A USB memory stick became Read only, can it be reversed to writable ?

Hi usb@FreeBSD.org
I have used 2 identical usb memory sticks for years, one just went
Read only, not from any command issued.  They have no write protect switch.

Maybe Read Only came from a static discharge.  (Sticks were sold
with name Platinum, have aluminium shells, & I wear mostly synthetic
clothing so some static in North hemisphere winter. Question is
whether it can be set back to Read-Write ?

All 4 slices on 1 of the 2 16G sticks became read only.
12.4-RELEASE dmesg:
The bad stick:
	kernel: da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus5 target 0 lun 0
	kernel: da0: < USB DISK 2.0 PMAP> Removable Direct Access SPC-2 SCSI device
	kernel: da0: Serial Number 070B3114C022D211
	kernel: da0: 40.000MB/s transfers
	kernel: da0: 14786MB (30283008 512 byte sectors)
	kernel: da0: quirks=0x3<NO_SYNC_CACHE,NO_6_BYTE>
	kernel: da0: Write Protected

The good stick:
	kernel: da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus5 target 0 lun 0
	kernel: da0: < USB DISK 2.0 PMAP> Removable Direct Access SPC-2 SCSI device
	kernel: da0: Serial Number 070B3C9A27828828
	kernel: da0: 40.000MB/s transfers
	kernel: da0: 14786MB (30283008 512 byte sectors)
	kernel: da0: quirks=0x3<NO_SYNC_CACHE,NO_6_BYTE>

Filesystem      Size    Used   Avail Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/da0s1      4.3G    1.9G    2.5G    43%    /media/platinum.dos
/dev/da0s2a     8.3G    1.5G    6.8G    18%    /media/platinum.os
/dev/da0s3.bde  2.4G    2.1G    114M    95%    /media/platinum.ufs
/dev/da0s4      135k    8.2k    119k     6%    /media/platinum.end

Is there a command to clear a Write Protect state ?
Maybe ctladm, or sysctl ? I've tried camcontrol :

On the bad stick I see:
camcontrol inquiry da0
pass3: < USB DISK 2.0 PMAP> Removable Direct Access SPC-2 SCSI device
pass3: Serial Number 070B3114C022D211
pass3: 40.000MB/s transfers

camcontrol readcap da0	# Last Block: 30283007, Block Length: 512 bytes
camcontrol defects da0 -f block		# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f longblock  	# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f bfi		# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f extbfi	# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f phy		# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f phys		# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f extphys	# 0 defects
camcontrol defects da0 -f block -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f block -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f longblock -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f bfi -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f extbfi -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f phys -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f extphys -G	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f block -P	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f longblock -P	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f bfi -P	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f extbfi -P	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f phys -P	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol defects da0 -f extphys -P	# camcontrol: Error returned from read defect data command
camcontrol attrib da0 -r attr_values	# nothing
camcontrol attrib da0 -r attr_list	# nothing
camcontrol attrib da0 -r part_list	# nothing
camcontrol attrib da0 -r supp_attr	# nothing
camcontrol opcodes da0			# nothing

camcontrol hpa da0
camcontrol: ATA ATA_IDENTIFY via pass_16 failed
camcontrol: ATA ATAPI_IDENTIFY via pass_16 failed

camcontrol modepage da0 -l		# 0x05    Flexible Disk
camcontrol modepage da0 -l -l		# 0x05    Flexible Disk

all of {
camcontrol modepage da0 -m 5
camcontrol modepage da0 -m 5 -P 0
camcontrol modepage da0 -m 5 -P 1
camcontrol modepage da0 -m 5 -P 2
camcontrol modepage da0 -m 5 -P 3
} produce identical:
Transfer rate:  61440
Number of heads:  255
Sectors per track:  32
Data bytes per sector:  512
Number of cylinders:  3711
Starting cylinder-write precompensation:  0
Starting cylinder-reduced write current:  0
Drive step rate:  0
Drive step pulse width:  0
Head settle delay:  0
Motor on delay:  0
Motor off delay:  0
TRDY:  0
SSN:  0
MO:  0
SPC:  0
Write Compensation:  0
Head load delay:  0
Head unload delay:  0
Pin 34:  0
Pin 2:  0
Pin 4:  0
Pin 1:  0
Medium rotation rate:  0

