# etcher fails to image a sd card **URL:** \ **Category:** balenaEtcher\ **Created:** [July 15, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387 "2020-07-15T17:57:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![asdffdsa6131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@asdffdsa6131](https://forums.balena.io/u/asdffdsa6131)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/1 "2020-07-15T17:57:37Z")
hello and thanks, each time i run etcher, it fails to image the sdcard. and all i get is generic pop-up message. no error number, no log file ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/balena/original/2X/3/3aab31e922ad610c043dac99f38a464a49f438b2.png) thanks much, david ---
**Author:** ![AlidaOdendaal](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/alidaodendaal/32/1641_2.png) [@AlidaOdendaal](https://forums.balena.io/u/AlidaOdendaal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/3 "2020-07-15T18:58:10Z")
Hi @asdffdsa6131 Welcome to forums! In order to help us get to the root of the problem, will you please send us the following information: - On which operating system are you running balenaEtcher? - Which version of balenaEtcher are you using? - Do you get the same error when trying to write the image to different sd cards? - Do you get the same error if you try to write a different image to the sd card, or is it only failing for a particular image? Thank you, and kind regards Alida ---
**Author:** ![AlidaOdendaal](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/alidaodendaal/32/1641_2.png) [@AlidaOdendaal](https://forums.balena.io/u/AlidaOdendaal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/4 "2020-07-15T19:12:39Z")
Also, @asdffdsa6131, can you please share what you see when accessing the console logs? You can access these by pressing Ctrl+Shift+i (or Cmd+Alt+i if you’re on Mac OS). Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![asdffdsa6131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@asdffdsa6131](https://forums.balena.io/u/asdffdsa6131)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/6 "2020-07-15T19:15:16Z")
thanks, - On which operating system are you running balenaEtcher? `win.10.2004.64` - Which version of balenaEtcher are you using? `balenaEtcher-Portable-1.5.101.exe` - Do you get the same error when trying to write the image to different sd cards? `yes, all three sdcards i have tried, two are brand new. windows can read the sdcard, format the sdcard, copy files to the sdcard. computer management has no problem with the sdcard.` - Do you get the same error if you try to write a different image to the sd card, or is it only failing for a particular image? `yes` for any image and iso that i try. ---
**Author:** ![asdffdsa6131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@asdffdsa6131](https://forums.balena.io/u/asdffdsa6131)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/7 "2020-07-15T19:18:48Z")
thanks gui.js:82328 \_\_\_\_\_ \_ \_ | _**| | | | | | **| |_ _** | |** \_\_\_ \_ \_\_ | **|| / | ’ \ / \_ \ '| | |**| || (__| | | |**/ | \_**_/ \__\_\_\_|_| |_|\_\_\_|_| Interested in joining the Etcher team? Drop us a line at [join+etcher@balena.io](mailto:join+etcher@balena.io) Version = 1.5.101, Type = portable gui.js:132997 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:15:42 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Application start ({“packageType”:“portable”,“version”:“1.5.101”,“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:15:45 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Open image selector ({“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:15:48 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Image selector closed ({“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:15:54 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Open image selector ({“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:15:55 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Select image ({“image”:{“size”:1853882368,“name”:“2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf.img”,“hasMBR”:true,“partitions”:[{“offset”:4194304,“size”:268435456,“type”:12,“index”:1},{“offset”:272629760,“size”:1581252608,“type”:131,“index”:2}],“path”:“C:\data\l\pi\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf.img”,“extension”:“img”,“logo”:false,“blockMap”:false},“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:15:59 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Toggle drive ({“drive”:{“size”:31247564800,“isVirtual”:false,“enumerator”:“USBSTOR”,“logicalBlockSize”:512,“raw”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“error”:null,“isReadOnly”:false,“displayName”:“D:\”,“blockSize”:512,“isSCSI”:false,“isRemovable”:true,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“busVersion”:“2.0”,“isSystem”:false,“busType”:“USB”,“isCard”:false,“isUSB”:true,“devicePath”:null,“mountpoints”:[{“path”:“D:\”}],“description”:“SDHC