USB flash drive is read-only under Gnome on Debian

Question

I have Debian on my PC. I insert a USB flash and it open just fine in my Gnome environment. But when I try to copy something in it I get:

Error during copy.The destination is only for reading.

When I go to properties to see if I can change something from there it seems I cannot — the change I am making resets on it's own.

What should I do?

EDIT

If I use mount I get:

/dev/sdb1 on /media/KINGSTON type vfat (ro,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask=0077,codepage=cp437‌​,iocharset=utf8,shortname=mixed,showexec,utf8,flush,errors=remount-ro,uhelper=udi‌​sks)

and

# mount -o remount,rw/dev/sdb1/
Usage: mount -V                 : print version
       mount -h                 : print this help
       mount                    : list mounted filesystems
       mount -l                 : idem, including volume labels
So far the informational part. Next the mounting.
The command is `mount [-t fstype] something somewhere'.
Details found in /etc/fstab may be omitted.
       mount -a [-t|-O] ...     : mount all stuff from /etc/fstab
       mount device             : mount device at the known place
       mount directory          : mount known device here
       mount -t type dev dir    : ordinary mount command
Note that one does not really mount a device, one mounts
a filesystem (of the given type) found on the device.
One can also mount an already visible directory tree elsewhere:
       mount --bind olddir newdir
or move a subtree:
       mount --move olddir newdir
One can change the type of mount containing the directory dir:
       mount --make-shared dir
       mount --make-slave dir
       mount --make-private dir
       mount --make-unbindable dir
One can change the type of all the mounts in a mount subtree
containing the directory dir:
       mount --make-rshared dir
       mount --make-rslave dir
       mount --make-rprivate dir
       mount --make-runbindable dir
A device can be given by name, say /dev/hda1 or /dev/cdrom,
or by label, using  -L label  or by uuid, using  -U uuid .
Other options: [-nfFrsvw] [-o options] [-p passwdfd].
For many more details, say  man 8 mount .

# remount
bash: remount: command not found
# mount -t remount,rw/dev/sdb1/
# mount -t remount,rw/dev/sdb1/
# 

Why?

Solution 1

Unmount the USB-drive and open up a new terminal.

First get the device name with:

sudo fdisk -l

(Example: /dev/sdb1)

Create new a mount point:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb

Then mount the USB-drive back on with ownership set to you:

sudo mount -o uid=$(id -u),gid=$(id -g) /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb/ 

In the command above, the only thing you have to change is the device name /dev/sdb1 to the one you found with the fdisk command.

Now you will have the ownership of the USB-drive and can do whatever you want.

Solution 2

Check dmesg.

Perhaps, the file system has been set read-only because the volume had not been properly unmounted and some data may be corrupt.

Is such case, you should unmount the file system and run fsck.

Comments

[Constantine Black]

Hi and thanks for the answer. I try typing what you posted but i get: paranoia@dbn-up:~$ sudo fdisk -l [sudo] password for paranoia: paranoia is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.

[Constantine Black]

I have tried what you said, but as I commented, there appears to be a problem. Any suggestions?

[elbarna]

Try to mount with async options,i heard somewhere that sync is dangerous for usb pen

[Constantine Black]

@elbarna How to do that?

[elbarna]

mount -o async /dev/yourpen /mnt/whereyouwant or edit fstab and options must be defaults,async if you get error on dmesg about usb trasnfer blocked or i/o errors consider the pen faulty or near faulty,but before this try another pen,or same pen on another usb port

[Constantine Black]

@elbarna I 've also done that. It says: Only root can do that. I will attempt a suicide soon:)

[Constantine Black]

@elbarna Does the whereyouwant means a new destination or the one that has my USB flash memory?

[Constantine Black]

@str : Could you please tell me how you think I should unmount ?

[Constantine Black]

@srt If I use mount I get: /dev/sdb1 on /media/KINGSTON type vfat (ro,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask‌​=0077,codepage=cp437‌​,iocharset=utf8,shor‌​tname=mixed,showexec‌​,utf8,flush,errors=r‌​emount-ro,uhelper=ud‌​isks)