USB is read only and won't unlock

[dcstar]

i have a kingston datatravaler 32gb. I got it a week ago so its brand new.
.........
I just want to wipe it clean and take back to default so i can try again (install fedora first this time, then ubuntu)

Use gparted to write a new Partition Table.

[ShadowGuardian]

Gparted doesnt recognize the usb. if i sudo it i can see Gparted trying, but the read-only error comes up.

I havent used gparted much, so you'll have to explain if i am not understanding something.

Thanks for the help, but i need to get to sleep. SO WE WILL CONTINUE THIS ADVENTURE TOMORROW!

[dcstar]

Gparted doesnt recognize the usb. if i sudo it i can see Gparted trying, but the read-only error comes up.

I havent used gparted much, so you'll have to explain if i am not understanding something.

Device-Create Partition Table.

If you cannot see the device in gparted then you have a hardware problem.

Open a terminal, plug the device in and run the command "dmesg" after a few seconds and post the output.

[scruffyeagle]

I'm running Ubuntu v10.04, and have a similar problem - but, it's more than the flash drive.

I encountered it yesterday, upon opening a True Crypt FAT partition on a 8GB flash drive. I've used that partition many times; always, Read/Write. It opened w/o problem, except it was Read Only. No matter what I did, it wouldn't change permissions to allow writing to the drive. I figured it was probably some interaction between True Crypt & Ubuntu, but I'd get around to trying to figure it out later because it wasn't urgent.

But, today I did some major repartitioning on my 1TB external HD, and the problem is hitting there. I deleted 2 NTFS partitions (~5GB, ~400GB) and used the space to create (2) ~202GB NTFS partitions. One of those partitions is functioning properly - but, the other isn't. The OS allowed me to copy ~8GB of files to it. I then did a reboot on general principles, and when the OS was up again, the 1st partition was still Read/Write, but the 2nd partition was Read Only. I've tried everything I can think of, but the OS won't allow the permissions being changed.

Both the flash drive & the external drive are going through USB ports on my Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop, so this jives w/ the OP's connection - but what I find strange is that (if I understood correctly) the original poster in this thread is running Ubuntu v12, whereas I'm running v10.

NOTE: I came back to edit this because I'd forgotten to mention this. I did another reboot after discovering the new 2nd partion was still being mounted Read Only - and, when the system was fully rebooted, I discovered that one of the other partitions I hadn't done anything at all with on that external HD was now mounted as Read Only too!!! CRAP!!! What's wrong with this?

Only 2 things come to mind about this. One, is that there may have been something updated recently, of a file that's being supplied to both v12 & v10. The other, is that maybe some twisted creep has finally managed to make a virus that infects Linux.

Any thoughts about this, or suggestions?

[sudodus]

tried badblocks, this is what it says:

shadowaviator@shadow-Aspire-7740:~$ sudo badblocks -n /dev/sdb
[sudo] password for shadowaviator:
badblocks: Read-only file system while trying to open /dev/sdb
shadowaviator@shadow-Aspire-7740:~$

Yes, it could be a bug, but maybe we can try another thing before giving up:

Did you connect and unmount (not eject) the USB drive before the two crucial operations?

sudo dd ... and sudo badblocks ...

Try again to connect the USB drive and then

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

(if it is still mounting as /dev/sdb1)
and run the zeroising dd command and the badblock command again

[zero2xiii]

+1 for the dmesg output.

Might I suggest clearing it first.

Unplug the USB drive then:

sudo dmesg --clear

The plug the USB drive back in and run:

sudo dmesg

NOTE: Not sure if dmesg runs without sudo, my permissions are heavily modified on my system.
Please post the output of the second command here.

Further more +1 on the "did you unmount" post (#15)

[Sharpie1]

Sad to say, easiest thing is to put it in a PC, right click, "format"

Sharpie1

[carl4926]

Sad to say, easiest thing is to put it in a PC, right click, "format"

Sharpie1

If you mean Windows PC

It won't work either

[scruffyeagle]

I have 3 OS's on my laptop (3 partitions). Ubuntu v10.04, Debian Squeeze, & Xubuntu v12.04. I ran a little test, involving the Xubuntu. I rebooted from Unbuntu into Xubuntu, and tested copying files from one of the other partitions into the 2nd new partition. It worked okay. I rebooted & did it again - no problem. That told me for sure, that there wasn't anything inherently wrong in the new 2nd partition. It also told me for sure, that Xubuntu as it was right then & there was managing the USB permissions properly. I then did the downloading of updates which the OS had been nagging me about (but, I'd been intentionally delaying). After a reboot, the problem involving Read Only was happening in Xubuntu also!

This pegs it. There's a bug in the updates that are being served. It's crippling the permissions of drives loaded via USB, and it's affecting both v10.04 & v12.04.

A little more info from one more test: Rebooting into Ubuntu v10 using a previous kernel (44) didn't fix it. So, whatever the problem is, it's lodged somewhere other than the current (45) kernel.


Any suggestions what can be done about this?

[sudodus]

...

This pegs it. There's a bug in the updates that are being served. It's crippling the permissions of drives loaded via USB, and it's affecting both v10.04 & v12.04.

A little more info from one more test: Rebooting into Ubuntu v10 using a previous kernel (44) didn't fix it. So, whatever the problem is, it's lodged somewhere other than the current (45) kernel.


Any suggestions what can be done about this?

Great It will be much easier to solve it, now that you have described these details. Do you know if someone has reported it as a bug in Launchpad?