Ubuntu

USB disk seems read-only regardless of the write protection

Asked by jelena

After formating usb disk in terminal (had to format it because it showed it's full but was empty, that problem seems solved now) and restarting pc, when I try to write on it I get:

''Destination is read only.'',
no matter is the write protection switched on or off.

When wiewing the hidden files, folder ''.trash-1000'' is shown, containing two empty folders, named ''files'' and ''info''.
When I right-click on it, ''Move to Trash'' option is enabled.

Any help? What to do with this trash folder and how to fix the read-only problem?
And please write detailed command lines for terminal if necessary, I'm really new to Ubuntu...

Thanks,
Jelena

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Tang
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Best Tang (robertmcgreg) said : 		#1

Hi, my preference is to avoid the command line. but In this instance I would go to the terminal, type sudo nautilus to give privilege then navigate through and delete the folders, plus reset permissions for the drive with Nautilus while it has root priveledge.

I'e set Nautilus -Edit/Preferences/Views to show hidden and backup files and then Edit/Preferences/Behaviour/Trash to include the delete command that bypasses the garbage bin. That's important because with an external drive, unless the file system is clean before unmount or power off, it can cause what seems to be the trouble you are having now. Always be sure to right click the drive icon and select eject when you are finished with the drive. There is dispute about how long to wait, some people say the drive needs time to power down before powering off.

Please remember to close nautilus when you've finished, because it stays with root privilege until closed.

Hope that helps

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jelena (jelenzagor) said : 		#2

Didn't help... when in Nautilus, everything set like you said, I'm still not able to delete trash-1000 from the usb disk.
''Destination is read only.'' again, switch on/off.

And I don't know how to access permissions for the part ''reset permissions for the drive with Nautilus while it has root priviledge.''

Thanks a lot anyway!

Revision history for this message
jelena (jelenzagor) said : 		#3

Seems I just had to unmount and pull off the usb disk and stick it back after nautilus, now it's writable again!
The folder ''.trash-1000'' is still there but can be deleted.

Do I have to delete it every time before I unmount the disk?

...and thanks again!

Regards

Jelena

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Tang (robertmcgreg) said : 		#4

jelena wrote:
> Question #38836 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/38836
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> jelena is still having a problem:
> Didn't help... when in Nautilus, everything set like you said, I'm still not able to delete trash-1000 from the usb disk.
> ''Destination is read only.'' again, switch on/off.
>
> And I don't know how to access permissions for the part ''reset
> permissions for the drive with Nautilus while it has root priviledge.''
>
> Thanks a lot anyway!
>

gksudo nautilus is probably what I should have written
Sorry about that

Revision history for this message
jelena (jelenzagor) said : 		#5

Thanks Tang, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
jelena (jelenzagor) said : 		#6

Yes I figured I had to write gksudo, no problem!

Revision history for this message
Tang (robertmcgreg) said : 		#7

jelena wrote:
> Question #38836 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/38836
>
> Status: Open => Solved
>
> jelena confirmed that the question is solved:
> Seems I just had to unmount and pull off the usb disk and stick it back after nautilus, now it's writable again!
> The folder ''.trash-1000'' is still there but can be deleted.
>
> Do I have to delete it every time before I unmount the disk?
>
> ...and thanks again!
>
>
> Regards
>
> Jelena
>
>
 Jelena, thank you, for your tolerance of my error

If your setup is the same as mine, files deleted on the USB drive will
appear in the default garbage bin, and deletions from the USB should be
emptied from that DGF before USB drive eject (unmount)