Resolved USB hard disk set to read only

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by nugget, Mar 29, 2010.

  1. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Guys, I have a strange one for you. For a couple of months now I've been using an external USB hard disk as a backup location for symantec system restore. On the weekend a backup exec job failed with an error saying that only one vss service can run at one time. Then the backup jobs to the USB disk also started failing. I've not found anything specific in the event logs but I have found that the USB disk has been set to read only. To me it seems that this is the cause of the system restore failures (and, indirectly, possibly the cause of the backup exec failures too).


    No matter what I try I can't set the USB hard disk back to being able to write again. Has anyone else experienced this and how did you get around it?

    BTW I also have a USB stick that the same thing happened to and can't set it back (or format it either).
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2010
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  2. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Is this happening from the same pc?

    NB
     
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  3. Nyx

    Nyx Byte Poster

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    a long shot really, but is there a hidden autorun.inf on the drives? some malware work this way...
    also you could check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor\Start is set to 3.
    I suppose you can't format them because they're read-only, anything useful in the disk management app?
    Anyway I would blame the pc... you could try the drives in another pc, but if it's some dodgy code you will most likely transfer it there as well
     
  4. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Nope, the USB hard disk is attached to my exchange server. It was put on there, formatted from there and only operated from there.


    The USB stick on the other hand has been used between XP, Vista and 7 systems. I can't really remember where and when it lost the functionality to write to the stick. At one point I remember that it threw up some data corruption errors and then it just didn't work anymore.
     
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  5. dazza786

    dazza786 Megabyte Poster

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    ..but as a share?
     
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  6. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    No, just plugged in and formatted through the disk management tool. Then started the Symantec system restore program, configured the tasks and as a place to save the backups I chose the attached USB disk.
     
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  7. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    on your exchange server, from cmd can you type the following:

    vssadmin list writers

    all writers should list the last error as no error.

    I used to get that vss error with backup exec if one of the writers had an error.
     
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  8. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Yep, all clear. All vss writers show no error.

    The latest now is that the backup exec job worked as it should but the system restore backup jobs still fail because it can't write to the external hard disk. :dry
     
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  9. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    ok so the vss error was probably from the first time it failed to write and was left hung or something.

    The backup exec job that ran successfuly, was that written to the same drive? I wonder if its the account the job is run under doens't have write permissions to the drive? Can you copy files onto the drive manually using your windows account? Or is all writing to the drive blocked?
     
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  10. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Right click on the drive, open properties, go to security, click Edit, click Add and Write Everyone. Give Everyone the rights in the box below that. Fingers crossed

    PS What size is the USB HDD?
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2010
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  11. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Sounds to me it was something like that. The BE job runs from the DC and uses agents to back everything up and then writes to tape. The USB disk is connected directly to the Exchange server to do local backup images using System Restore.


    Can't write anything to the drive at all, in any directory.


    The hdd is a WD 500GB. I've tried changing the permissions but it won't allow me write access to do that.:x
     
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  12. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    hmm, is there data on there you need? if not i would wipe the partitions and recreate the drive
     
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  13. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Is it possible someone has applied a GPO that makes USB read only? Have a look at the registry and see if it has this: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies\WriteProtect to 1.
     
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  14. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    :x:x
    This really sucks. It's now started working again. I restarted the server at one point and unplugged the USB hard disk and the bloody thing still didn't work. I couldn't write to the disk or change anything. Then some time in the night it starts working again. The cheek of it. :blink

    The strange thing is that some of the backup jobs still worked when it was acting up.
     
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  15. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    I'd say it sounds like that drive is on its way out. Time will tell
     
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