Does anybody recognize this USB chip?

[Rkousbroek]

Hello. I have a fancy USB memory key, but it is virtually identify itself as:
1 CDFS (readonly) 12,6 GB
2 Removable Disk 1,78GB (FILESYSTEM: FAT32)

How can I take full use of it?
SMI USB DISK USB DEVICE

See pictures
Any info is welcome
PnP Device ID: VID = 046D PID = C52B
Serial Number: 6&&11A11C73&&0&&0001
Revision: 1100
Device Type: Standard USB device - USB2.0 Full-Speed (USB1.1)
Chip Vendor: (No match record)
Chip Part-Number: (No match record)

Many thanks and regards
Robert

 

[GokAy]

Searching SMI show it is Sun Microsystems, Inc. Does it hold anything important? If not, you can try to format it with NTFS in Disk Management or Partition Wizard free.

 

[Rkousbroek]

GokAy, only with the Removable Disk 1,78GB I can do what ever i like, format, etc, without any problems.
But I want convert this U3 behaviour and tricky device to a normal USB device so I can use the full 16 GB capacity again. The CDFS readonly part that contains the old, obsolete software is not listed in diskpart. Probably I have to use a kind of small utilility who can do this wiping. But there are so many different utilities. Maybe someone can help me pointing in the right direction? Many thanks and regards, Robert​

 

[GokAy]

Ok, try the tools listed here: Restore Your USB Key to it's original state | USB Pen Drive Linux bootice link gives 404 for me
Bootice here Download BOOTICE 64-Bit - MajorGeeks

If those fail, you can try imageusb Tools for OSForensics - ImageUSB - Write an image to multiple USB Flash Drives

 

[Rkousbroek]

GokaY. Thanks for your suggestion. I tried all. The first tools only recognize the removable disk. The other volume is still recognized as CD drive even under Linux. With the last tool ImageUSB it says imaging failed when selecting the CDFS volume.

 

[ComputerGeek]

Yea, CDFS means it's a U3 drive.

To my knowledge you can't reformat a U3 drive unless a utility to do so is provided by the manufacturer. For example, SanDisk provides tools to you switch back/forth between U3 and regular drives for only some of their devices. Many (most? IDK) manufacturers provide no such option at all

The device firmware won't allow that "CD" to be overwritten