write protection

Total Head

Total Head

Well-Known Member
so i'm not very techy but i didn't think i was an idiot. i'm hoping someone can explain whether i have to throw away my memory card or not.

i can't delete pics, i can't format it (from the computer or through the camera), but i was able to copy the pics to a folder on my computer so i can keep them.

the switch on the card is NOT in the locked position. everything is read-only and won't uncheck, but even if i force it by selecting "ignore" it just checks itself again.

google has failed me hard on this one. everyone just says flick the switch a bunch of times or format. it won't format because it's protected. i've been trying to take pics of my plants for 2 days to show a dude something and i can't even take pics on the thing. should i throw it out and spend another 20 bucks on a new card? it's the principle of the thing. this card is less than a year old and i never even used the whole capacity. the idea of buying another one if i could make this one work makes me cringe.

it's a toshiba sdhc card if it makes a difference.
 
T

tellno1

Well-Known Member
Only suggestion I would make is .. power down your computer.. insert your card into your computer .. turn your computer back on and see if this helps .. had problems with them before and this seemed to work for me ... hope this helps ...
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Total Head said:
so i'm not very techy but i didn't think i was an idiot. i'm hoping someone can explain whether i have to throw away my memory card or not.

i can't delete pics, i can't format it (from the computer or through the camera), but i was able to copy the pics to a folder on my computer so i can keep them.

the switch on the card is NOT in the locked position. everything is read-only and won't uncheck, but even if i force it by selecting "ignore" it just checks itself again.

google has failed me hard on this one. everyone just says flick the switch a bunch of times or format. it won't format because it's protected. i've been trying to take pics of my plants for 2 days to show a dude something and i can't even take pics on the thing. should i throw it out and spend another 20 bucks on a new card? it's the principle of the thing. this card is less than a year old and i never even used the whole capacity. the idea of buying another one if i could make this one work makes me cringe.

it's a toshiba sdhc card if it makes a difference.
Click to expand...
Well you could require drivers from Toshiba. There could be a corrupted file on it etc.. Since I don't know the make and model I can't help direct you to support. But search for Toshiba support for your model and contact them.
 
Total Head

Total Head

Well-Known Member
tellno1 said:
Only suggestion I would make is .. power down your computer.. insert your card into your computer .. turn your computer back on and see if this helps .. had problems with them before and this seemed to work for me ... hope this helps ...
Click to expand...
that didn't work, but thanks for the suggestion.


curious2garden said:
Well you could require drivers from Toshiba. There could be a corrupted file on it etc.. Since I don't know the make and model I can't help direct you to support. But search for Toshiba support for your model and contact them.
Click to expand...
man, if this is going to come down to me having to deal with toshiba then i'm just going to say fuck it. that website is a nightmare to navigate and their forum is dead. i honestly cannot figure out for the life of me how to obtain any relevant info from that site, even with the model number. their web pages are WAY too busy with stuff. their search sucks, also. it's not like i have a warranty on the thing. i didn't realize this was going to be such a task or i would have bought another one when i had the money. cue the "pics or it didn't happen" parade.
 
Flash4211

Flash4211

Active Member
There isn't that much to those things. Most likely the write-protect switch is broken mechanically inside the plastic housing, and there's no practical way to fix that. Outside chance; try rinsing the thing by swishing it around in isopropyl alcohol and let it dry thoroughly before trying it again, on the off chance that a tiny bit of grit got in there. Otherwise, just chalk it up to bad luck and buy a replacement. g/l.
 
M

minnesmoker

Well-Known Member
This is like a good algebra problem -- that someone erased half of. Need more details -- O/S, how you are plugging the card into the system (are you using a slot reader or plugging the camera in) if this has been a problem before... First, try turning the "lock" on, insert the card, when it's found, safely eject, turn the lock off, and then try again. If that doesn't work, try formatting the card (after backing up your pics) If you can't format in the PC, try on the camera.
If you can still take pics, but can't delete them, than it's NOT the lock. That lock prevents writing. Taking a picture "writes" and deleting a picture "writes" ...
 
A

apreminin

Member
i haven't encountered something like this yet. Normally, when your card is busted, it couldn't be read. All I can suggest is to get a new card. You've already saved the pics, haven't you?
 
M

minnesmoker

Well-Known Member
I've run into that a couple of times -- I have one card that will read fine on 3 laptops, but when I plug it into my desktop it tries to format. I thought it was a driver issue, so I tried another card, that one works everywhere... As long as the camera will still write to the card, it's good. If the camera reads it, save your pictures, format it, and just proceed as normal.

On a side note, SD cards are great for transferring sensitive data. They are much much easier to destroy in the event that the data is no longer useful than a thumb drive or hard drive. I use 4GB-16GB cards for all sensitive information. They can be encrypted, and destroying one is as simple as snapping the card into pieces (or chewing it up if you are really desperate and NEED the data gone!) If you have a Micro Center or Fry's around, you can get a 16 GB for around $20.00 -- that's a LOT cheaper than 20,000 retainer + bail + other attorney's fees ...
 
Total Head

Total Head

Well-Known Member
well, i've accepted that the card is toast. i tried swishing it out with alcohol and dried it for a day, and nothing. pretty sure it's the card because my ancient sony memory stick worked in the slot fine.

in other news, my cat just killed my laptop to where it won't even charge or turn on, so the sd card has been demoted to non-issue status, but i am thankful for the replies. i am absolutely sure that the two issues are completely unrelated. just life's cutsey way of giving me the finger.

now i get to try to figure out how to see if i can get it repaired without the tech seeing all my pot pics.
 
Farfenugen

Farfenugen

Well-Known Member
Usually after all this I just get a hammer and threaten the thing in front of the rest of the gadgets in my home. They all toe the line after that. Or, if all else fails, I move into the forest and be done with society and all it's unnecessary technology.
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Well by this time my guess is you've got this sorted but just in case pull the hard drive out of the laptop then take it to get fixed.
 
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