Ttgjyuk

My USB stick turned out to be read-only. I want it to be writable.

I've tried many ways to fix it, but it's not working out.

root@vk:~# mount -o remount,rw '/media/vk/C84D-2766/'
mount: /media/vk/C84D-2766: cannot remount /dev/sdb1 read-write, is write-protected.

just ran into this issue, found this solution for msdos-formatted drives at least.

1: Find out the name and partition name of the drive:

df -Th

2: unmount the drive:

umount /media/<your name>/<your drive>

3: fix the drive:

sudo dosfsck -a /dev/<your partition>

4: remove the drive and put it back in.

5: you're done!

NOTE: This will NOT delete your files assuming they are undamaged in the first place.

Your USB stick might be failing physically

• Please read the whole answer before you start doing things with your USB stick!


• 
  Save your files to another drive, while you can still read them!


• 
  

  After that, unmount and try to mount the partition manually with UUID=C84D-2766.

  
  
  

  sudo umount /dev/sdx?
  

  
  
  

  where x is the drive letter (in your question b, so /dev/sdb?)

  
  
  

  sudo mount -U C84D-2766 /mnt
  

  
  
  

  You can check with

  
  
  

  sudo lsblk -f
  

  
  
  

  and try to write to the partition.

  
  


• 
  

  If that does not work, try to repair the file system.

  
  
  

  The UUID tells me that it is a FAT file system, and it is best to repair it with Windows tools (either via the graphical user interface in Windows or with

  
  
  

  chkdsk /f X:
  

  
  
  

  where X: is the drive letter in Windows.

  
  
  

  This link has more details and alternatives,

  
  
  

  Repair the partition table and file system of a pendrive

  
  


• 
  

  If that does not work, try to restore the drive to a standard storage device with mkusb according to these links,

  
  
  

  help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb

  
  
  

  help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/wipe

  
  
  

  Please notice that this will delete all files, so you must save the files before doing it.

  
  


• 
  

  If that does not work, the USB stick is probably 'gridlocked'.

  
  
  

  The following link describes with more details what you can do to analyze the problem and what you can try before giving up,

  
  
  

  Can't format my usb drive. I have already tried with mkdosfs and gparted

  
  
  

  
  

  2. 
     

     The drive is read-only: I do not mean that there is a read-only file system, but that the drive is readable but not writable (like a
     CDROM or DVD). This might be caused by some help system or competing
     system, so it is worthwhile to try according to this list,

     
     
     
     • On some pendrives and on many memory cards there is a small mechanical switch for write protection, that can toggle between
       read/write and read-only. You might have set it read-only without
       intention.
     
     
     • Reboot the computer and try again to restore or wipe the first megabyte with mkusb.
     
     
     • Disconnect other USB devices. Sometimes USB devices can disturb the function for each other.
     
     
     • Try other USB ports, and/or other card adapters.
     
     
     • Try another computer.
     
     
     • Try another operating system (Windows, MacOS) in another computer.
     
     
     • If you still cannot wipe the first megabyte of the drive, and the drive is read-only, it is probably 'gridlocked', and the next stage is
       that it will be completely 'bricked'. There is a limit, when you have
       to accept that the pendrive is damaged beyond repair, at least with
       tools available to normal users like you and me. See this link:
       Pendrive lifetime
       
     
     
  
  

  
  

The only thing that worked for me was to install GParted from Ubuntu Software, reformat and create a new partition on the device (/dev/sdb in my case). Not sure if this was a problem with the filesystem on the USB stick or a bug within Ubuntu.