Win 32 disk imager

[alahu]

Help!

Win 32 disk imager says: An error occurred when attempting to get a handle on the device. Error 5: Access is denied.

Please help just trying  get Pi SD ready!! :0)

[mahjongg]

Basic question, but are you sure the write protect tab of your SD-card is off?

[john_wage]

run as administrator

run in compatibility mode for Windows XP

[markb]

I had this, in the end the solution is to remove all partitions on the SD card before using win32diskimager. If you  have access to a windows 7 PC use diskpart, otherwise use gparted.

[john_wage]

@markb

that's interesting

@OP

if nothing else works you could always try UNetbootin instead.

[linker3000]

If you want to erase an SD card completely, there's an official tool from the SD Association here:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_3/

SD Formatter 3.1 for SD/SDHC/SDXC

This software formats all SD memory cards, SDHC memory cards and SDXC memory cards. SD Formatter provides quick and easy access to the full capabilities of your SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.

The SD Formatter was created specifically for memory cards using the SD/SDHC/SDXC standards. It is strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter instead of formatting utilities provided with operating systems that format various types of storage media. Using generic formatting utilities may result in less than optimal performance for your memory cards.

[jamesh]

linker3000 said:


If you want to erase an SD card completely, there's an official tool from the SD Association here:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_3/

SD Formatter 3.1 for SD/SDHC/SDXC

This software formats all SD memory cards, SDHC memory cards and SDXC memory cards. SD Formatter provides quick and easy access to the full capabilities of your SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.

The SD Formatter was created specifically for memory cards using the SD/SDHC/SDXC standards. It is strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter instead of formatting utilities provided with operating systems that format various types of storage media. Using generic formatting utilities may result in less than optimal performance for your memory cards.


Shame about the lack of a Linux version (that I could find)

[linker3000]

Yes - worth pointing out that the SD Association has tools for PC and Mac only - mind you, there's already a few good ways to obliterate an SD card in Linux.

[alahu]

linker3000 said:


Yes – worth pointing out that the SD Association has tools for PC and Mac only – mind you, there's already a few good ways to obliterate an SD card in Linux.


but how? i'm using ubuntu 11.10 LTS.

Do I also have to format the SD card in a particular ext format before putting Debian on it?

thanks in advance!

[RaTTuS]

alahu said:


linker3000 said:


Yes - worth pointing out that the SD Association has tools for PC and Mac only - mind you, there's already a few good ways to obliterate an SD card in Linux.


but how? i'm using ubuntu 11.10 LTS.

thanks in advance!


sudo fdisk /dev/sd[whatever the SD card is]

d 1

d 2

d 3

d 4

w

will clean it

[linker3000]

RaTTuS said:


alahu said:


linker3000 said:


Yes – worth pointing out that the SD Association has tools for PC and Mac only – mind you, there's already a few good ways to obliterate an SD card in Linux.


but how? i'm using ubuntu 11.10 LTS.

thanks in advance!


sudo fdisk /dev/sd[whatever the SD card is]

d 1

d 2

d 3

d 4

w

will clean it


True, but the dd command to will pretty much wipe the card as it writes the OS / partition image onto it.

alahu: No need to prep the card in any way if you're using the Linux 'dd' method to write the image.

[Chris.Rowland]

Problems with Win32Disklimager don't seen to be universal.  I've used it to copy various iso files to the same SD card with no problem and no need to do anything else.  The original problem could be because it needs to run as administrator, when I run it it asks for UAC elevation automatically.

[Joe Schmoe]

Chris, copying an .ISO (CD/DVD image file) to an SD card (presumably, FAT formatted from the factory) has nothing to do with what we are talking about here.

[alahu]

Thank you all so much.

Your advice has really helped me!

very grateful,

Alahu

[markb]

Chris Rowland said:


Problems with Win32Disklimager don't seen to be universal.  I've used it to copy various iso files to the same SD card with no problem and no need to do anything else.  The original problem could be because it needs to run as administrator, when I run it it asks for UAC elevation automatically.



I agree they aren't universal, but I've had problems (whether running as admin or not) trying to reburn SD cards that already had an image on them (e.g. trying to upgrade to the latest Debian image). The only way I found to resolve the issue was to remove all the partitions on the card before hand.

I tried under XP and win 7 - same problem.

[Chris.Rowland]

Joe Schmoe said:


Chris, copying an .ISO (CD/DVD image file) to an SD card (presumably, FAT formatted from the factory) has nothing to do with what we are talking about here.



I said I could write an ISO to a previously used SD card without doing anything else. If that's not what you are talking about then exactly what are you talking about.

Bear in mind that I only talk about what I have actually tried and have personal experience of, not unfounded speculation.

[J_Unkie]

If you want to erase an SD card completely, there's an official tool from the SD Association here:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_3/

SD Formatter 3.1 for SD/SDHC/SDXC

This software formats all SD memory cards, SDHC memory cards and SDXC memory cards. SD Formatter provides quick and easy access to the full capabilities of your SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.

Hey Guys, first time posting here as my Pi finally arrived this morning.

Like a child on Christmas morning!!

Anyway, I got this error this morning and used the SD formatter as @linker3000 suggested.


Win32 is about 50% there, I’m sure I’ll be back later for more advice, Thanks for the help!
J.

[clweeks]

Pi just arrived. I'm using a brand new 8GB SD with Amazon's brand. Win32 Disk Imager was giving me an error 5 until I did a format with the SDFormater tool. Worked like a charm. Thanks to you guys above for making things so easy!

[hamiltonjames]

Just had the Error 5 access is denied. I suspected that something else had a lock on the drive, so I closed down all explorer windows etc. Then also realised I had a defrag job running on C: drive. Turned this off and it worked fine. Guess you just need to look for anything that may be accessing your SD card drive and close the app down.

[domnerus]

I also had a problem with error 5, but after formatting with SFormatter, the problem has gone

[Baruch Atta]

I needed to use SD Formatter to format the SD also. Seems cruel that the Win32 Disk Imager could not format the disk for me.

[robpi]

I am using windows 7 home premium sp 1. Tried to create image on 2 different sd cards both of which had been formatted using the sd card format software mentioned on this forum. win32 disk imager still created the same error messages on startup and on trying to write. Errors 5 and 8. Starting as administrator didn't work and neither did running compatibility mode using several compatible options. As a final resort i shut down the pc and started it in safe mode so that no other programs would be accessing the sd card reader. This worked. I might suggest that if the user's are having problems similar to my own that they try using safe mode. Programs such as mobile phone software/camera software/music stuff can all still be running even if you think not. If you have followed the instructions for creating the image then the problem probably lies with your own pc and the software on it? I cannot be sure that safe mode is the only solution, however after everything else failed, it worked for me. Safe mode is accessed by f8 on startup....

[Beat Scientist]

I had the same problem 'error 5' ...after doing a quick search I found this thread and the solution I was looking for.

....Having tested the cards 'writability', switched to admin account and a I found that a quick format using SDFormatter the Error 5 message vanished and Win32DiskImager can now write to the SD card.

I think maybe you should add a side note to the beginner's guide (e.g have SDF on hand incase you get hit with Error 5) ^_^

[excollier]

I got error 5 and "can't get a handle" while trying to back up my os for future re-use.

[gelfling6]

I had to do similar, removing the partitions from the card manually.. I used a USB-Sticked 'Ultimate Edition UBUNTU' on the laptop, and fed the card to Disk Utility, removing all shown partitions, then re-formatting it with a single FAT-32... Very odd..