Left Hand SD Expansion Acting as "Read Only"

Hi All: I have an AAO with the 8 GB internal SSD and an 8 GB SDHC card in the left hand SD Expansion slot, running Windows XP. Under XP, I can see the drive just fine, it shows up as d: drive and I can read from the drive just fine (for example, if I have PDF files on the SDHC card, I can open them no problem). However if I try to write anything to the drive, I get a message telling me that the drive is write protected. So I can't write to it.

Here is what I have done to try and sort out the problem:

1) I made sure that the write lock on the SDHC card itself is in the correct "unlocked" position
2) I tried the 8 GB SDHC card in the right hand 5 in 1 card reader slot - can read and write to the card no problem in that slot
3) I tried a different SD card in the left hand Expansion slot. Same "write protected" behavior when I tried to write to it.

Is this normal behavior for the Expansion Slot?
If the answer is No to that question then:

- Is it possible that the problem is a software/driver issue?
- Or is it more likely that there is a mechanical issue with the slot - not picking up that the lock is not set on the SD card?

Appreaciate any advice you can provide. Thanks.

 

It may be an issue with the switch in the card slot on the Acer. The lock "switch" on the SD card contacts an electrical switch in the card slot.

Try putting a piece of scotch tape over the SD card's edge where the lock switch is located to "build it out" a little more. The extra thickness should allow the card to activate the switch in the card slot when inserted.

Just be careful that you don't put too thick a layer of tape on the card, if you put too much on the card it may get stuck in the slot.

 

Thanks, Nick. I'll give that a try.

 

Unfortunately, putting tape on the SD card didn't fix the problem - still treating it as read only.

I've seen references om some web forums to a that can be changed in Winwos XP SP2 and later that can be used to define/force a drive to be read only or not. Would changing this operating system setting to force the SD expnasion slot to not be read only override the hardward switch in the drive that is incorrectly telling the system to treat it as read-only?