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I'm stuck attempting to re-partition and format a USB flash drive using C++, any help would be great!

The goal is to re-partition any arbitrary flash drive with a single partition taking the entire space and formatted FAT32 (later options NTFS and EXFAT). This will be done in batch, hopefully with 50+ devices at once, so drive letter access is not an option. I'm able to create a partition, but when I try IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX to set the format type, it is failing with 0x32, ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED. But it's not clear what exactly is not supported. I can manually partition the device using utilities such as diskpart, so I know the partition and file system types are supported by the device. Can anyone help? My full source code is below, it's failing on the DeviceIoControl() call with IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX. 

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <random>
#include <Windows.h>
#include <atlstr.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <assert.h>


using namespace std;

#define THROW_CSTRING(a, b) { CString csE; csE.Format(a, b); throw csE; }
#define RANDOM_DWORD {DWORD(rand()) | DWORD(rand() << 8) | DWORD(rand() << 16) | DWORD(rand() << 24)}


int main()
{
  DRIVE_LAYOUT_INFORMATION_EX* pdg = NULL;
  HANDLE hDevice = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;

  try
  {

    hDevice = CreateFile(L"\\\\.\\PhysicalDrive2",
                          GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE, 
                          0,              // Only we can access 
                          NULL,           // Default security
                          OPEN_EXISTING,  // For hardware, open existing 
                          0,              // File attributes
                          NULL);          //Do not copy attributes 
    if (hDevice == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
    {
      THROW_CSTRING(L"ERROR: CreateFile() failed: 0x%x", GetLastError());
    }

    CREATE_DISK dsk;
    memset(&dsk, 0, sizeof(dsk));
    CREATE_DISK_MBR dskmbr = { 0 };
    dskmbr.Signature = 1;
    dsk.PartitionStyle = PARTITION_STYLE_MBR;
    dsk.Mbr = dskmbr;

    // DRIVE_LAYOUT_INFORMAITON_EX has an array of partition info at the end, need enough for 4 partitions minimum
    int iDriveLayoutBytesRequired = sizeof(DRIVE_LAYOUT_INFORMATION_EX) + sizeof(PARTITION_INFORMATION_EX) * 3;
    pdg = (DRIVE_LAYOUT_INFORMATION_EX*)new BYTE[iDriveLayoutBytesRequired];
    memset(pdg, 0, iDriveLayoutBytesRequired);

    DRIVE_LAYOUT_INFORMATION_MBR mbrlayout = { 0 };
    mbrlayout.Signature = RANDOM_DWORD;
    pdg->PartitionStyle = PARTITION_STYLE_MBR;
    pdg->Mbr = mbrlayout;
    pdg->PartitionCount = 1;

    DWORD dwBytesReturned = 0;


    if (!DeviceIoControl(hDevice, IOCTL_DISK_CREATE_DISK, &dsk, sizeof(dsk), NULL, 0, &dwBytesReturned, NULL))
    {
      THROW_CSTRING(L"ERROR: IOCTL_DISK_CREATE_DISK failed: 0x%x", GetLastError());
    }


    // Get the drive dimensions, then use that info to create a new partition 

    // Drive length
    GET_LENGTH_INFORMATION sLenInfo = { 0 };
    if (!DeviceIoControl(hDevice, IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO, NULL, 0, &sLenInfo, sizeof(sLenInfo), &dwBytesReturned, NULL))
    {
      THROW_CSTRING(L"ERROR: IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO failed: 0x%x", GetLastError());
    }
    assert(sizeof(sLenInfo.Length.QuadPart) == sizeof(__int64));
    __int64 iDiskLengthBytes = sLenInfo.Length.QuadPart;


    pdg->PartitionStyle = PARTITION_STYLE_MBR;
    pdg->PartitionCount = 4;
    pdg->Mbr.Signature = 1;

    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].PartitionStyle = PARTITION_STYLE_MBR;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].StartingOffset.QuadPart = 0;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].PartitionLength.QuadPart = iDiskLengthBytes;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].PartitionNumber = 1;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].RewritePartition = TRUE;

    //pdg->PartitionEntry[0].Mbr.PartitionType = PARTITION_IFS; // NTFS
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].Mbr.PartitionType = PARTITION_FAT32;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].Mbr.BootIndicator = TRUE;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].Mbr.RecognizedPartition = 1;
    pdg->PartitionEntry[0].Mbr.HiddenSectors = 0;


