!).

[HybridZach]

Okay so I did try it with 1.4.7 before I tried the beta, I only was using the beta because I thought it may resolve the issue looking it up somewhat on here, I have the same issue with 1.4.7 so I don't think it's your software.

It ran perfectly fine on my tablet earlier and completed 100%, my tablet is windows 8.1 32bit my pc is 64bit pro 8.1.

I can't remember weather the fat16 I did from Windows or not I think it was my xbox. The thing was after getting the error on rufus I couldn't reformat or open the drive or use rufus to do anything else with it, and I remembered before I had issues with formating and what would fix it would be to stick it into my xbox 360 and that always seems to be successful in formating it, then I could format it back in Windows.

[pbatard]

Thanks for the info. The fact that you had issues with this flash drive in the past could indicate that this is a hardware issue. As opposed to the Windows and other formatting utilities, Rufus repartitions before it formats a drive, and as such needs to clear a bit of data - if your drive is defective, this could generate errors which others utilities may not pick up, especially if you're connecting your flash drive through an extension cable or a hub on your PC.

At this stage, I would try to run the bad blocks check, while making sure your flash drive is plugged directly into one of your PC ports, to see what happens.

PS: for the record, my main development and test machine is Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit.

[HybridZach]

Yeah no worries. Once I am done using my memory stick for what I need too I will try again and try replicate it and figure out how I managed the fat16 and see if I can get it to work after doing a chkdsk in Rufus. The tablet worked fine with the memory stick using 1.4.7 and an OTG cable, where as my pc didn't have any sort of hub or extension cable, it was plugged directly into my pc tried with all my ports.

[pbatard]

No update on that issue ⇒ closing.

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