/usr/share/misc/scsi_modes
0x05 "Flexible Disk"
left me puzzled with uncommented TRDY SSN MO
but didnt obviousky appear to be a read/write V. read only switch.

camcontrol format da0
You are about to REMOVE ALL DATA from the following device:
pass3: < USB DISK 2.0 PMAP> Removable Direct Access SPC-2 SCSI device
pass3: Serial Number 070B3114C022D211
pass3: 40.000MB/s transfers
Are you SURE you want to do this? (yes/no) yes
Current format timeout is 10800 seconds
Enter new timeout in seconds or press
return to keep the current timeout [10800]
Format Complete

camcontrol format da0 -r
Format Complete

fdisk da0
******* Working on device /dev/da0 *******
parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are:
cylinders=1885 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl)

Figures below won't work with BIOS for partitions not in cyl 1
parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are:
cylinders=1885 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl)

Media sector size is 512
Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1
Information from DOS bootblock is:
The data for partition 1 is:
sysid 12 (0x0c),(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT (LBA))
    start 8064, size 8409996 (4106 Meg), flag 0
        beg: cyl 0/ head 128/ sector 1;
        end: cyl 523/ head 254/ sector 63
The data for partition 2 is:
sysid 165 (0xa5),(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
    start 8418060, size 16771860 (8189 Meg), flag 80 (active)
        beg: cyl 524/ head 0/ sector 1;
        end: cyl 543/ head 254/ sector 63
The data for partition 3 is:
sysid 165 (0xa5),(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
    start 25189920, size 5092605 (2486 Meg), flag 0
        beg: cyl 544/ head 0/ sector 1;
        end: cyl 860/ head 254/ sector 63
The data for partition 4 is:
sysid 165 (0xa5),(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
    start 30282525, size 483 (0 Meg), flag 0
        beg: cyl 861/ head 0/ sector 1;
        end: cyl 861/ head 7/ sector 42

fsck -t msdosfs /dev/da0s1
Unplugged & replugged
ls -1 /dev/da*
/dev/da0
/dev/da0s1
/dev/da0s2
/dev/da0s2a
/dev/da0s3
/dev/da0s4

reboot
dmesg:
da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus5 target 0 lun 0
da0: < USB DISK 2.0 PMAP> Removable Direct Access SPC-2 SCSI device
da0: Serial Number 070B3114C022D211
da0: 40.000MB/s transfers
da0: 14786MB (30283008 512 byte sectors)
da0: quirks=0x3<NO_SYNC_CACHE,NO_6_BYTE>
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): WRITE(10). CDB: 2a 00 00 81 11 1c 00 00 08 00
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): CAM status: SCSI Status Error
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): SCSI status: Check Condition
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): SCSI sense: DATA PROTECT asc:27,0 (Write protected)
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): Error 13, Unretryable error
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): WRITE(10). CDB: 2a 00 01 ce 13 cd 00 00 08 00
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): CAM status: SCSI Status Error
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): SCSI status: Check Condition
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): SCSI sense: DATA PROTECT asc:27,0 (Write protected)
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0): Error 13, Unretryable error

bsdlabel -w /dev/da0
bsdlabel: cannot open provider /dev/da0 for writing label: Read-only file system
bsdlabel: Try to use gpart(8)

I can still read the data on it.  If there's not something else to
try with FreeBSD, I could try plugging into a Microsoft box, & see
if MS offers to format (I expect it would, but might then fail).

Cheers,
-- 
Julian Stacey  http://berklix.org/jhs/mail/  gmail & yahoo block replies.
Arm Ukraine.  Contraception & plain text email V. global warming.