Cannot write to mini SD card

littlekatana · 08-24-2022, 03:20 PM

I recently took the mini SD card out of my Moto G cellphone in order to put some files on it for future use. I discovered that I could not write anything to it. Basically, I tried to copy and paste music files, but the option to paste in the options menu was greyed out. The Cut option was also greyed out.

Any ideas how I can change the permission so I can copy files on this card?

I'm running Linus Mate on an old dell latitude.

Code:

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-124-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: MATE 1.26.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude E6530 v: 01 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 07Y85M v: A01 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: A12 
  date: 05/20/2013 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 22.9 Wh condition: 56.0/62.2 Wh (90%) 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-3740QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  Speed: 897 MHz min/max: 1200/3700 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 897 2: 897 
  3: 897 4: 897 5: 897 6: 896 7: 897 8: 897 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF108GLM [NVS 5200M] driver: nouveau v: kernel 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting 
  unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) 
  v: 4.2 Mesa 21.2.6 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio 
  driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-124-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network driver: e1000e 
  IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network 
  Adapter 
  driver: wl 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: vmnet1 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-2: vmnet8 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 252.93 GiB used: 296.17 GiB (117.1%) 
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: SD16G size: 14.46 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: LITE-ON IT model: LCS-256M6S 2.5 7mm 256GB 
  size: 238.47 GiB 
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 181.58 GiB used: 146.55 GiB (80.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0 C mobo: 35.0 C sodimm: 36.0 C gpu: nouveau 
  temp: 54 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 
Info:
  Processes: 239 Uptime: 11h 39m Memory: 7.66 GiB used: 2.21 GiB (28.9%) 
  Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.38

jefro · 08-24-2022, 03:32 PM

I might look at mount command.

Maybe look at some partition or fdisk program.

Knowing the filesystem on it may help.

littlekatana · 08-24-2022, 03:42 PM

will do.

business_kid · 08-29-2022, 12:58 PM

Unless I'm mistaken, that's also called a micro sdcard?

Either way, they are low mileage objects with limited write cycles. Many low & lower quality versions exist. The Slackware Arm guys (sub-forum of Slackware) recommend some models of sdcard. My advice, especially if it's ≥6 months old is "If at first you don't succeed, give up."

Copy every bit of data you can read off, while you still can read it. Replace unless you have reason to believe your software has gone bonkers. Set up options like 'noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro' to minimise writes.

Try not to use them if you have an alternative. Even the 1.44MB floppies lasted better than some models.

EDIT: If it came out of your phone, it's almost certainly some version of the FAT file system. Android phones use that. You may need root permissions.

boughtonp · 08-30-2022, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Unless I'm mistaken, that's also called a micro sdcard?

You are mistaken - mini and micro are different sizes.

Mini SD cards are approx the size of a 5c coin (Euro or USD), but I guess they were too easy to hold so someone came up with the tiny flimsy Micro SD cards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlekatana

Code:

Kernel: 5.4.0-124-generic x86_64

As pointed out, SD cards are often FAT formatted for Windows compatibility, a 16GB card will likely be either FAT32 or exFAT.

That's before the new FAT driver got added to the kernel in 5.7 - if you can upgrade to 5.10 or 5.15 then that may help. (Maybe try a Live USB to check whether that's a factor.)

thugtomas · 09-15-2022, 05:46 AM

Check the write protection on your SD card or SD card adapter and make sure that it is slid up to unlock position.