Error wiping device: Failed to probe the device '/dev/sdb' (udisks-error-quark- 0)

[yunoxge]

I get the error Error wiping device: Failed to probe the device '/dev/sdb' (udisks-error-quark, 0) whenever I try to format the drive. I am starting to get worried because I've tried lots of methods like the "security password XXXX" method, and they have not worked.

 

[Condobloke]

G'day yunoxge, Welcome to Linux.org

Why are you trying to wipe that hdd ?

Is it your main hdd or a spare?....maybe used for data etc ?

Give us some detail...operating system, which Linux, which version....etc etc

Have a look at this....after you have given us some detail

 

[Deleted member 108694]

Try to fix any errors first

sudo fsck /dev/sdb

If that does not fix errors and you still cannot format it try

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M count=1

Check and be absolutely sure that the drive is sdb and double check before you hit Enter, get it wrong and you could wipe the wrong drive - once that is completed try creating a new partition with Gparted and reformat - that code will clear any invalid partitioning data

then check to see if there are any errors reported - Example: mkfs.ext4: Input/output error while writing out and closing file system

 

[yunoxge]

G'day yunoxge, Welcome to Linux.org

Why are you trying to wipe that hdd ?

Is it your main hdd or a spare?....maybe used for data etc ?

Give us some detail...operating system, which Linux, which version....etc etc

Have a look at this....after you have given us some detail

I'm trying to wipe it so I can use it. It's not letting me access the drive if I don't format it. And I got it from a data center, lyft to be specific. They tossed tons of 7.6 terabyte drives out to e-waste because they got better stuff. So there is probably some password needed to access the drive, but I don't know it. And also I'm running Ubuntu 20.04.

 

[yunoxge]

Try to fix any errors first

sudo fsck /dev/sdb

If that does not fix errors and you still cannot format it try

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M count=1

Check and be absolutely sure that the drive is sdb and double check before you hit Enter, get it wrong and you could wipe the wrong drive - once that is completed try creating a new partition with Gparted and reformat - that code will clear any invalid partitioning data

then check to see if there are any errors reported - Example: mkfs.ext4: Input/output error while writing out and closing file system

Sure, I'll give that a go right now. [Edit]

Here are the results:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M count=1

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M count=1

And also the disks do not show up in Gparted.

 

[Condobloke]

And I got it from a data center, lyft to be specific. They tossed tons of 7.6 terabyte drives out to e-waste because they got better stuff.

also, from your code above...:
the superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/3/4 filesystem
and therefore the superblock is corrupt
you may try running:
e2fsck -b 32768 <device>
or
e2fsck -b 8193 <device> (/dev/sdb )

have you tried those ?

 

[Condobloke]

If the results from those last 2 are not good/inconclusive ....I would be throwing the drives in the bin

They didn't off load those drives for no good reason.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

Since it is reporting a bad superblock - but it is also reporting a good possibility at 32768
Where it says sdb2 in the code below you may have to change that to the location of your drive - the command below will check and hopefully repair the superblock located at 32768 - note you may need sudo in front of the code

fsck -b 32768 /dev/sdb2

and post back the results - hopefully at the end it will say something like *****FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED**** which means that it may be fixed then we can try and mount the superblock

mount sb=32768 /dev/sdb2 /mnt

If the repaired superblock mounts then try to create a new partition and reformat the drive

 

[Brickwizard]

If you have a SATA to USB docking port or a cable kit, you can try connecting it that way, it may then be recognised as a USB drive, and you can then try using a USB formatter [like the one inbuilt in mint] to reformat it to XFats [not the quickest way but i have found it works most times, in the past]

 

[yunoxge]

I actually found the solution to this. This is probably very use case but these drives have PSID's on them. So if I take a look at one of the drives and input the PSID into a program, it unlocks the drive. So I think it was a form of really strong encryption, but they made a mistake leaving the PSID's on the drives. So I definitely learned something new today because I had no clue that existed.