stuck at "Syncing File system..." on new USB setup?

[Jaburges]

Could be a weird quirk as I also had 2 Sandisk USB 3.0 32Gb sticks I was trying - 1 worked one did not. Copying over the files manually didn't work either as wouldn't boot so looked at the one that DID boot and noticed EFI was named differently.

 

I didn't think I had done anything differently, the USB creator tool was the same - but the folder was named `EFI-` on the one that didn't work. renamed that to `EFI` and worked fine. So very odd, sharing in case anyone else had a similar issue.

File contents from `unRAIDServer-6.8.3-x86_64.zip` 

[adouglas1880]

Hi Guys, I'm just a novice chiming in with what worked for me so that others can know.

 

I'm using Sandisk 16Gb Cruzer Fit USB Flash Drive: product webpage for clarity [https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-cruzer-fit-usb-2-0#SDCZ33-016G-A46]

 

I've broken it down into steps, so that I can follow along should I need to do this again myself :-

Step 1
Using Disk Management [Win10Pro] delete current partition and create partition with only 12 Gb
Step 2
Name USB stick UNRAID
Step 3
Manually copy contents of unraid zip package directly to USB stick.
Step 4
Open administrator level command prompt and navigate to USB stick & run make_bootable.bat

 

I tested this procedure on 2 of these drives and using the above methodology it worked both times where simply using the tool and the "renaming trick" (as I've come to think of it) alone didn't work.

 

I've also succesfully used the tool on generic USB sticks without any problem at all.

[trurl]

6 minutes ago, adouglas1880 said:

Sandisk 16Gb Cruzer Fit USB Flash Drive

That's exactly what I have in both of my servers and they've been working fine for years.

6 minutes ago, adouglas1880 said:

create partition with only 12 Gb

Don't know why and I never did but if it works for you fine.

[adouglas1880]

7 minutes ago, trurl said:

That's exactly what I have in both of my servers and they've been working fine for years.

Don't know why and I never did but if it works for you fine.

Yep, it's puzzling that it worked where nothing else seems to, but that's why I've tested it so many times here with these particular sticks.

I've setup fine with every other usb stick I've used, but I wanted that nice "flush finish" to deploy with.

Still unsure if this is going to have any long term issues, but I'll definitely update if anything goes wrong.

[pokes]

On 7/23/2020 at 11:25 PM, adouglas1880 said:

delete current partition and create partition with only 12 Gb

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2341430

[Splash]

I found the renaming my Sandisk 16Gb Cruzer Fit USB Flash Drive to UNRAID while the creator was running did the trick. A note the creator was last updated in May 2019. Even running the creator as Administrator made no difference on my windows 10 PC. Deleting Partitions etc also did nothing to solve this issue.

 

[threiner]

I find it very disturbing that after over two years Unraid has nit fixed this problem, it is a paid software, so i think it is fair to expect a working creator tool. I have used 10 different USB Sticks and only on old one with just 2 GB worked, all the the new good brands get stuck. Very very poor performance

[ChatNoir]

A new tool has been developed (or is being developed ?) :

 

We have to wait for it to be released.

Edited October 20, 2020 by ChatNoir

[Squid]

7 hours ago, threiner said:

I find it very disturbing that after over two years Unraid has nit fixed this problem, it is a paid software, so i think it is fair to expect a working creator tool. I have used 10 different USB Sticks and only on old one with just 2 GB worked, all the the new good brands get stuck. Very very poor performance

Easiest way outside of the creator, is to simply format the drive as FAT32, name it unRaid, download the zip and extract the files then run make_bootable as administrator.

 

But, there is a video somewhere around here that does go through how to solve the problem with the syncing forever on the flash drive.

[threiner]

23 hours ago, Squid said:

Easiest way outside of the creator, is to simply format the drive as FAT32, name it unRaid, download the zip and extract the files then run make_bootable as administrator.