Card”,“isUAS”:false},“previouslySelected”:false,“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:16:01 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Flash ({“image”:“C:\data\l\pi\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf.img”,“drives”:[{“size”:31247564800,“isVirtual”:false,“enumerator”:“USBSTOR”,“logicalBlockSize”:512,“raw”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“error”:null,“isReadOnly”:false,“displayName”:“D:\”,“blockSize”:512,“isSCSI”:false,“isRemovable”:true,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“busVersion”:“2.0”,“isSystem”:false,“busType”:“USB”,“isCard”:false,“isUSB”:true,“devicePath”:null,“mountpoints”:[{“path”:“D:\”}],“description”:“SDHC Card”,“isUAS”:false}],“driveCount”:1,“uuid”:“1b7c99ba-5598-4efd-989c-7dbbe1ff65db”,“status”:“started”,“flashInstanceUuid”:“1b7c99ba-5598-4efd-989c-7dbbe1ff65db”,“unmountOnSuccess”:true,“validateWriteOnSuccess”:true,“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Elevating command: C:\data\l\pi\1eS4mlRBEowgJodugL6Y7Ada4H4\balenaEtcher.exe C:\data\l\pi\1eS4mlRBEowgJodugL6Y7Ada4H4\resources\app gui.js:125699 Successfully connected to IPC server: etcher-server-6728, socket root C:\Users\user01\AppData\Local\Temp gui.js:125699 Image: C:\data\l\pi\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf.img gui.js:125699 Devices: \.\PhysicalDrive1 gui.js:125699 Umount on success: true gui.js:125699 Validate on success: true gui.js:125699 Auto blockmapping: true gui.js:125699 Decompress first: true gui.js:7847 0 devices, 0% at 0.00 MB/s (total 0.00 MB/s) with 0 failed devices gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:16:02 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) SafeWebview loaded ({“event”:{“id”:1,“url”:“[https://assets.balena.io/etcher-featured/index.html?borderRight=false&darkBackground=true&etcher-version=1.5.101&api-version=2&optOutAnalytics=true",“method”:“GET”,“timestamp”:1594840562694.341,“resourceType”:“mainFrame”,“ip”:“104.31.82.157”,“fromCache”:false,“statusLine”:"HTTP/1.1](https://assets.balena.io/etcher-featured/index.html?borderRight=false&darkBackground=true&etcher-version=1.5.101&api-version=2&optOutAnalytics=true%22,%22method%22:%22GET%22,%22timestamp%22:1594840562694.341,%22resourceType%22:%22mainFrame%22,%22ip%22:%22104.31.82.157%22,%22fromCache%22:false,%22statusLine%22:%22HTTP/1.1) 200”,“statusCode”:200,“responseHeaders”:{“access-control-allow-origin”:["\*"],“age”:[“0”],“cache-control”:[“max-age=600”],“cf-cache-status”:[“DYNAMIC”],“cf-ray”:[“5b35d0cceddbf060-EWR”],“cf-request-id”:[“03f580d4130000f0609fac1200000001”],“content-encoding”:[“br”],“content-type”:[“text/html; charset=utf-8”],“date”:[“Wed, 15 Jul 2020 19:16:02 GMT”],“expect-ct”:[“max-age=604800, report-uri=“[https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct](https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct)””],“expires”:[“Wed, 15 Jul 2020 14:15:35 GMT”],“last-modified”:[“Wed, 17 Jun 2020 21:19:41 GMT”],“server”:[“cloudflare”],“status”:[“200”],“vary”:[“Accept-Encoding”],“via”:[“1.1 varnish”],“x-cache”:[“HIT”],“x-cache-hits”:[“1”],“x-fastly-request-id”:[“8c75679cc68d686712279e3ec0e1fdb958a02e08”],“x-github-request-id”:[“B752:340F:18D79D:1E79B2:5F0F0D2E”],“x-origin-cache”:[“HIT”],“x-proxy-cache”:[“MISS”],“x-served-by”:[“cache-ewr18156-EWR”],“x-timer”:[“S1594840563.722818,VS0,VE42”]},“referrer”:"",“error”:“net::OK”},“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:16:07 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Flash error ({“image”:“C:\data\l\pi\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf.img”,“drives”:[{“size”:31247564800,“isVirtual”:false,“enumerator”:“USBSTOR”,“logicalBlockSize”:512,“raw”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“error”:null,“isReadOnly”:false,“displayName”:“D:\”,“blockSize”:512,“isSCSI”:false,“isRemovable”:true,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“busVersion”:“2.0”,“isSystem”:false,“busType”:“USB”,“isCard”:false,“isUSB”:true,“devicePath”:null,“mountpoints”:[{“path”:“D:\”}],“description”:“SDHC Card”,“isUAS”:false}],“driveCount”:1,“uuid”:“1b7c99ba-5598-4efd-989c-7dbbe1ff65db”,“flashInstanceUuid”:“1b7c99ba-5598-4efd-989c-7dbbe1ff65db”,“unmountOnSuccess”:true,“validateWriteOnSuccess”:true,“error”:{“name”:“Error”,“message”:“EPERM: operation not permitted, write”,“stack”:“Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, write”,“code”:“EPERM”,“syscall”:“write”,“errno”:-4048},“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) gui.js:125699 Finish: 0 gui.js:125699 Terminating IPC server gui.js:125699 Flash results Object gui.js:125699 Wed Jul 15 2020 15:16:10 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Write failed ({“image”:“C:\data\l\pi\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf\2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf.img”,“drives”:[{“size”:31247564800,“isVirtual”:false,“enumerator”:“USBSTOR”,“logicalBlockSize”:512,“raw”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“error”:null,“isReadOnly”:false,“displayName”:“D:\”,“blockSize”:512,“isSCSI”:false,“isRemovable”:true,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive1",“busVersion”:“2.0”,“isSystem”:false,“busType”:“USB”,“isCard”:false,“isUSB”:true,“devicePath”:null,“mountpoints”:[{“path”:“D:\”}],“description”:“SDHC Card”,“isUAS”:false}],“driveCount”:1,“uuid”:“1b7c99ba-5598-4efd-989c-7dbbe1ff65db”,“status”:“failed”,“flashInstanceUuid”:“1b7c99ba-5598-4efd-989c-7dbbe1ff65db”,“unmountOnSuccess”:true,“validateWriteOnSuccess”:true,“error”:{“description”:“Please try again, and contact the Etcher team if the problem persists”,“report”:false,“code”:“ECHILDDIED”},“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“7d2cf7cb-746c-43b3-91dd-a3671bb7be7a”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“ff15a48b-adbb-4a08-9629-c283ea1f48fc”}) ---
**Author:** ![asdffdsa6131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@asdffdsa6131](https://forums.balena.io/u/asdffdsa6131)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/8 "2020-07-15T20:11:03Z")
so this is not just an etcher problem. i have tried a few other tools and they all fail. ---
**Author:** ![saintaardvark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/saintaardvark/32/3390_2.png) [@saintaardvark](https://forums.balena.io/u/saintaardvark)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/9 "2020-07-15T20:50:02Z")
Hi @asdffdsa6131 – thanks for the additional info. I just want to clarify one point to make sure I understand correctly: at the end of your message, you say “so this is not just an etcher problem. i have tried a few other tools and they all fail.” Can you confirm: - You have tried to flash the original SD card that gave you problems (call this “card A”), using Etcher, and that does not work. - You have tried to flash card A, using tools _other_ than Etcher, and that does not work either. - You have tried to flash additional SD cards (call them “cards B, C and D”) using Etcher, and that does not work – you get the same error you posted above. - You _have_ successfully _formatted_ cards B, C and D using Windows standard tools. Can you please confirm whether I got all that right? Assuming for the moment that I do: can you try a couple of workarounds and see if they work for you? - [Windows 10 Ransomware Protection](https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2757#issuecomment-523714401) - [Windows Defender, Controlled Folder Access](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-1-5-5-windows-writer-process-problem/5519/27) Thanks, and please let us know how it goes. All the best, Hugh ---
**Author:** ![asdffdsa6131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@asdffdsa6131](https://forums.balena.io/u/asdffdsa6131)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/11 "2020-07-15T21:47:32Z")
thanks @AlidaOdendaal thanks @saintaardvark working now by tweaking `allow an app through controler folder access` never had such a problem before with win10. been using yumi, rufus and so many tools for many years. just now, when i tried to use yumi, i got an error message, could not change boot record. so that might be the exact issue, that windows now considers boot sectors are system protected. i recently updated to win10.2004, perhaps that update tightened the security, more than in the past and i checked the list of protected folders and usb and sd cards drives are not listed. but states that windows system folders are protected by default. but i found this in the list of block history ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/balena/original/2X/5/534d2a568f25b966650ffe0e14af5d797b134c6e.png) ---
**Author:** ![saintaardvark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/saintaardvark/32/3390_2.png) [@saintaardvark](https://forums.balena.io/u/saintaardvark)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/12 "2020-07-15T22:04:36Z")
Hi @asdffdsa6131 – glad to hear this has resolved your problems! Thanks again for lettingus know about this. All the best, Hugh ---
**Author:** ![wellsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e47c2d/32.png) [@wellsight](https://forums.balena.io/u/wellsight)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/14 "2020-07-31T15:26:01Z")
I get the same error immediately and at 100% on older Sony Viao laptop running windows 10. Tried several OSs for my Raspberry pi 4 The only success was the Raspian imager loading Raspian OS. ---
**Author:** ![asdffdsa6131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@asdffdsa6131](https://forums.balena.io/u/asdffdsa6131)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/etcher-fails-to-image-a-sd-card/155387/15 "2020-07-31T15:46:40Z")
hello, so you tried all the suggestions in this post and none of them worked? i am runnning ubuntu on my my pi4, runs great and it is 64bit, not 32bit.