How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

pmtk_milk · 2026-07-06 19:37:19

Hi, I have a USB stick that its impossible to access the files in it, because by somehow the partition changed and now its read only, idk why that happen but is important to me to get these files because in that USB stick i have passwords, backups and things (NOT XXX). I use "fdisk -l" to see partitions and devices and the USB is W95 FAT32, im saying that if is important.
Please help, i need to recover those files. Any help helps

jonno2002 · 2026-07-06 19:49:50

why oh why did you trust important data to a usb stick, they are notiorious for failing, important data should be stored in 3 seperate places always.
but back to the drive, run this as root:

dmesg -w

then plug the usb stick in and post all the output generated after the stick is plugged in and till all the below is done as well

once the stick is connected post output of:

lsblk -f && fdisk -l

then post the output of mounting or trying to mount the device:

mount /dev/sd** /mnt

thats assuming you dont have anything else mounted to /mnt otherwise mount it elsewhere.

that should give us a good picture of how bad it is

Last edited by jonno2002 (2026-07-06 19:51:03)

pmtk_milk · 2026-07-06 20:06:54

jonno2002 wrote:

why oh why did you trust important data to a usb stick, they are notiorious for failing, important data should be stored in 3 seperate places always.
but back to the drive, run this as root:
dmesg -w
then plug the usb stick in and post all the output generated after the stick is plugged in and till all the below is done as well
once the stick is connected post output of:
lsblk -f && fdisk -l
then post the output of mounting or trying to mount the device:
mount /dev/sd** /mnt
thats assuming you dont have anything else mounted to /mnt otherwise mount it elsewhere.
that should give us a good picture of how bad it is

Registro de dmesg -w
[111554.137395] usb 1-1.1.1: new high-speed USB device number 54 using ehci-pci
[111554.322019] usb 1-1.1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0951, idProduct=1666, bcdDevice= 2.00
[111554.322041] usb 1-1.1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=4
[111554.322049] usb 1-1.1.1: Product: DataTraveler 3.0
[111554.322054] usb 1-1.1.1: Manufacturer: Kingston
[111554.322058] usb 1-1.1.1: SerialNumber: E0D55EA573DC18A179D104E4
[111554.325796] usb-storage 1-1.1.1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[111554.326464] scsi host7: usb-storage 1-1.1.1:1.0
[111555.386675] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 0000 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[111555.389518] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Media removed, stopped polling
[111555.396637] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk
[111555.405390] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] 121077760 512-byte logical blocks: (62.0 GB/57.7 GiB)
[111555.406311] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is on
[111555.406318] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 23 00 80 00
[111555.407001] sdc: detected capacity change from 0 to 121077760
[111555.415669]  sdc: sdc1

Registro de lsblk -f && fdisk -l 
NAME FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
sda                                                                         
├─sda1
│    vfat   FAT32       9679-BE96                             852.3M    17% /boot
└─sda2
     ext4   1.0         212be144-f268-4e75-884c-a391a8e6be06  773.2G    10% /
sdc                                                                         
└─sdc1
     vfat   FAT32       0559-1EBD                                           
sr0                                                                         
zram0
     swap   1     zram0 a4b7e260-854a-4eb0-91b7-b8af28cbcf4c                [SWAP]
fdisk: no se puede abrir /dev/sda: Permiso denegado
fdisk: no se puede abrir /dev/zram0: Permiso denegado
fdisk: no se puede abrir /dev/sdc: Permiso denegado

Registro de mount 
mount: /mnt: ATENCIÓN: origen protegido contra escritura; se monta como solo lectura.
SOLO LECTURA!

Only read allowed from the USB, dmesg -w say the same also

seth · 2026-07-06 20:32:27

Have you tried it on a USB 3 port?

ewaller · 2026-07-06 20:59:49

Seth, what are your thoughts?

From the logs, I see the drive appearing as sdc, and it has 1 partition that is vfat.

pmtk_milk, I'm not sure I understand why you feel the files are lost? You should be able to recover them from a read only partition. What I am not understanding?

cryptearth · 2026-07-06 21:01:42

pmtk_milk wrote:

Registro de dmesg -w

[111555.406311] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is on

Registro de lsblk -f && fdisk -l 

fdisk: no se puede abrir /dev/sda: Permiso denegado
fdisk: no se puede abrir /dev/zram0: Permiso denegado
fdisk: no se puede abrir /dev/sdc: Permiso denegado

Registro de mount 
mount: /mnt: ATENCIÓN: origen protegido contra escritura; se monta como solo lectura.
SOLO LECTURA!

as for the write protect: this hints either to some weird sd card reader shenanigens - or a failed controller
as for the rest: as your main locale is not english it would help us to force it - also: run as root

LC_ALL=C sudo lsblk -f
LC_ALL=C sudo fdisk -l

ewaller · 2026-07-06 21:11:20

Missed that. Yes, I agree it will fail like that if not run as root.

Trying to answer my own question, if the device does fail fdisk, and it is read only -- thus preventing fdisk from fixing it -- it could be a problem.

Thinking out loud here, if the drive does fail fdisk, I would probably use dd to copy the entire device to a file, then would use /dev/loop (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Udisks … op_devices) to try to mount it. I think fdisk could be made to fix a volume on this case.

seth · 2026-07-06 21:11:29

[111555.386675] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 0000 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[111555.389518] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Media removed, stopped polling
[111555.396637] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk
[111555.405390] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] 121077760 512-byte logical blocks: (62.0 GB/57.7 GiB)
[111555.406311] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is on
[111555.406318] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 23 00 80 00
[111555.407001] sdc: detected capacity change from 0 to 121077760

It's not an sd card and afaict the key also has no write protection switch, so either the controller has fused to protect the data

cryptearth wrote:

or a failed controller

- possibly because of compatibility issues w/ USB2 ("ehci"), the device is prominently marketed as USB 3.1

The spanish text only says that
1. you gotta sudo fdisk
2. the device is write protected and mounted read only

dimich · 2026-07-07 00:48:17

[111555.406311] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is on

USB stick may lock itself to read only because of wearing, i.e. no spare sectors left on flash.
I'd suggest to backup all important data from the stick.