 

But, there is a video somewhere around here that does go through how to solve the problem with the syncing forever on the flash drive.

Sure is no problem to do that for me, but i had for example recomanded Unraid to many friends, and they are not very fit with IT they would need to have a working tool to use unraid. so most of them gave up before even installing.

[JonathanM]

5 hours ago, threiner said:

Sure is no problem to do that for me, but i had for example recomanded Unraid to many friends, and they are not very fit with IT they would need to have a working tool to use unraid. so most of them gave up before even installing.

Unfortunately I don't think Unraid is to the point of being safe to use for people with no desire to learn some IT skills.

[slipstream]

 

 

Hi All,

After watching the SpaceInvader One video in the YouTube link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjkaidlZmgs

 

I orderered from Amazon the exact same Samsung 32GB flash drive he recommends in his YouTube video.

 

I then followed the steps shown in the SpaceInvader One YouTube video in the link below to mount the ZIP backup to my new Samsung 32GB flash drive:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEkgAhFI_GM

 

Unfortunately, I hit a brick wall with the Unraid USB FLash Creator getting stuck at "Syncing file system" as shown in JPG below:

 

 

Long story short, I had to spend a lot more time completing this simple task due to SpaceInvader One making no mention of this stuck on "Syncing file system" problem on any of his two YouTube videos shown in the two links above.  I find such erroneous information from SpaceInvader One to be totally counter productive. Doesn't he test his videos?

 

Fortunately, what ended up working for me is shown in the YouTube Video link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEkgAhFI_GM

 

Lastly, I wish LimeTech would update their USB Flash Creator app so it supports the 32GB USB Flash drive SpaceInvader One recommends upgrading to.  

 

Just my two cents.

 

 

 

 

[2Piececombo]

Set up a new unraid server today, and once again ran into this issue.

 

Weird thing for me is that it's not a matter of which USB drive you use, or which port you plug into, its the computer running the creator tool. My main PC simply WILL NOT run through the tool successfully, and each previous time I've used another computer to do it. Found the video that someone posted about reformatting/renaming the drive mid-flash and it worked. Can't believe that after this many years of this being a problem, the creators of an entire operating system have not found a fix for this? Kinda blows me away that you can make an amazing server OS, but not a tool that installs it properly? lol

Anyway the formatting option does work. Never bothered with the manual way, because why would I when theres a tool to do it for me

[AlexON]

Hi

 

I am having the same problem as @slipstream. I am running UNRAID USB Creator on MAC and the application hangs on "syncing file system ...". An idea ?

 

Or

 

I formatted my key in FAT32 and renamed UNRAID. I copied the whole archive to the stick, and when I run make_bootable_mac, it gives me this.

 

Last login: Sun Aug  8 12:52:44 on ttys000

[email protected] ~ % /Volumes/UNRAID/make_bootable_mac

INFO: make_bootable_mac v1.3

 

INFO: The following drive appears to be the unRAID USB Flash drive:

/dev/disk4

4.0GB

 

Permit UEFI boot mode [Y/N]: Y

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/ldlinux.c32: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/libcom32.c32: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/libutil.c32: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_linux.sh: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_mac.sh: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/mboot.c32: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/mbr.bin: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/menu.c32: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/syslinux: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/syslinux.cfg: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/syslinux.cfg-: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/syslinux.exe: Permission denied

cp: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/syslinux_linux: Permission denied

To continue please enter your admin Password:

sudo: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_mac.sh: command not found

[email protected] ~ %

 

or

 

with the sudo command

 

[email protected] ~ % sudo /Volumes/UNRAID/make_bootable_mac

INFO: make_bootable_mac v1.3

 

INFO: The following drive appears to be the unRAID USB Flash drive:

/dev/disk4

4.0GB

 

Permit UEFI boot mode [Y/N]: Y

To continue please enter your admin sudo: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_mac.sh: command not found

[email protected] ~ %

 

Thank you

Edited August 8, 2021 by AlexON

[ChaLug]

On 12/20/2018 at 6:36 AM, psych_0xd said:

I also recently had this issue, right as i was about to try the manual way, i renamed the usb to "UNRAID" as per what it requires, i had forgot to close the usb installer, and as soon as i renamed it, it worked. In my case, the usb drive had no name at all, and adding a name fixed it. hope this helps someone!

