# Validation keeps Failing on SD **URL:** \ **Category:** balenaEtcher\ **Tags:** support, sdcard\ **Created:** [June 30, 2021, 6:54am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039 "2021-06-30T06:54:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![b14ckj4ck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@b14ckj4ck](https://forums.balena.io/u/b14ckj4ck)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 6:54am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/1 "2021-06-30T06:54:05Z")
I got some problems with my Pinebook so I flashed Armbian onto my SD card an everything worked fine. Armbian didn’t fully solved my problems so I tried to flash the original OS (Manjaro) to my SD but it failed at Validation. So I tried Kali, Debian, another Manjaro build and all of the sudden Armbian again, but everything keeps failing. Also armbian although it used to work without any problems. Etcher Console doesn’t give me any helpful information. ---
**Author:** ![Wb7odyFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/97f17d/32.png) [@Wb7odyFred](https://forums.balena.io/u/Wb7odyFred)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:07am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/3 "2021-06-30T07:07:16Z")
“Fails at Validation” That means that there is an error in the SD card image. The image written does NOT MATCH the image read from the SD card. ie they are not identical. So try another SD card, you might have this SD card failing its memory in one spot. ---
**Author:** ![b14ckj4ck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@b14ckj4ck](https://forums.balena.io/u/b14ckj4ck)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:11am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/4 "2021-06-30T07:11:21Z")
I did, I’ve tried my SDHC and SDXC, both are Sandisk but I can’t tell you the exact model atm, I’m at work. Should I get an “better” brand? ---
**Author:** ![Wb7odyFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/97f17d/32.png) [@Wb7odyFred](https://forums.balena.io/u/Wb7odyFred)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:59am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/5 "2021-06-30T07:59:35Z")
I have heard to NOT USE Sandisk SD cards from a raspberry pi forum. I think Sandisk is a fine product, but must have some problem when used as a boot disk for a device. Look at Samsung SD cards or other Manufactures cards. Nice back and forth on [Etcher.io](http://Etcher.io) writing to SD cards. Turns out all the SD cards were fake except the 8 gigabyte SD card that worked fine. [https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=237611](https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=237611) ---
**Author:** ![ntzovanis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/ntzovanis/32/1150_2.png) [@ntzovanis](https://forums.balena.io/u/ntzovanis)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/6 "2021-06-30T16:01:24Z")
Hello @b14ckj4ck , So from what I can understand, these are the steps you followed: - Flashed Armbian on an SD card (using Etcher?) - Tried re-flashing the same SD card with Manjaro and it fails at validation. - Tried re-flashing the same SD card with Kali, Debian, etc. They all failed at validation step. Please correct me if any of the above isn’t correct. If you’re using Windows to flash the SD card, you might be hitting [this known issue](https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/3197). Have you tried flashing the same SD card from Linux (or MacOS)? If the problem is what I linked above, another option would be to try using the SD card even if it can’t be validated. Let us know how that works. Cheers, Nico. ---
**Author:** ![b14ckj4ck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@b14ckj4ck](https://forums.balena.io/u/b14ckj4ck)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/8 "2021-06-30T17:47:27Z")
@ntzovanis Half-correct. The steps are correct (tough I formated between re-flashing) but I’ve tried it with 2 different SD cards. I have to take a look if i can flash an USB with debian for example to try on linux. It seems like it is the same comparison issue as you mentioned but out of nowhere with an SD that just worked? I’ll give it a try and let you know as soon as I finished or failed. -Florian Update: I just got home and tried my 64GB sandisk sd again, just for fun. The interesting thing is, even tough it showed me “flash failed” it managed to validate to 100% and the sd card works. Here’s my console log Verifying 1 device, 100% at 11.00 MB/s (total 11.00 MB/s) eta in 0s with 0 failed devices gui.js:42737 Wed Jun 30 2021 19:47:55 GMT+0200 (Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit) Flash error ({“image”:{“size”:5887754240,“compressedSize”:1257573092,“hasMBR”:true,“path”:“C:\Users\floje\Downloads\Manjaro-ARM-kde-plasma-pbpro-21.06.img.xz”,“partitions”:[{“offset”:32000000,“size”:224000512,“type”:“EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7”,“guid”:“3C86890B-8EA1-4368-886C-09377B746452”,“name”:“primary”,“index”:1},{“offset”:256000512,“size”:5631736832,“type”:“0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4”,“guid”:“3D2CE76C-0ACB-464E-8CD5-01694C894836”,“name”:“primary”,“index”:2}],“isCompressed”:true,“name”:“Manjaro-ARM-kde-plasma-pbpro-21.06.img”,“isSizeEstimated”:false,“extension”:“xz”},“drives”:[{“size”:63864569856,“isVirtual”:false,“enumerator”:“USBSTOR”,“logicalBlockSize”:512,“raw”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive3",“error”:null,“isReadOnly”:false,“displayName”:“E:\”,“blockSize”:512,“isSCSI”:false,“isRemovable”:true,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive3",“busVersion”:“2.0”,“isSystem”:false,“busType”:“USB”,“isCard”:false,“isUSB”:true,“devicePath”:null,“mountpoints”:[{“path”:“E:\”}],“description”:“CARDER READER USB Device”,“isUAS”:false,“partitionTableType”:“mbr”}],“driveCount”:1,“uuid”:“e1139c34-e825-4e7a-8583-bb6f349be2d0”,“flashInstanceUuid”:“e1139c34-e825-4e7a-8583-bb6f349be2d0”,“error”:{“name”:“Error”,“message”:“Unmount failed”,“stack”:“Error: Unmount failed”},“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“25e260da-34e5-4059-99ff-ebe2dc69be01”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“b9af5b6e-70f4-4efd-9ee6-0a61f55a7872”}) gui.js:42737 Finish: 5887754240 gui.js:42737 Terminating IPC server gui.js:42737 Flash results {results: {…}, cancelled: false, skip: false} gui.js:42737 Wed Jun 30 2021 19:47:56 GMT+0200 (Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit) Done ({“image”:{“size”:5887754240,“compressedSize”:1257573092,“hasMBR”:true,“path”:“C:\Users\floje\Downloads\Manjaro-ARM-kde-plasma-pbpro-21.06.img.xz”,“partitions”:[{“offset”:32000000,“size”:224000512,“type”:“EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7”,“guid”:“3C86890B-8EA1-4368-886C-09377B746452”,“name”:“primary”,“index”:1},{“offset”:256000512,“size”:5631736832,“type”:“0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4”,“guid”:“3D2CE76C-0ACB-464E-8CD5-01694C894836”,“name”:“primary”,“index”:2}],“isCompressed”:true,“name”:“Manjaro-ARM-kde-plasma-pbpro-21.06.img”,“isSizeEstimated”:false,“extension”:“xz”},“drives”:[{“size”:63864569856,“isVirtual”:false,“enumerator”:“USBSTOR”,“logicalBlockSize”:512,“raw”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive3",“error”:null,“isReadOnly”:false,“displayName”:“E:\”,“blockSize”:512,“isSCSI”:false,“isRemovable”:true,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive3",“busVersion”:“2.0”,“isSystem”:false,“busType”:“USB”,“isCard”:false,“isUSB”:true,“devicePath”:null,“mountpoints”:[{“path”:“E:\”}],“description”:“CARDER READER USB Device”,“isUAS”:false,“partitionTableType”:“mbr”}],“driveCount”:1,“uuid”:“e1139c34-e825-4e7a-8583-bb6f349be2d0”,“status”:“finished”,“flashInstanceUuid”:“e1139c34-e825-4e7a-8583-bb6f349be2d0”,“errors”:[{“name”:“Error”,“description”:“CARDER READER USB Device”,“device”:"\\.\PhysicalDrive3"}],“devices”:{“failed”:1,“successful”:0},“bytesWritten”:5887754240,“sourceMetadata”:{“isCompressed”:true,“name”:“Manjaro-ARM-kde-plasma-pbpro-21.06.img”,“size”:5887754240,“compressedSize”:1257573092,“isSizeEstimated”:false},“sample”:0.1,“applicationSessionUuid”:“25e260da-34e5-4059-99ff-ebe2dc69be01”,“flashingWorkflowUuid”:“b9af5b6e-70f4-4efd-9ee6-0a61f55a7872”}) gui.js:42737 Wed Jun 30 2021 19:47:56 GMT+0200 (Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit) SafeWebview loaded ({“event”:{“id”:72,“url”:“[https://www.balena.io/etcher/success-banner/?borderTop=false&darkBackground=true&etcher-version=1.5.116&api-version=2&optOutAnalytics=false",“method”:“GET”,“timestamp”:1625075276269.239,“resourceType”:“mainFrame”,“ip”:“2a05:d014:275:cb02:66df:50b:6e56:a6bf”,“fromCache”:false,“statusLine”:"HTTP/1.1](https://www.balena.io/etcher/success-banner/?borderTop=false&darkBackground=true&etcher-version=1.5.116&api-version=2&optOutAnalytics=false%22,%22method%22:%22GET%22,%22timestamp%22:1625075276269.239,%22resourceType%22:%22mainFrame%22,%22ip%22:%222a05:d014:275:cb02:66df:50b:6e56:a6bf%22,%22fromCache%22:false,%22statusLine%22:%22HTTP/1.1) 200”,“statusCode”:200,“responseHeaders”:{“age”:[“5438”],“cache-control”:[“public, max-age=0, must-revalidate”],“content-encoding”:[“br”],“content-length”:[“6087”],“content-type”:[“text/html; 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**Author:** ![nitish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nitish](https://forums.balena.io/u/nitish)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/10 "2021-07-02T14:12:53Z")
Hi, Thanks for getting back and attaching logs from the last run. I see the failure is with un-mounting the device after successful flash. Do you know if the device was accessed during the flash or right after? Cheers, N ---