    // Partition device
    if (!DeviceIoControl(hDevice, IOCTL_DISK_SET_DRIVE_LAYOUT_EX, pdg, iDriveLayoutBytesRequired, NULL, 0, &dwBytesReturned, NULL))
    {
      THROW_CSTRING(L"ERROR: IOCTL_DISK_SEt_DRIVE_LAYOUT_EX failed: 0x%x", GetLastError());
    }

    // Tell the driver to flush its cache
    if (!DeviceIoControl(hDevice, IOCTL_DISK_UPDATE_PROPERTIES, NULL, 0, NULL, 0, &dwBytesReturned, NULL))
    {
      THROW_CSTRING(L"ERROR: IOCTL_DISK_UPDATE_PROPERTIES failed: 0x%x", GetLastError());
    }

    SET_PARTITION_INFORMATION_EX dskinfo;
    memset(&dskinfo, 0, sizeof(dskinfo));
    dskinfo.PartitionStyle = PARTITION_STYLE_MBR;
    dskinfo.Mbr.PartitionType = PARTITION_FAT32;

    if (!DeviceIoControl(hDevice, IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX, &dskinfo, sizeof(dskinfo), NULL, 0, &dwBytesReturned, NULL))
    {
      THROW_CSTRING(L"ERROR: IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX failed: 0x%x", GetLastError());
    }

  }

  catch (CString csErr)
  {
    // Error lookup: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/w indows/desktop/ms681382(v=vs.85).aspx
    // 0x7a - ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER
    // 0x57 - ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER
    // 0x32 - ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED
    // 0x18 - ERROR_BAD_LENGTH
    // 0x05 - ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED
    wcout << csErr.GetString();
  }

  CloseHandle(hDevice);
  delete pdg;
  return 0;
}
VC.One
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Matt
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  • Have you tried running your program as an administrator (via "Run as Administrator")? – 1201ProgramAlarm Sep 19 '16 at 20:32
  • What is the purpose of the `IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX`? You have already set the partition type in the `IOCTL_DISK_SET_DRIVE_LAYOUT_EX` above. – Dark Falcon Sep 19 '16 at 20:34
  • Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I tried right-click and "run as administrator" and the result is the same, error 0x32 ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED. – Matt Sep 19 '16 at 20:36
  • @Dark Falcon - Admittedly I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here, much of this is from some example code I found elsehwere on stackoverflow. IOCTL_DISK_SET_DRIVE_LAYOUT_EX does create the partition but does not create the file system. I was thinking that IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX would create the file system. – Matt Sep 19 '16 at 20:38
  • Nope, that will only change the partition type in the partition table. I have not yet been able to locate how to actually format the partition. It doesn't seem to be done with an IOCTL. – Dark Falcon Sep 19 '16 at 20:56
  • OK thanks for the info. There is still something missing after IOCTL_DISK_SET_DRIVE_LAYOUT_EX. If I stop after that command, diskpart will see the partition, but will not select it. But if I clean the disk and use diskpart to create the partition, then I can select it. I'm missing something... – Matt Sep 19 '16 at 21:08
  • I'm not sure why my question was voted down? I've been at this all day and not getting anywhere. Obviously this isn't strait forward for someone not intimately familiar with windows disk management.. – Matt Sep 19 '16 at 21:11
  • OK part of the answer; when diskpart creates a partition, it's offset by 64kb. When I create a partition at 0 offset, diskpart cannot select it. When I create the partition at 64kb offset, then diskpart can select it. But still the call to IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX fails with 0x32, which makes me think something else is wrong. – Matt Sep 19 '16 at 21:26
  • I believe the first partition must start on track 1, so an offset of whatever the nominal track size is. As an educated guess, in order to use `IOCTL_DISK_SET_PARTITION_INFO_EX` you must first use `IOCTL_DISK_GET_PARTITION_INFO_EX` to load the existing settings, then modify only those settings you actually want to change before calling the set operation. You should also note that some settings are probably read-only, I imagine this includes `PartitionType`. – Harry Johnston Sep 19 '16 at 21:49
  • Perhaps [Format method of the Win32_Volume class](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa390432%28v=vs.85%29.aspx) ? Or [Virtual Disk Service](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb986750(v=vs.85).aspx) or the [Windows Storage Management Provider](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh830613(v=vs.85).aspx) depending on Windows version. – Harry Johnston Sep 19 '16 at 21:53
  • Thanks everyone for the comments. I've got a solution, I'll post it below. – Matt Sep 21 '16 at 18:10