 

Wow! I read through this forum thread and was about to try two things:

 

1) try a different computer

2) do it the manual way

 

Then I read your post. I started the USB Creator tool again, selected to clear and write, and then when it stopped at the syncing message, I went to File Explorer and renamed the USB, and then the tool continued and finished!

 

Nice!

[WeeZeeNed]

 

This worked for me

[HDT]

On 10/7/2019 at 7:57 PM, KazeNoTachi said:

Confirmed That renaming the drive while it's stuck at "syncing the filesystem" worked for me. It "unstuck" immediately. Crucial 4GB gizmo.

 

I was having this same issue on my Alienware M17xR4 laptop.  I tried the USB 3.0 ports and 2.0 port and it still got stuck.

 

When the Creator gets stuck, open up a Windows Explorer window and rename the device to "UNRAID".

 

It worked flawless after thank.

 

The USB drive I'm using is a Samsung BAR Plus 32GB.

[craigr]

On 10/20/2020 at 4:15 PM, Squid said:

Easiest way outside of the creator, is to simply format the drive as FAT32, name it unRaid, download the zip and extract the files then run make_bootable as administrator.

 

But, there is a video somewhere around here that does go through how to solve the problem with the syncing forever on the flash drive.

The new creator actually worked for me for the first time ever a few weeks ago.  I've always had to just do it manually.  If I ever have the issue again I'll try the renaming trick, but the problem seems to be solved now.

[HDT]

🔺WARNING!🔺

 

I used the "renaming trick" when I had the same issue as OP.  However, after a while, my drive became corrupted.

 

This may never happen to your drive, but there is a possibility that this trick may result in some issues with the drive.

 

If you use this trick, then make sure you made regular backups of your USB stick.

Edited June 7, 2022 by HDT

[Lacy]

On 12/20/2018 at 7:36 AM, psych_0xd said:

I also recently had this issue, right as i was about to try the manual way, i renamed the usb to "UNRAID" as per what it requires, i had forgot to close the usb installer, and as soon as i renamed it, it worked. In my case, the usb drive had no name at all, and adding a name fixed it. hope this helps someone!

This worked for me as well

[bobbintb]

I just replaced a flash drive and had this same issue. The renaming trick fixed it. It seems it does not rename the flash drive to UNRAID in some cases. My old drive that was already named UNRAID worked but my new one didn't.

[HawkZ]

This thread is over 4.5 years old and issue still looks like it has not been addressed.  Maybe someone listening can add additional instruction to the wiki or the downloader page for the USB Creator, considering the wiki now tells windows users to just use that.  I just created a new USB drive as well and had this issue.  Had to perform manual steps as others in this video:

 

[dev_guy]

On 10/22/2022 at 8:31 AM, HawkZ said:

This thread is over 4.5 years old and issue still looks like it has not been addressed.  Maybe someone listening can add additional instruction to the wiki or the downloader page for the USB Creator, considering the wiki now tells windows users to just use that.  I just created a new USB drive as well and had this issue.  Had to perform manual steps as others in this video:

 

 

I have to also ask why this hasn't been fixed after 4 years? I just tried to re-install Unraid on the same flash drive for a clean 6.11.3 install and it got stuck, as always, until I renamed the drive WHILE the installer is still running which is completely counter-intuitive. Honestly, 4 years of forcing people to use workarounds for this? If I were new to Unraid it might put me off ever even trying it. I wonder how many would be paying users gave up when the installer hung which does nothing to inspire confidence in Unraid.

Edited November 9, 2022 by dev_guy