Can't Create Bootable USB Anymore

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by Brandonn2010, Dec 11, 2012.

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  1. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    I think I may have messed up my flash drive I used for a live USB. Every live USB creator I used would result in the "Missing Operating System" error when I would try to boot from it. I have even done a low-level format of the drive but still get the same problem. Any ideas on how I can fix it?

    Also, one USB creator I tried today, Rufus, said it had an error and couldn't zero the MBR.
     
  2. TheKid7

    TheKid7 Registered Member

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    Try a different utility for making the bootable USB Flash Drive. I would use YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) and be sure to select the format step when you install the first ISO.

    You could also try using a Partition utility to delete the partition, make a new partition followed by formatting the newly created partition.

    You could also wipe the USB Flash Drive with a bootable utility such as the Trial of BootIt Bare Metal. Or maybe use BootIt Bare Metal to only Delete the existing Partition and MBR.
     
  3. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    I've tried:

    - YUMI
    - UNetBootin
    - LinuxLive USB Creator
    - OpenSUSE Image Writer
    - Rufus
    - SARDU

    None of them work anymore
     
  4. Maybe a dud drive? Time to buy a new one I think.
     
  5. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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    did you formate your USB with gpared to fat 32 1st try that see if it works then make the way you used to make before

    sometimes left over didnt formate properly you need force formate gparted do it well
     
  6. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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    Use Disk Utility to reformat your USB.

    It has a top section for Drive and a bottom section for Volume.

    In the Drive section, do a Format Drive first with Don't Partition followed by another with Master Boot Record.

    In the Volume section, Create Partition or Format the Volume with Fat 32 and edit the Partition to mark it as bootable and change the Name of the Volume Label.

    Then use whatever tool you normally use to burn the ISO image to the USB.

    -- Tom
     
  7. puff-m-d

    puff-m-d Registered Member

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    I see you run AppGuard. I had the very same problem and it ended up being AppGuard's MBRGuard blocking writing a MBR. If you disable MBRGuard, then reboot, you should be able to create the bootable media with no problems (or at least in my case that was the cause). HTH...
     
  8. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    Not sure if it was disabling MBR Guard or the formatting with Linux that did it but it works again.
     
  9. puff-m-d

    puff-m-d Registered Member

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    I had the issue when trying to create bootable media for TeraByte IFW/IFL/IFD. I spent about 3 days with the guys at TeraByte troubleshooting the issue and even had a thread here also. MBRGuard blocks all writes to a MBR (even in creation of one) and was indeed the culprit. It was pretty frustrating troubleshooting the problem because AFAIK MBRGuard does not create any log entries when it blocks. I just have to remember to disable it whenever I need to update my bootable media.
     
  10. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    The thing is I've been making live USBs for a while so I don't know why AppGuard is just now affecting things. There hasn't been a recent update to AppGuard or anything. Happy to know it's protecting my MBR though.
     
  11. puff-m-d

    puff-m-d Registered Member

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    All I can say is TeraByte traced it back to MBRGuard. If I have MBRGuard enabled, I cannot create bootable media, but once disabled, no problems at all. It solved the problem I was having even though I do forget time to time to disable beforehand as I only update my media maybe 10 to 12 times a year.
     
  12. davidecosta

    davidecosta Registered Member

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    Try RmPrepUSB to format FAT32 and SARDU
    Let me know
     
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