[BUG]: Corruption of SD Cards with rpi-imager 2.0

[dtgolder]

What happened?

I'm experiencing an issue with the new version of rpi-imager that was not present with older versions.

This seems similar to this older issue-- I have now bricked multiple SD cards on different laptops running Lubuntu by trying to use the "Erase" function on rpi-imager (not this had worked perfectly prior to the new rpi-imager version, and had indeed been my preferred method to erase SD cards). I then tried on an older version running on an RPi I already had running and was able to salvage a bricked SSD. I believe this occurs when trying to Erase (format) an SD with multiple partitions (e.g, a disk formatted to install Linux Mint). It seems in such cases the "Erase" fails (forget the error message--sorry) and then the disk is no longer mountable. The only way I've found to recover that disk is to try installing one of the RPi images to the card using RPi Imager (which can then somehow install a raspberry image, even though the same software cannot "erase" that card) and then I was able to format (Erase) the drive using the OLD version of RPi imager on the Pi I had running. I'm now going to delete the new 2.0 image and go back to an earlier version so I no longer risk bricking any SD cards. (Note that once bricked I could not format in Windows or any other installer (e.g. Balena) - I could only install a RPi image using the RPi installer). Unfortunately I've already tossed a few SD card before discovering this. Happy to assist with troubleshooting if necessary. Hopefully this description will help with a solution. Please let me know if you have any questions.

For reference:
Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
Kernel: Linux 6.8.0-88-generic
Architecture: x86-64
Hardware Vendor: GOOGLE
Hardware Model: Peppy
Firmware Version: MrChromebox-4.14
Firmware Date: Sun 2021-07-25

Note that I have two of the same laptop (versions as above) and the second identical laptop also bricked SD cards for me--so behavior is not due to any peculiarities of a single laptop.

Version

2.0.0 (Default)

What host operating system were you using?

Debian and derivatives (eg Ubuntu)

Host OS Version

Lubuntu (Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS )

Selected OS

Erase

Which Raspberry Pi Device are you using?

Raspberry Pi 5, 500, and Compute Modules 5

What kind of storage device are you using?

microSD Card in an internal reader

OS Customisation

• Yes, I was using OS Customisation when the bug occurred.

Relevant log output

[CoasterPilot]

same Problem. Derank to 1.9.6 now it works. Everytime my Usb Connector lose the Connection.

[tdewey-rpi]

Thanks for the report, @dtgolder

I've tracked down a likely cause, where the erase path would ask the OS for the size of the device. On Windows, there was a robust fall-back path, but on macOS and Linux the mechanism was less robust, and could return an invalid device size - which would then be written to the MBR of the card.

This wouldn't have manifested on the more typical download-and-flash path, as the error handling is more involved on that path.

[dtgolder]

Ooohhh...you're definitely on the right track @tdewey-rpi ! Now that you mention it, I recall some of the corrupt cards reported a weird size (like 0.1GB) after they were "Erased"...(forgot about that, but certainly is consistent with your initial analysis). :)

[tdewey-rpi]

Fix implemented in 8d50404.

[tdewey-rpi]

2.0.2 now available: https://github.com/raspberrypi/rpi-imager/releases/tag/v2.0.2

[tdewey-rpi]

@dtgolder If you have time to confirm - can you please confirm if 2.0.2 resolves the issue for your set-up?

[dtgolder]

Deb package wouldn't install (dependency issue) but AppImage file worked--erased successfully an old SD card I had available. :)

[VanKichline]

I just ran Imager on Windows 11 on December 15. It prompted me to install the upgrade, and it installed 2.0.0. It promptly destroyed 2 SD cards. Could you change the upgrade to point to 2.0.2 instead?
I cannot verify that the fix works for me because I am completely out of SD cards now. I lost $30 unless I can find any way to recover the cards. :(