Same issue here - brand new SanDisk 32GB USB stick, now being reported by
both windows and two linux systems as being write protected.
Tried using the low-level partition tool fdisk on both linux systems to wipe the partition table,
and even that low-level tool was telling me that the partition table on the stick
is non-writable/non-updateable.
Sorry, but at this level it’s not your choice of OS or any of its particular foibles - it’s
the chipset in the USB stick…
So now I have a USB stick that I want to return for a refund/replacement, but
unfortunately it has a lot of files already on it from my fathers PC, some of which
contain sensitive personal data. So I’ve got NO WAY to securely erase this friggin
thing before I send it back for refund(where it will pass through -how many- hands)?
I’d take a hammer to it, but then I won’t get a refund. I’m between a rock and a hard
place, thanks to SanDisk.
I’ll be extremely angry if this was a known hardware flaw, and SanDisk failed to
do a proper recall after they’d found out. How many lots of these defective
beasts have they continued to sell?
I think it’s time for a class-action suit.
