SD card locked.

[keith with the teef]

Ive got problems with an sd card.

Its write protected and so I cannot format it. I can access the files on my computer and windows phone.

But I need to be able to format it for other storage purposes.

I have looked on the web and tried this and that with CMD and regedit. Which all said it worked. But windows will still not let me format it.

Any ideas on this?

with: CMD, regedit or apps and so on?

[Ed P]

When you say write protected, I assume that you are not referring to physical write protection. That being so then you probably need to go the repartitioning route. The following link gives eight ways of doing this (I normally use a Linux OS and GParted to fix any hidden partitions, but I appreciate that you may not be comfortable with the Linux route).

If you are happy with Linux, I’ll talk you through it.

https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/how-to-remove-write-protection-on-micro-sd-card.html

[Ed P]

As an after-thought I suspect that the SD card is kaput. They are quite fragile things and often give up the ghost. Can you read/write to the card with its current use? If that does not work then it is probably bin-fodder and not worth wasting your time.

[Ed P]

As a further after-thought and rereading your note, I get the impression that you think that the SD card is OK. If so then it is the partitioning setup that is almost certainly frustrating your efforts. While I use Linux to easily get around these frustrations, apparently you can easily do the job in Windows using Diskpart. I have never tried diskpart on an SDCard, but you may want to try the advice in the following link:

https://www.diskinternals.com/partition-recovery/remove-write-protection-on-sd-card/

btw, the SD Card Association classify this locking as ‘providing a security area on the card.

Not apparently your problem, but I once had a SSD that the manufacturers had deliberately halved in size in order to provide secure read/write storage through over the top amounts of over-provisioning. I was never able to change the factory set over-provisioning level. However, bear this in mind if you cannot get the full SDCard capacity after repartitioning.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

You probably had an HPA Ed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_protected_area

 

[Ed P]

Interesting, thanks. The SSD is still running well and is currently serving a Raspberry Pi which does not need more storage. However if ever it runs out of space I now know what might work, providing I can find the correct commands to reduce the over-provisioning.

[keith with the teef]

I have concluded that the drive is in someway broken.

I have tried removing the write protection and formatting the drive with everything I have @ my disposal. Thanks for the links edp

All drive formatting and unlocking tools say they worked. But the drive remains accessible and locked.

I wonder if I could claim for a new one.

[Ed P]

Try Aomei Partition Assistant Standard. According to this link (right at the end) it claims that it will handle corrupted drives. May be worth a try as the standard edition is free.

https://www.diskpart.com/articles/unable-to-format-sd-card-write-protected-7201.html

[keith with the teef]

Think I have found the problem, a faulty card reader.

AOMEI pointed out the drive was not mounted. Which threw me the bone to check the card reader.

Ive ordered a new one.

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