Try

sudo ionice dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress && sync

where sdX is the USB stick name as shown by lsblk command.

Or use gnome-disks, a small simple tool to do this kind of stuff.
It's installed by default, just search for "Disks" in the menu.

And why not use the right click in the file manager and choose "format"?

Thanks for all the help. I will try it tomorrow morning at once. And sangheeta, your suggestion does not work.
Gr. Evert

    evert
    It works for me, I always do like this 😅 in Budgie with Files

      Hey guys. Off course I tried Disks and "Format". But, like I told you, it did not work sofar. At this moment I am following the suggestion of Just. We will see.

      I'm no doctor house, but my diagnosis is write-protected.

      (Am I the only one that's been thru these identical situations with malfunctioning drives and a deeper look reveals I have no permission to write to it in the first place? I think it's just me🙂)

      Open gparted and make a new partition table on it. Then create a partition. Done.

      Shugart
      Quick & dirty format.
      The allmighty wiki says:

      A partition table is a table maintained on disk by the operating system describing the partitions on that disk

      Creating a new one means that the old one gets erased ---> the bits on the usb stick do not change (ie: whatever was on the key is still there) but cannot be (at least easily.....) accessed by the OS.
      With a new partition you can start writing with impunity on the now, seemingly empty, filesystem, effectively overwriting whatever was on it before.

        So far, I tried everything, but nothing works. The USB must be corrupt. Only 1 solution : throw it away and buy a new one. Anyway, everybody thanks for any help. And have a nice weekend.
        Greetings, Evert.

          evert So far, I tried everything, but nothing works. The USB must be corrupt. Only 1 solution : throw it away and buy a new one.

          Since USB 2.0 thumb drives these days cost less than a small bag of potting soil, one could be forgiven for saying that they're "cheaper than dirt.' Literally. Sounds like you've already tried hard, and everything that should have worked didn't. I think you're well advised to dump it and buy a new one.

          If your device has more than one USB port, though, and you've done everything in the same port so far, take a moment to try a different port before you give up totally. It's not common, but it IS possible for one port to fail and others to keep working fine.

          I believe you mentioned it's an older USB thumb drive, which is why I mentioned USB 2.0. If your device has USB 3.0 ports, those are not much more expensive, and they are way faster and hold much more data.

              WetGeek It's a 3.0 USB and I did try more ports. But thanks for trying to help.

                Sometimes they do die 🙂 I mean for $5 to $15, what do you expect ? 😅

                  dbarron Frugal side of me says meh. My expectations for $15 far exceed my expectations for $5. $15 is not chump change. $10 either. Would try to restore drive life any way I could at that price. $5 not so much.
                  evert Before dispatching a dead usb drive, I give it a few good whacks with a hammer. Habit.

                        brent lol Umm yes, I'm sure that's good for delicate electronics 😀 I understand though Brent (lol).