Phil Meyer wrote:
Mike wrote:
Does anyone have (or had) a usbkey which comes with U3 launchpad
software?
If so do you know if it is possible to remove the U3 stuff from the
usbkey within
Fedora alone. I know that there is a Windows package that will do it
but if you have a machine with only F8 on it can one still get rid of
the U3 stuff
and then reformat the usbkey to put an ext3 file system on it?
These U3 files in their peculiar CDROM-like partition seem to be
un-removable
even by root!
You need to stomp the stupid MBR on those:
as root:
# cat /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin >/dev/sdX
where sdX = appropriate drive. Don't stomp on your other drives!
That file is installed as a part of the syslinux rpm.
#yum install syslinux
First if you need to.
Once you stomp on the MBR:
# sync
remove the device,
plug the device back in,
and have at it with fdisk, or parted, or gparted, or whichever one you
prefer.
Good Luck!
I tried this last night on a SanDisk Cruzer Titanium. No success. I
then tried dd, fdisk, sfdisk, parted and gparted. No success. Anything
trying to write to the MBR got an error.
I gave up and brought it in to work and had an a Windows user remove it.
I did create an account on the u3 web site and file my complaints. The
normal response is that it is a feature and look to purchase a different
stick. Also you didn't read the package. My SanDisk package clearly
states that it works with Linux.
Thinking about it last night, I figured out this is the cause of my
daughters headaches. The stick mounts two drives in Windows, Macs as
well as Linux. If you want to safely remove a drive, you have to remove
two devices. This happened with the IT person yesterday.
Also, found this out this morning. If you erase the partition that you
have access to, the launchpad software pukes. It won't run and thus
saves your Windows friend from getting bits of the "spyware" software on
their system.
For those that don't know, here is the pusher of this spyware or root
kit software. I have read a few articles about installing key grabber
software on the U3 partition and using in a public computer.
www.u3.com
I have downloaded the uninstaller twice and wrote my feelings in their
box on my concerns.
--
Robin Laing
