Using my MacBook Pro with macOS Mojave 10.15.6 my USB SanDisk 128gb has suddenly changed to 'Read Only' it was formatted to MS-DOS (FAT32) over a year ago and allowed read/write up until the end of August 2019. Does anyone know why it should change and can anything be done to change back. It will not allow me to reformat.
MacBook Pro Retina
Is there a small switch on the side of the USB thumb drive that can be set so the drive is read-only? What is the exact model of this Sandisk USB? Also you can try to unmount and remount the usb from the Disk Utility program -- make sure to select "Show all devices" in the View menu and then mount the volume not the physical disk (look closely at the info in the top right of Disk Utility window as you select the disk and the volume).
Good luck...
If you do a "Get Info" (Command+i) in Finder on the SanDisk USB -- what does it show in Sharing & Permissions at the bottom? Will it let you change it from Read-only to Read-Write? Is the "Ignore Ownership" checkbox visible and if it is, is it checked or unchecked?
Good luck...
It's locked in hardware, possibly because the drive has sensed that it's about to fail.
(175114)
Hi, I've just been checking on Amazon.co.uk for a replacement. They have a SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit 130MB/s Tiny USB 3.0 Flash Drive that looks exactly the same as mine but with a big price as well as a newer version that's so much cheaper - doesn't make sense! Checking on the higher priced 'questions/answers' it would appear that as Niel said above, it's a hardware problem with SanDisk, they stop you writing to it creating a read only. Having read all the comments on Amazon, I have sent a message to SanDisk. Will now be looking at a Kingston replacement. Thank you all for your help and night night it's now nearly 1.00 am here in Surrey, England.
Thank you, but there are no alternatives in the Sharing & Permissions at the bottom of the "Get Info" and no visible 'ignore ownership' box visible. I'll post a print screen to let you see.,
We've done a first aid on the SanDisk there were no reported problems. Is there anyway of unlocking it? We tried on a PC to use KillDisk didn't work, it just froze. Thanks.
GemsMacBook wrote:
Hi, I've just been checking on Amazon.co.uk for a replacement. They have a SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit 130MB/s Tiny USB 3.0 Flash Drive that looks exactly the same as mine but with a big price as well as a newer version that's so much cheaper - doesn't make sense!
Some SanDisk USB sticks can write much faster than the average USB stick. This could be why the price is so much more expensive. Also some USB sticks may integrated security which will cost more.
Checking on the higher priced 'questions/answers' it would appear that as Niel said above, it's a hardware problem with SanDisk, they stop you writing to it creating a read only. Having read all the comments on Amazon, I have sent a message to SanDisk. Will now be looking at a Kingston replacement. Thank you all for your help and night night it's now nearly 1.00 am here in Surrey, England.
It is a good thing if a failing USB stick or SSD goes into Read-Only mode as it allows you to access your data if it hasn't been backed up. I've read a lot of reports where most failing drives never go into read-only mode as intended.
Of course if there is a wide spread defect or issue with a particular model, then it would be best to avoid it. But be careful as many reviewers cannot always be trusted to be truthful, plus some problems can be attributed to other causes or a users misconceptions about an item. Also, Amazon's reviews don't always pertain to the exact item you think it does.
I have used several Kingston USB sticks and have found some of them to have issues. One had odd issues when used with a Mac (one Mac could read it and another could not) and sometimes it wouldn't boot some computers when a bootable OS was "burned" to it. Another Kingston USB stick would get intermittent bit errors which means my data was being silently corrupted.
I find the quality of many USB sticks to be questionable. USB sticks are convenient and handy, but I don't have much faith or trust in them.
USB SanDisk 128gb has changed to 'Read Only'
