hmmm...
ok

so how would i go about mounting a device like that?

mount -t vfat rw /dev/sdc /mnt/hd

where would i specify the rw?

ok so i entered:

leprkhn@kubuntu:~$ sudo mount -t vfat -o rw /dev/sdc /mnt/hd

and it said:

mount: block device /dev/sdc is write-protected, mounting read-only

so i guess that that doesn't work.

Sorry about that, I don't know what I was thinking. When did the device change from sdb to sdc? What happens if you remove the drive and reinsert it? Did you get any errors from dd? What does say about the device?
Good luck. ;-)

I asked for the output of "mount" directly, with no options, itll give information that you havent provided.

When you ran fdisk, the drive was un-mounted, right?

@peacedog:
it changed from sdb to sdc when i tried pulling it out and sticking it back in. kubuntu automounted it to /media/STICK.
dd just sais opening '/dev/sdc': read-only file system
no errors.
fdisk -l /dev/sdc sais:
Disk /dev/sdc: 4160 MB, 4160749568 bytes
128 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1024 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 7936 * 512 = 4063232 bytes

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 ? 98052 241891 570754815+ 72 Unknown
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(357, 116, 40) logical=(98051, 51, 11)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 32, 45) logical=(241890, 104, 51)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdc2 ? 21257 265212 968014120 65 Novell Netware 386
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(288, 115, 43) logical=(21256, 30, 47)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(367, 114, 50) logical=(265211, 52, 42)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdc3 ? 235621 479576 968014096 79 Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(366, 32, 33) logical=(235620, 18, 30)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 32, 43) logical=(479575, 39, 39)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdc4 ? 363620 363627 27749+ d Unknown
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(372, 97, 50) logical=(363619, 12, 25)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(0, 10, 0) logical=(363626, 11, 33)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order


@sciyro

mount with no options sais:

mount: block device /dev/sdc is write-protected, mounting read-only

and yes i was sure to unmount it defore running fdisk.

Answered my own question, see below.
Good luck. ;-)

Ok, I found this.

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-329796.html

It lead me here.

http://www.patriotmem.com/support/flashSupportp.jsp

This leads me to believe there is security partition still on the device which may be causing the lock issue. Although I had a drive with u3 on it that acted the same way at first, once I zeroed the boot sector I was able to do as I pleased with the drive in linux. Upon plugging it back into a windows machine it locked the box up, apparently the u3 software was embedded. I had to run the u3 removal tool from windows to use the drive across platforms. I don't know if this will solve your problem but, I'm fresh out of ideas.
Good luck. ;-)