How to erase or format a micro SD card with ISO files copied on it.

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10-11-2012
MASONTX

How to erase or format a micro SD card with ISO files copied on it.

I have a 3 gb micro sd card in a sd card adapter. It came formated as fat32, and I downloaded some ISO files to move to another computer. The move is done, but now I can't erase or format the card. I get an error saying that it is read only. I have toggled the lock switch, but all that did was let me copy the files to trash, not permanently remove them. How do I change the permissions on this card and the ISO's on it, to allow me to erase it? Googling reveals that many people seem to have this problem, but the only suggestion is to slide the lock switch or format, but that isn't working for me. Gparted isn't seeing the sd card.
10-11-2012
Rubberman

Plug it in to the system, unmount the drive (don't select eject) and then use the dd command to erase it. Next, re-partition it, and create a new file system on the partition created. Need more detailed instructions? Just let me know.
10-11-2012
MASONTX

Thank you rubberman. I'm running sudo dd if=/dev/sdb, and a bunch of characters are flying by on the screen. When it finnishes I will try partitioning it.
10-11-2012
Rubberman

Quote:

Originally Posted by MASONTX

Thank you rubberman. I'm running sudo dd if=/dev/sdb, and a bunch of characters are flying by on the screen. When it finnishes I will try partitioning it.

Actually, you need to make that the output drive. To erase the drive, do this

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx

where /dev/sdx is the drive, such as /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. What you are doing is just reading the drive contents to the screen... :-)
10-11-2012
MASONTX

Thanks rubberman, but all attempts failed. Finally solved it another way. I even tried a different micro card adapter, neither one would let me access the microsd in anyway other than to add files to it or copy them off. Finally got smart and took the micro card out of the adapter and plugged it into the micro slot of my card bay. It erased that way easy as pie. Evidently the lock switch on both adapters wasn't doing anything to the micro card, so it wouldn't let me emty the trash or cut and remove the files that way.