Q: Why suddenly can I not save my Numbers/Excel files because "Read-only file system"?

Exactly what did you do when you tried to change permissions via the Get Info window (forget about Disk Utility for the time being!)?

Could you please describe, step by step, what you did?

Thanks.

You still need to perform the steps for changing the permissions from Read Only to Read-Write for your user account.

The two linked articles in my last posting explain how to do this.

If you perform the steps in those linked articles and successfully change the permissions to Read-Write, then all of the "ghosted" (aka unavailable) items most likely will become available and you then should be able to repair the pen drive.

Until you do this, however, the pen drive will continue showing the symptoms you reported.

Does the flash drive have a physical switch that locks the drive?

I cannot seem to post images and screen shots. so please check you FLASH drive

mickeywright wrote:

 

Barry, I sincerely appreciate your patience and tenacious determination to help me through this. You must think I'm an absolute idiot, and I certainly feel like one. I once again, tried very hard to see something different following the directions in your Link One...I pulled up the Get Info menu on the flash drive...Everything looks the same as I described in my last message. Under SHARING & PERMISSION: "You can only read." And there IS NO LOCK...there IS NO GEAR (Action Menu). I then went to your Link Two...the illustrations are wonderful! I so wish I had a lock on mine. I so wish I could see a gear on mine! But there IS NO LOCK...there IS NO GEAR! Isn't this horse dead. Or are you still concvinced I am the dead horse? :>)  I may be. I truly may be. But if I'm missing something, I just can't imagine right now what it could be. Sincere thanks again for your patience and perseverance. If I am still missing something, I sincerely apologize! I have to leave for a family get-together, but will take a fresh look at it tonight when we get back home. Mickey

 

Hi Mickey,

Thanks for your posting and thanks for clarifying that the gear does not display. It was my misunderstanding of your last posting.

Have you ever used the Terminal app in the Utilities folder?

If you have experience using it and feel comfortable with using it, then you could try changing the USB pen drive's permissions by mean of Terminal commands.

Alternatively, as others have suggested in this thread, you could decide to "cut bait" and replace this pen drive with a new one. This alternative would have a higher proability of success and lower risk.

Hope this helps.

Barry

I found the problem with 'read only' Excel files.  it took me a while to figure out why some files would open normally and some with read only until I realized that only the files with the symbol / in the name had that problem. while it lets me save a file with / slash in the name, it will open as read only afterwards.