**Author:** ![b14ckj4ck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@b14ckj4ck](https://forums.balena.io/u/b14ckj4ck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/14 "2021-07-12T10:59:36Z")
Sorry for my delayed answer. No, i don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![toochevere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@toochevere](https://forums.balena.io/u/toochevere)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/15 "2021-07-14T22:33:31Z")
It seems like what may be happening is that something in the OS is grabbing the SD card before we’re done with it. Other than logging an issue, I’m not sure what more can be done. I’ll ping our Etcher maintainers and see if they have anything to add. ---
**Author:** ![Hades32](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/hades32/32/6430_2.png) [@Hades32](https://forums.balena.io/u/Hades32)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/17 "2021-07-22T15:47:05Z")
From the logs, it seems you run Etcher on Windows. Do you have any anti-virus software installed? Those tend to grab new disks as soon as they appear to scan them at the earliest possible moment, which unfortunately often interferes with software like Etcher ---
**Author:** ![obie1kin00b13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/obie1kin00b13/32/6382_2.png) [@obie1kin00b13](https://forums.balena.io/u/obie1kin00b13)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/18 "2021-07-22T20:54:33Z")
Hello. I’m new to this forum and the flasher. I’m running into issues burning a TWUL persistent image onto a SanDisk 32gb thumb drive. It keeps failing at validation sequence. Are these even reputable drives to use? Should I go with a different media/storage size or manufacturer altogether? Please advise and thanks in advance for your help. ---
**Author:** ![nitish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nitish](https://forums.balena.io/u/nitish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 2:04pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/19 "2021-07-23T14:04:07Z")
Hi @obie1kin00b13, Don’t think the thumb drive should be an issue. Is the drive bootable after you finish the flash (with validation failing)? Also, what OS are you running this from? And were you able to try any other drive or SD card and see the same issue? Regards, N ---
**Author:** ![obie1kin00b13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/obie1kin00b13/32/6382_2.png) [@obie1kin00b13](https://forums.balena.io/u/obie1kin00b13)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/21 "2021-07-23T18:30:07Z")
Hi, Nitish. Thanks for responding so quickly. I’m actually trying to burn a copy of FWUL persistent in order to flash custom recovery and root. It needs to have these prerequisites to carrier unlock an LG phone (T-Mobile V30).😣 Tried it on 2 thumb drives (16 and 32gb); both were damaged. Ordered a 3rd one, but haven’t tried it yet. Didn’t pull a console log of the last fail and should’ve.😑 ---
**Author:** ![obie1kin00b13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/obie1kin00b13/32/6382_2.png) [@obie1kin00b13](https://forums.balena.io/u/obie1kin00b13)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/22 "2021-07-24T14:32:18Z")
Hello, Nitish. This is the error message that is ruining my thumb drives below😡. Should I switch to a different storage device? Perhaps an external hard drive or 64gb SD card? Please advise and thank you for your help. ![20210724_000201.jpg](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/balena/original/2X/b/b08146bd70e2afe0d2c1c862d9ee2e42b24e96c1.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![obie1kin00b13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/obie1kin00b13/32/6382_2.png) [@obie1kin00b13](https://forums.balena.io/u/obie1kin00b13)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/23 "2021-07-25T00:40:01Z")
Update: I was finally able to boot into TWUL from the thumb drive after a restart. Apparently, formatting error messages after successful flash validation is a common occurrence lol.😏 ---
**Author:** ![nitish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nitish](https://forums.balena.io/u/nitish)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/validation-keeps-failing-on-sd/332039/26 "2021-07-26T12:28:46Z")
Hi @obie1kin00b13 As you updated in your last message; The drive indeed worked as expected. Good to hear that! The reason you see this message is “Windows or Mac can’t read a flashed Linux image content”. Given you tried this process on a couple of drives, I assume those might now be in a similar state. I would suggest taking a look at the following post: [Etcher killed my USB stick … or did it?](https://www.balena.io/blog/did-etcher-break-my-usb-sd-card/) which helps with details on recovering disk - if you intend to use it for normal file storage. Regards, N