256Gb USB flash drive that won't work... any ideas?
 

I bought a 256Gb drive from Amazon and I can't get it to work. The seller has since disappeared from Amazon and I applied for a credit with Amazon so I got my money back. Obviously it wasn't the real deal but I have the drive here and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to at least use part of the storage space it is supposed to have... any ideas?

Try reformatting the drive with Disk Utility. What capacity does DU report?

it won't let me format it actually...
if I run the Repair Disk I get this:

So, DU thinks it's HFS+ formatted? I'd expect FAT32 for something fresh from the factory these days. Was this drive advertised as new or used?

it was advertised as new...
I believe it was originally formatted as FAT32 but after noticing it wasn't working (I couldn't copy more than a couple Megabytes of files to it) I attempted to format it.

You could hit it with DiskWarrior to try to repair the HFS+ directory, but it's probably simpler and far less time-consuming to reformat it as FAT32 with a Windows machine. Once you have it back in it its original FAT32 format, run it through DU again to make it HFS+. (Formatting sometimes fails, so it's hard to say exactly where the problem is at this point. A flash drive that large must be prone to more errors and failures than smaller ones.)

I just tried inserting it into a Windows machine. I heard the click clock sound when I inserted it but it doesn't show up with main drive and the CD drive and so I don't know how I can format the USB key. I haven't used a PC since 1999 but I read online that you are supposed to right-click on the drive and click on TOOLS to format it, but if I don't see the drive at all how can I do that? I guess I am asking this question in the wrong forum ;-)

As you have formatted that flash drive for OS X, it won't be visible on a Windows PC.

Try again on a Mac. With Disk Utility open, insert that flash drive.
If it shows up in the list of devices, select the device (the line with manufacturer's info/size/etc. and then click the Partition tab. Click the Partition Scheme drop-down, and choose 1 Partition. Make sure the format is showing Mac OS Extended (journaled), change to that selection if something different is showing in format. Name the partition, if you like. Then click the Apply button.
Does that complete successfully?

I've tried but but it doesn't seem to complete successfully... It gets stuck on "Formatting disk2s2 as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with name Untitled 1 and stays there for a minute or two, then it goes out of that mode and reverts to the regular (usable) window and the window says: This partition will not be modified.
I believe it does not have a Mount Point and I am not sure how to fix that.

When you took this flash drive out of the original packaging, did that package say anything about having software/utilities included with the drive, such as security or something like "protect your files with the included encryption software" etc/etc?
If so, then there's possibly a protected partition on the flash drive, which may prevent you from using the entire drive. Could be that you can go to the manufacturer's web site for possible answers about the drive.
What brand of drive is it?

The back of the packaging says "Micro Vault contains a system management area" but it's a non-descript no-name no-brand packaging that just says USB Flash Drive, and no brand.

I don't know if anyone else but Sony uses the name Micro Vault.
http://www.sony.net/Products/Media/M...ort/index.html

Just curious - - Looks like the very cheapest 256 GB flash drives are more than $650... Did you really pay that much for something that you can lose under your car seat?

As I can see from some of the Sony pages, Micro Vault is a registered trademark that belongs to Sony. I suppose Sony may have licensed others to use the name.

A Google search for "micro vault" reveals many non-Sony "micro vault" flash drives, including this purported 256GB no-name model for US$34.99 (http://www.webstore.com/256-gb-usb-f...uction_details)! I also find rather amusing this whopping "Sony" 500GB model (note pasted-on sticker indicating capacity) on a Malaysian eBay-like site (http://www.lelong.com.my/sony-500gb-...1-03-Std-P.htm) for RM151--which Calculator tells me is around US$49.

Caveat emptor. If it seems too good to be true . . . . At least the OP got his money back. I'm a little surprised that Amazon doesn't want the defective drive returned.

DeltaMac, I only paid $50+$10 s&h = $60, I would have never spent $650 for a USB key...

macosnoob, that drive you found is EXACTLY the one I have... Amazon never wanted it back, prob cause it was sold by a seller on amazon, not by amazon itself.

I have a friend in another city who bought one such USB 256Gb drive from amazon for $75 and after formatting it with an old mac laptop (the black ones from way back then) got it to work (it didn't work right out of the box).

I am watching some items on ebay, there are a few of these Kingston 256Gb USB drives for less than $100, some without and some with return policy... I don't know what to think...

You may want to try format under linux. Especially when OS9 was able to do something to it. I got once 16gb USB stick with the same problem and linux opened it up.

I just got a version of Disk Warrior (4.3) and tried Rebuilding the drive but I get an error saying "The directory of the disk 'Untitled 1' cannot be rebuilt. The disk was not modified. The original directory is too severely damaged. It appears another disk utility has erased critical directory information".

I guess that's the end of the line or do you guys have other ideas?

I gave up on the one card and bought another 256Gb USB flash drive made by Kingston, the model number is DT310 from ebay.
It came in a Kingston branded sealed package.
I inserted it into my Mac and it showed up as a 256Gb drive formatted in FAT. I tried to copy 1Gb of files but it just interrupts and says data can't be written.
Disk Warrior doesn't even see the drive and when I verify the disk with Disk Utility I get:
Since it said the disk needed to be repaired I clicked on Repair and got this:
If I try to reformat it I get the error:
It appears to be fixed (no red error messages) however the drive does not mount.
What should I do?

I take it this "Kingston" also cost far less than it should have. See these articles:

http://fightflashfraud.wordpress.com...thandryan2010/

http://claptop.com/2011/07/fix-a-fak...b-flash-drive/

Yes I am afraid it was only $100... The thing that made me buy it that I have a friend who bought one of these and his does work!

As the sticks would be reporting capacity that actually does not exist - it would be an interesting test for your friend to try to copy a large amount of data, 100 GB should be enough.

I will ask him to do that