12.04 LTS "Disk is Read Only" issue

[dxgrimm]

Hi there, my name is Michael. I'm new to the forums here, as I generally can find a way around a Ubuntu issue without any help. But this one perplexed me. Every disk that I plug into my computer (including my smart phone via USB and any SD card through the Card Reader) will not allow me to write anything onto it. I've tried a variety of solutions, ranging from the simple Reboot to disabling Journaling. I still cannot write anything to another disk, which has now become fairly annoy.

I run an Asus EEE Netbook 1001PX, 1Gb RAM with a 160 Gb SATA in it (if any of that is needed for this solution.)

I've checked the disk using several programs, and the disk boots every sector fine with no issues. I just don't know where this is failing. If anyone could help me, I'd be very grateful.

-Michael

[XBNCPRk]

Could you post the permissions of the /media folder? Unless Im mistaken if its set to 0755 (or something simliar) it wont allow you to write to the devices/folders mounted in it because your phone etc dont identify you as being the owner of them.

If this is the case, simply change the permissions for that branch, and you should be able to write to the things that get automounted into it.

[dxgrimm]

Everytime I try to change the permissions (by either using the Properties Tab or by chmod) it chooses to reset them automatically.

[coffeecat]

If this is the case, simply change the permissions for that branch, and you should be able to write to the things that get automounted into it.

That won't work. Permissions/ownership of mountpoints are overridden by mount options, or by ownership/permissions of the mounted filesystem if a Linux filesystem.

@dxgrimm, plug in one of the USB devices you are having problems with, wait until it is mounted, and then post the output of this terminal command:

mount

That will give us useful information.

And if, by chance, you have installed the package usbmount, uninstall it.

[dxgrimm]

This is what I got:

/dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/michael/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=michael)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/sd type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,default_permissions,b lksize=4096)

[coffeecat]

This is the relevant line:

/dev/sdb1 on /media/sd type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,default_permissions,b lksize=4096)

That's what I would expect if you plug in a NTFS-formatted drive and allow it to be automounted (in 12.04). It's been automounted read-write so it's puzzling that you cannot write to it. A few questions:

What was the nature of the device that gave that output? Was it a NTFS USB drive? What happens when you try to drag and drop a file into it? What error message do you see?

Also:

Have you installed any applications that allegedly aid mounting of USB devices? There are a few such applications in the repository that actually interfere with the functionality of automounting built into the desktop versions of Ubuntu. Usbmount is one - which is why I mentioned it. It's designed for server versions of Ubuntu and people mistakenly install it in desktop versions.

Notwithstanding what I mentioned before about permissions and ownership of mountpoints, let's pursue that thought. Plug in the same drive as gave the output you posted before (if you plug in a different one, the second command below will fail). Now post the output of these two terminal commands:

ls -l /media
getfacl -tn /media/sd

[dxgrimm]

total 4
drwx------ 1 michael michael 4096 Nov 4 09:13 sd


getfacl: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
# file: media/sd
USER 1000 rwx
GROUP 1000 ---
other ---

Everytime I try to drag and drop, it gives me the message that the source is read-only. Not mattter what I've tried. I never installed any program to help with mounting a device.

EDIT: It's a microSD that is in it's adapter. 1Gb version. I wanted to put a copy of Ubuntu 12.04 on it, so I can install it to a new laptop.

[Ibrahim_Turundu]

Hello,
I have the same problem, even tried using GParted but was unable to format or create labels or partitions. While I am eager to have an Ubuntu solution, I have partially solved it by formatting and renaming the new 1gb micro-sd in a phone, then I fixed it in the slot of my USB modem. I can now drag and drop stuff, create folders, normally into the sd card. Tried same method with an 8gb micro-sd just now.