ZFS Bricked USB Flash drive ZFS

Hi! I started using and learning FreeBSD since 2 months or so, so I am really new. I wanted to install FreeBSD 12.1 on a flash drive. The installation went fine, but after I started it (the OS from the flash drive) the partitions apparently couldn't be read. It attempts to start and then ends up with errors. I tried to completely wipe the drive with Windows cmd which before worked always but now basically it disconnects itself. It shows only in gpart and it says "GPT Corrupted". When I try "destroy -f" it says input/output error and it disconnects itself (it doesn't show again in gpart show). I just want to know, is there any way to save that flash drive or is it dead? I don't know if the information I am giving is even enough.
 
When I try "destroy -f" it says input/output error and it disconnects itself (it doesn't show again in gpart show).
If you do a gpart destroy there will be no partition table at all any more, so it's normal for gpart show to not show anything. There's nothing there.

I'm a little worried about the input/output error though, that might indicate some kind of error with the stick itself.
 
If you do a gpart destroy there will be no partition table at all any more, so it's normal for gpart show to not show anything. There's nothing there.

I'm a little worried about the input/output error though, that might indicate some kind of error with the stick itself.
It reappears in gpart show as GPT Corrupted if i remove the flash drive and put it back in. All the trouble happened after I tried to FreeBSD on it, the installation went fine, i don't know.... does FreeBSD and ZFS run fine on flash drives at all?
 
does FreeBSD and ZFS run fine on flash drives at all?
It should, yes. And expecting the follow-up question, no, ZFS (or FreeBSD) cannot physically break the stick. It was either already dodgy or just a coincidence it broke after you installed FreeBSD on it.
 
It should, yes. And expecting the follow-up question, no, ZFS (or FreeBSD) cannot physically break the stick. It was either already dodgy or just a coincidence it broke after you installed FreeBSD on it.
Thank you for the clarification. :)
 
On Windows you can have a look with Disk Management tool. It should show up there, even if there's no partition on it any more. Windows may not like the GPT partitioning though, it seems rather finicky about that with USB flash sticks.
 
On Windows you can have a look with Disk Management tool. It should show up there, even if there's no partition on it any more. Windows may not like the GPT partitioning though, it seems rather finicky about that with USB flash sticks.
It does appear in Windows, yes. With Disk Management tool, it shows the efi and swap partitions even. Even though as I mentioned it basically disconnects when i try to "clean" it with diskpart. Are ZFS disks supposed to ever appear in Linux if there is one plugged in? In Linux, it doesn't show up at all.
 
Are ZFS disks supposed to ever appear in Linux if there is one plugged in? In Linux, it doesn't show up at all.
Not sure how Linux handles ZFS. I presume you would have to import the pool, just like on FreeBSD.
 
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