The flash drives do die and really nothing to do but accept it. As a last resort, crack open the casing and check the innards for bad solder joints or loose componets, solder back on. If you find nothing, then nothing left but to pitch it. Sorry, but cost for a new one of at least 1Gb is under the $10 range, so playing with a 256mb is up to you.

tada -----Willy Happy