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SD card in read-only format

A

alcarrot

Lurker
I'm currently using an LG P970 phone with an android ver 4.0.4.
The issue is that out of nowhere, my SD card (SanDisk 8GB) just went into a read-only format. I can't use my camera, apps stored on my SD are now pretty useless, and I can't edit/store/delete files from the SD (via phone or PC).

I think this isn't an isolated case and some people have experienced this with their devices but have found solutions. The problem is I have tried unmounting/mounting the card, error-checking on PC, and even resetting the phone back to factory settings, but nothing seems to work in my case(even the files are still intact, as if they're immortal:saint:).

I'm not a "techie" person so hopefully there's a simple solution to this.
 
Hi alcarrot welcome to AF. :)

How long have you had the SD? It could have worn out, this does happen. Can you re-format it on your PC? Backup the contents first before you try. If it can't be formatted, replace it. Removable storage media does have a finite life, can only be written to a certain number of times. It might have gone read only to protect the contents.
 
alcarrot said:
I'm currently using an LG P970 phone with an android ver 4.0.4.
The issue is that out of nowhere, my SD card (SanDisk 8GB) just went into a read-only format. I can't use my camera, apps stored on my SD are now pretty useless, and I can't edit/store/delete files from the SD (via phone or PC).

I think this isn't an isolated case and some people have experienced this with their devices but have found solutions. The problem is I have tried unmounting/mounting the card, error-checking on PC, and even resetting the phone back to factory settings, but nothing seems to work in my case(even the files are still intact, as if they're immortal:saint:).

I'm not a "techie" person so hopefully there's a simple solution to this.
Click to expand...

I think it may be time for a new SD Card. Try the suggestion above and let us know how it turns out.
 
I've only been using the SD card for around 6months though.
But I'll try testing my phone with a different SD card and see if it still reacts the same way.
Thanks for the help!
 
when mirco sd cards go into read-only mode and you didn't put them that way via software means, it's a sign that they're dying. it's a built-in feature to save your data on a failing card. back up the data, swap cards, move on. these things happen.
 
Hi all,

First post here and yes, I know the thread is already quite old, but I dare to ask anyway about this finite life of SD cards :

I now had the problem on 3 (yes three !) SD cards which died after about just 2 months. Same symptoms as "alcarrot", cannot write to card anymore, nor format it, but data is readable without any issue. Two of them were ofrom "ADATA" and the third from "Transcend".

These cards were used inside Xiaomi phones (Redmi2 and Redmi2 Pro, two different devices) and happened to be worn out after a little month or two. I did nothing special with them, at least I don't think so. Unless storing mp3, pics and running Titanium Backup every night would have been enough to induce so many writes ! I don't think so.

I'm wondering where the problem came from (smartphone / sd card / other ?) and as said, this happened with different card brands and also in two different devices.

Has anybody already encountered such a disappointment ? If I have to buy a new 64GB card every two months, it won't be cheap for my budget...

I naturally tried to get them replaced by the manufacturer, but he want's me to send back the faulty items before replacing them, this I can understand, but I don't wanna send them my private family pictures and all other data still residing on them as the data is perfectly readable, just isn't writable or deletable anymore. They also don't want me to cut them with scissors before sending back. Such a shame ! I thought the customer should be the king, but this was loooong years ago I assume. :-(

Thanks in advance for stories of other people having had same issues

Cheers
 
Hi EarlyMon, thanks for watching and the two links you posted ! Didn't try them yet but will do asap.

I thought of counterfeit cards, yes. But I don't think they are as they got bought in honnest swiss shops here and not on any obscure chinese internet website. Anyway, it could well be...

THANKS ! Will keep posted if I get any further.
 
OK, so "SD Insight" doesn't seem to think the cards are fake. At least the correct manufacturer is displayed. But this surely also could be counterfeit, isn't it ? I don't know if there are other things to check. Anyway, I don't think they are counterfeit but still wondering how I managed to burn out three cards in less than 6 months !

The SD formater you pointed me to also just says the SD card is write-protected, as the different smartphones or even my DashCam says. And it naturally doesn't have anything to do with the physical lock available on microSD card adapters, unfortunately... :-(

Thanks a lot anyway and have a nice one ! I wrote again to the manufacturer to see if they would accept to help in a manner or another.
 
Amagine getting a brand new $200 200GB SanDisk SD-card and that happens to u after a few months...man i'll be pissed. I hope it's rare & it's cuz the card's been written to too many times. Not just a random thing.
 
Do this: insert the sd on your phone..go to settings...unmount it..format it..repeat this process about three times..then get it off of your phone..put it in your computer..then in your computer go to "computer" right click on the sd card..select the "format"..now you should be able to format your sd card..let me know.
 
Last edited:
Xavier Black said:
Do this: insert the sd on your phone..go to settings...unmount it..format it..repeat this process about three times..then get it off of your phone..put it in your computer..then in your computer go to "computer" right click on the sd card..select the "format"..now you should be able to format your sd card..let me know.
Click to expand...
It worked 4 me dude
 
You can take the help of these steps

1. Connect SD card to some other device
2. Try to run “chkdsk” command
3. Assign a new drive letter to the connected card

4. Format the SD card through a SD card formatter

5. Reinstall the driver

6. Take the help of a Photo Recovery Software
 
alcarrot said:
I'm currently using an LG P970 phone with an android ver 4.0.4.
The issue is that out of nowhere, my SD card (SanDisk 8GB) just went into a read-only format. I can't use my camera, apps stored on my SD are now pretty useless, and I can't edit/store/delete files from the SD (via phone or PC).

I think this isn't an isolated case and some people have experienced this with their devices but have found solutions. The problem is I have tried unmounting/mounting the card, error-checking on PC, and even resetting the phone back to factory settings, but nothing seems to work in my case(even the files are still intact, as if they're immortal:saint:).

I'm not a "techie" person so hopefully there's a simple solution to this.
Click to expand...

Hey I have tried this trick it's working for my 32gb patriot sdcard but does not on my 2 gb sdcard you can trytho!:
Step 1: Plug the read-only micro SD card into Windows.

Step 2: Click "Start" > "Run" and enter cmd.

Step 3: Enter diskpart.

Step 4: Type list volume. Now you'll see all your connected drives, see which one is the memory card drive.

Step 5: Type select volume #. # represents the letter of your memory card drive.

Step 6: Type attributes disk clear readonly > removing the write protection.

Now open your SD. You should be able to edit, delete, copy or move files without a hitch.
 
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