On Friday 04 Jan 2013 16:48:41 Michael Mol wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 11:32 AM, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I was trying to zero out a USB stick and at some point it seems to have
> > locked itself up.  By that I mean that for all intends and purposes I
> > cannot write to it in any conceivable way.
> > 
> > I tried to delete /dev/sdb1 with c/fdisk, the dd zeros into /dev/sdb1,
> > /dev/sdb and also the first 512B to delete the partition table, but
> > nothing seems to work.
> > 
> > /dev/sdb1 is still there no matter how I try to delete/format/overwrite
> > it.
> > 
> > Is there a way of resetting whatever needs resetting in the USB flash
> > chip to make it work again?
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Mick
> 
> Was it a drive with U3 on it? If so, there are tools you might use,
> but I can't remember their name.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U3

No, it's a normal USB flash stick:

Bus 002 Device 006: ID 1307:0163 Transcend Information, Inc. 256MB/512MB/1GB 
Flash Drive
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x1307 Transcend Information, Inc.
  idProduct          0x0163 256MB/512MB/1GB Flash Drive
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           1 USBest Technology
  iProduct                2 USB Mass Storage Device
  iSerial                 3 08032204c2f5fd
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           39
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower               80mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass         8 Mass Storage
      bInterfaceSubClass      6 SCSI
      bInterfaceProtocol     80 Bulk-Only
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               8
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x000a
  (Bus Powered)
  Remote Wakeup Enabled

Is there some cryptic hdparm command I could run on it to reset it?  I mean, 
it's bricked as is anyway, so it can't get *much* worse.
-- 
Regards,
Mick