write protect error

[DarkMatter]

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can fix this?
This USB doesn't have a write protect switch or slider.

Physical drive size: 61,912,121,344 (61.9GB)
          Drive shows as: Removable
           Device vendor: specific
        Vendor's product: storage_device
         Device revision: 0009
   Physical drive number: 1

   Information for drive's volume #1
    Volume serial number: 14F4-305B
        File system type: FAT32
             Volume Name: 2_7_1-22-AM
             Total bytes: 61,895,933,952 (61.9GB)
              Bytes free: 61,610,524,672 (61.6GB)
       Volume mounted as: D:\

  A newly inserted drive has been identified and is detailed above. Any drive
  volumes that are shown mounted with a drive letter may be further examined
  if the volume contains a recognized file system, before being reformatted.

  If you wish to reformat this drive, please enter the command NUKE and press
  Enter. Or, just press the ESCape key to terminate this program: NUKE

1. Unmounting & deleting drive mount points.
2. Taking the drive offline.
  ====================[ PROBABLE WRITE PROTECTION ]======================

  InitDisk's attempt to write to the selected device failed with an error
  indicating that the drive is probably write protected. You must disable
  write protection for InitDisk to reformat this device.

     Press ESCape to acknowledge this note and proceed...

 

[PHolder]

There are two possibilities I think. One is that the device has decided it is done being writable. When the number of write cycles is reached, the controller will just stop accepting any more. The other possibility is that there is a weird format on the device that Windows will not allow you to overwrite (but that it can read) which will need to be removed outside of Windows. I have heard of people using Linux to blank the device with dd and then InitDisk will be able to work with it.

 

[JimWilliamson]

Have you tried to work with / write to the media with it connected to a different computer / reader?

A quick hardware swap - does the issue follow the media or might there be some peculiar issue with this media in this reader? I suggest this as it might be a quick test / possible solution.

 

[DiskTuna]

PHolder is probably right, the device has depleted erase/write cycles. Recover the data, and bin it.

Now using original manufacturer's 'mass production tools' (MPTools) which can be obtained from mostly Chinese and Russian websites you may be able to revive the drive (losing the data so first back that up) but you'd end up with an unreliable device. IMO not worth it with such a relatively inexpensive media.

If you Google for ChipGenius and run that tool, there's a good chance it will point you to the right MPTool.

 

[DarkMatter]

Thanks All!
I will see if any of the above advice helps and report back.

 

[DarkMatter]

Is this the right thing?

 

[PHolder]

Um guys, really! PM's or less please... we can't have open discussion of what appears to be trading in illicit software.

 

[DiskTuna]

I wouldn't use that one. Get ChipGenius from Softpedia instead. Alternatively get Flash Drive Information Extractor from https://www.antspec.com/usbflashinfo/index.php. You can then search for MPtool for your device using the PID and the VID. But like I said, it's a waste of time. The flash drive's firmware switched to read-only for a reason. What you're about to do is equal to ignoring a serious SMART error, or blinking brake light indicator in your car.

Nothing illicit about ChipGenius, and no trading I am aware of is taking place, but the one DarkMatter has there seems to be hacked and probably is a Trojan.

I make software too and every now and then I try hunting down and take down hacked/cracked versions. If you run these through VirusTotal they're infected too. Does not mean my software is illicit. As a matter of fact most of the STOP DJVU ransomware for example is distributed via hacked/cracked versions of legit software. Which I happen to know because I repair many photos and videos that were encrypted by this ransomware, which brought me in contact with a well known ransomware researcher, who shared this information with me.

 

[DarkMatter]

@DiskTuna I downloaded that file from Softpedia.
I also found this warning on another site.

 

[DiskTuna]

Yes, well, I am not the distributor of ChipGenius, I reckoned SoftPedia at least virus checks it's downloads. And if I go here: https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/ChipGenius.shtml#download I do not get your warning.

I also gave the AntSpec alternative.

You asked about write protected flash drives and I gave you an answer. Anyone can take any executable and wrap an installer with adware and whatnot around it. So, yes, be careful out there, and no I do not need to know about all of these.

The detections above are mostly heuristic and AI based, and these are often wrong. In fact if you look at my own drive ID tool, you'll also see 7 of those flag the file as dangerous which I know to be total BS because I compiled it myself. I know what each line of code does and all it does it try get a drive's ID using various methods (API, ATA passthrough and SCSI passthrough). It does not drop anything or phone home, nothing like that. It's total BS. This ID tool was just to study and test, and the exact same code in my main project is all fine and dandy according to the same scanners.

Small developers and myself are really fed up with these cry wolf heuristic and artificial stupidity scanners and this problem is over a decade old and doesn't get any better (https://www.nirsoft.net/false_positive_report.html).

 

[DarkMatter]

@DiskTuna

I wasn’t trying to ruffle any feathers I was simply verifying that I had the right thing.

And I don’t trust VirusTotal 100% but it is better than nothing.

I also don’t trust any download sites assessment either.

I guess I tend to be more cautious than most.

And I DO genuinely appreciate your help and advice!

 

[DiskTuna]

I always check unknown files using VirusTotal myself too and I am glad it exists. Before I release my tools I always check them. If any tools flag my software it allows me to contact the maker of the software, and most (apart from those made by vague Chinese companies) offer tools or email addresses for reporting false positives or while-listing. And again, most are very responsive and are quick to analyze samples and correct false detections.

Yeah, I do not actually trust most download sites, most just automatically publish tools but I happen to know Softpedia actually checks and runs the tools.

That all being said, please be careful with those MPtools, indeed distributed through vague websites. It is quite a rabbit hole, even getting a somewhat current version of ChipGenius is an endeavor. But ChipGenius is a very useful tool that I use on a regular basis for diagnosing malfunctioning USB flash drives.

From a data recovery perspective for example it is useful to know at what point it fails. If CG sees controller, then that's not dead. If it can identify NAND chips, it means controller still talks to NAND memory. If NAND can not be seen while controller not dead, connection between controller <> NAND is interrupted. In which case examining the drive under a microscope may pay off: If there's visible damage then some times it is repairable. Sometimes removing NAND and re-balling and soldering it back solves issue while it would be of no use if controller is dead. If controller is dead then only option is either move NAND to identical donor or extract data from NAND directly (latter being the most labor intensive and expensive option which is why spending time on trying to repair is attractive).

Anyway, ChipGenius is an extremely useful tool.