[111555.389518] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Media removed, stopped polling

This is also suspicious. Looks like scsi layer reported device online first but then went offline. May indicate a hardware issue.
Can you plug the stick into other PC? Does it appear as read-write?

pmtk_milk · 2026-07-07 05:43:06

dimich wrote:

[111555.406311] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is on
USB stick may lock itself to read only because of wearing, i.e. no spare sectors left on flash.
I'd suggest to backup all important data from the stick.
[111555.389518] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdc] Media removed, stopped polling
This is also suspicious. Looks like scsi layer reported device online first but then went offline. May indicate a hardware issue.
Can you plug the stick into other PC? Does it appear as read-write?

I have other PC but was the same, this USB is also a port destroyer, because destroyed a port of my USB hub.

Im sorry but i dont understand much of these topics, i have a .img of the USB stick. No, i cannot access those files, even with the partition being a read only partition, when i plug the USB stick its mount and i can click on it but nothing is on it, i know my files are still on it because the properties windows says 6.9 GB of use and 55.1 GB free. My USB stick was called "La gran USB" but Windows changed it into "LA GRAN USB" (Before switching to Arch Linux) but now when i plug it, only says "Volumen de 62 GB" (In english "62 GB Volume" correct me if i wrong).

I dont know how much time i have before the USB stick fails completely and take it to be repared by a professional. Any help helps.

seth · 2026-07-07 05:59:33

because destroyed a port of my USB hub

How so?

I have other PC but was the same

Also USB2 or USB3 ?

Windows changed it into "LA GRAN USB"

win32 is case insensitive

only says "Volumen de 62 GB"

Filesystem is damaged or gone.

i have a .img of the USB stick

And can you mount that?

and i can click on it but nothing is on it, i know my files are still on it because the properties windows says 6.9 GB of use and 55.1 GB free

export LC_ALL=C
sudo fdisk -l
sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt
lsblk -f
df -h /dev/sdc1
ls -laR /mnt

pmtk_milk · 2026-07-07 07:06:40

How so?

Maybe the plastic was too cheap or something, but i noticed it when Windows give me a notification of a "Overchargue" over the USB port, it was to rare

Also USB2 or USB3 ?

Only USB 2.0, is a PC from 2009 (Also the PC that introduce me on Arch Linux)

win32 case is insensitive

Uh ok, i dont have a answer for that

Filesystem damaged or gone.

Thats worries me, how the filesystem could even be damaged?

And can you mount that?

Idk how, but i should try what the wiki says or the people in the forums

*Things i have to type in terminal*

I tried that but nothing, the same

dmesg -w said that write protection is on, im thinking what i should try by somehow disable the write protection but i dont know how

seth · 2026-07-07 07:16:25

I tried that but nothing, the same

The idea would be to post the output.

Windows give me a notification of a "Overchargue" … Only USB 2.0, is a PC from 2009

Do you have any access to any other system w/ a USB3 port?

what i should try by somehow disable the write protection

Since the key doesn't seem to have a latch to control write protection this is circumstantial - you cannot just "disable" that but need to address the cause (if this is possible)
The controller has either moved to r/o because the NAND has worn down and to protect the existing data (though that's not entirely consistent w/ the remaining symptoms) or this *might* be the result of the key being underpowered - and esp. w/ the device temporarily disappearing and now also the windows message I'd very much suggest to test the key against a USB3 host, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power

cryptearth · 2026-07-07 07:19:36

pmtk_milk wrote:

i should try by somehow disable the write protection but i dont know how

that could be impossible for several reasons like actual hardware failure or some software lockup due to not properly unmounted when on windows
also: as for dual-boot with windows: 3rd link in seths signature - could be your hardware got in a bad state due to improper dual-boot and now killed your thumbdrive
also: never trust these things with important data - at max use them copy such over to another system

pmtk_milk · 2026-07-07 07:48:13

cryptearth wrote:

pmtk_milk wrote:
i should try by somehow disable the write protection but i dont know how
that could be impossible for several reasons like actual hardware failure or some software lockup due to not properly unmounted when on windows
also: as for dual-boot with windows: 3rd link in seths signature - could be your hardware got in a bad state due to improper dual-boot and now killed your thumbdrive
also: never trust these things with important data - at max use them copy such over to another system

I only use Linux, no more Windows on my HDD (Yes, im using a HDD).
Now, with all these worries i will backup all my USB drives because now i dont know when and how they are going to fail.

This is NOT my last answer but at this time (12:45 AM) im tired of all of this stuff and things that unfortunately i dont understand, maybe the next morning i will continue with this. Any help helps

Arch Linux

#1 2026-07-06 19:37:19

How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#2 2026-07-06 19:49:50

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#3 2026-07-06 20:06:54

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#4 2026-07-06 20:32:27

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#5 2026-07-06 20:59:49

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#6 2026-07-06 21:01:42

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#7 2026-07-06 21:11:20

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#8 2026-07-06 21:11:29

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#9 2026-07-07 00:48:17

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#10 2026-07-07 05:43:06

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#11 2026-07-07 05:59:33

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#12 2026-07-07 07:06:40

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#13 2026-07-07 07:16:25

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#14 2026-07-07 07:19:36

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

#15 2026-07-07 07:48:13

Re: How i can change a partition from read only to read/write? (Of a USB)

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