USB Flash Drive not working

[tnsmart]

So I have a 128GB flash drive that I bought on eBay a while ago that is no longer working. It had been working fine in both Mac OS and Windows, however it will no longer show up in Finder or Disk Utility. It does, however show up in USB Prober and System Profiler. In Windows, it won't show up but sounds are emitted when I pull it out or plug it in. Of interest, it is a Kingston drive but System Profiler lists the manufacturer as Alcor Micro.

Any ideas how I can get the drive to work? Thanks.

 

[tnsmart]

Anybody? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[MisterMe]

Anybody? Any help is greatly appreciated.

You say that you bought a 128 GB USB Flash drive on eBay? Which brand?

 

[tnsmart]

Thanks for the reply. As I said above, it is a Kingston drive but System Profiler lists the manufacturer as Alcor Micro.

 

[184550]

Thanks for the reply. As I said above, it is a Kingston drive but System Profiler lists the manufacturer as Alcor Micro.

Are you using it for any special applications/ purposes?

SMI is the largest supplier of controller chips. They are nice quality chips, yet, in our experience, have not worked properly for specialized applications (medical devices, exercise machine data storage, audio streaming machines).

and

Alcor Micro is very similar to SMI – quality made, low failure rate, may not work for specialized applications.

FWIW, first hit after googling 'alcor micro failure rate'.

 

[tnsmart]

Are you using it for any special applications/ purposes?

Nope, I've just used it to transfer files between computers.

Thanks for the info, but I'm still looking for a solution to the problem.

 

[atlanticza]

Perhaps?

Like all flash memory devices, flash drives can sustain only a limited number of write and erase cycles before failure.

 

[tnsmart]

Like all flash memory devices, flash drives can sustain only a limited number of write and erase cycles before failure.

Good thought, but I've actually only used this drive a few times, far less than the other USB flash drives that i have had. It's practically brand new.

 

[techkingston08]

You can try formatting the drive to correct the problem. I like to use HP USB Disk Storage Format. Google this and you will see sites offering free downloads. If it is something to do with the file system it will correct it. If the problem is hardware then nothing will help you.

If you bought a 128GB from Ebay, that is labeled Kingston on the outside, yet System Profiler says it is Alcor Micro, then the real reason it is failing is that it is a counterfeit drive. There are lots of counterfeits being sold on Ebay that are labeled as Kingston DT200/128GB or DT200/256GB.

 

[tnsmart]

Thanks for the help. I'm pretty sure that it is a hardware problem. It is a DataTraveler 200. Though I only bought it for about $20, the packaging and drive seemed completely legitimate until now. Guess I learned my lesson.