1 Answers1

1

I have a solution, but it's a bit convoluted. I'm using DeviceIoControl() as above to partition the disk. Then I use VDS and the IID_IVdsVolumeMF interface to create the file system, but getting there is a bit of work. The goal is to partition and format all flash drives (USB sticks) on the system. VDS will perform the format via the IID_IVdsVolumeMF interface, BUT it will not tell you (at least I haven't figured out how) which devices are removable. But WMI will tell you which devices are removable, but doesn't have a format function. So...

First use WMI to get a list of all removable volume paths on the system, for example:

CoCreateInstance(CLSID_WbemLocator, 0, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_IWbemLocator, (LPVOID *)&pLoc)
pLoc->ConnectServer(CComBSTR(L"ROOT\\CIMV2"), nullptr, nullptr, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr, pWbemSvc)
CoSetProxyBlanket(
                                      *pWbemSvc,                        // Indicates the proxy to set
                                      RPC_C_AUTHN_WINNT,           // RPC_C_AUTHN_xxx
                                      RPC_C_AUTHZ_NONE,            // RPC_C_AUTHZ_xxx
                                      NULL,                        // Server principal name 
                                      RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_CALL,      // RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_xxx 
                                      RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, // RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_xxx
                                      NULL,                        // client identity
                                      EOAC_NONE                    // proxy capabilities 

pWbemSvc->ExecQuery(CComBSTR(L"WQL"), CComBSTR(L"SELECT * FROM Win32_Volume WHERE DriveType=2"), WBEM_FLAG_FORWARD_ONLY | WBEM_FLAG_RETURN_IMMEDIATELY, NULL, &pEnumerator)

Gives you paths such as: 

 L"\\\\?\\Volume{3899cb7b-7c3f-11e6-bf82-005056c00008}\\"

Then use VDS to get a list of all VDS volumes on the machine. Basically you load VDS, then get all software providers. This source is missing parts for brevity, but I think I left enough to explain what's happening: 

pSvc->QueryProviders(VDS_QUERY_SOFTWARE_PROVIDERS, &pEnumProviders)

Now iterate through the list of providers getting the packs from each provider: 

pEnumProviders->Next(1, &pUnk, &cFetched)
pProv = pUnk;
pProv->QueryPacks(&pEnumpacks)
vPacks.push_back(pEnumpacks);

Now iterate through the packs and get all of the volumes in each pack:

iterator iPacks = vPacks.begin();
(*iPacks)->Next(1, &pUnk, &cFetched)
pPack = pUnk;
pPack->QueryVolumes(&pEnumvolumes)
pvpEnumvolumes->push_back(pEnumvolumes)

Now you have a list of paths to removable devices, and you have a list of all volumes on the system. Time to compare them and figure out which volumes are removable. 

iVolEnum = pvpEnumOfVDSVolumes->begin()
(*iVolEnum)->Next(1, &pUnk, &cFetched)
pVMF3 = pUnk;
CComHeapPtr<LPWSTR> pVDSVolumePaths;
pVMF3->QueryVolumeGuidPathnames(&pVDSVolumePaths, &nPaths)
iterator iWMIVolPath = pvWMIRemovableVols->begin();
loop..
if (wcscmp(iWMIVolPath->data(), pVDSVolumePaths[i]) == 0)
{  // VDS Vol is removable! }

Now use this VDS volume object to format the volume: 

foreach( vol in vRemovableVDSVols )
{
CComQIPtr<IVdsVolume> pVolume = *(vol);
IVdsVolumeMF *pVolumeMF;
pVolume->QueryInterface(IID_IVdsVolumeMF, (void **)&pVolumeMF);
pVolumeMF->Format(  VDS_FST_FAT32, 
                              L"MyFob", 
                              512, // alloc size
                              true, // force
                              false, // quick
                              false, // compression
                              &pAsync); // async
}

And presto your USB stick is formatted! Whew.. but it seems to be working.

Could Microsoft really not have made this any easier?

Matt
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