Arch Linux

joetemp

Member

Registered: 2013-12-16

Posts: 73

[SOLVED] My USB stick is read only after I used it to install Arch.

Hey all,
I'm having an issue with a brand new USB stick that I love. I used 'dd' to install Arch from it and now it's "read only." I have tried using gdisk and fdisk to delete all partitions on it to no avail. How can I solve this problem and get the USB stick working like new again? Thanks!

Last edited by joetemp (2015-03-31 18:37:03)

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,822

Re: [SOLVED] My USB stick is read only after I used it to install Arch.

Read only on Arch? How does Windows treat it?  Why are there partitions on it?

What specifically have you tried.  What if you do a mkefs.xxx to the /dev/sdX node that represents the drive.   Note that xxx is the desired file system (like ext3) and X is a single lower case alpha character.  Do not use sdXn  where n is a digit.   Be careful you get the correct device node; check it twice.

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joetemp

Member

Registered: 2013-12-16

Posts: 73

Re: [SOLVED] My USB stick is read only after I used it to install Arch.

Holy cow. You just solved it! Thanks ewaller! I just ran 'mkfs.vfat /dev/sdc' and boom! Working USB! I for some reason thought I would need to use gdisk, fdisk, or gparted... since that's what everything online said. But that's not necessary at all. Thank you so much!