EOS Rebel T3i says Card's Write Protect Switch is set to lock --- but it definitely is not!

[scott30575]

My Rebel EOS T3i is less than a year old, and for the most part of this almost-a-year, has worked quite well. Two problems have recently arisen:

1) The first problem arose around a month ago, when I noticed that the memory cards stopped "popping out" of the camera. Sometimes they do, but most of the time they do not. I often have to manually pull them out with a pair of tweezers.

2)  Two days ago I started receiving the message:  CARD'S WRITE PROTECT SWITCH IS SET TO LOCK. Accordingly, I am now unable to use my camera. Until two days ago, in the past almost-a-year, I had never received this message before.

The memory card is a top-of-the-line 32GB ScanDisk, and the lock switch is definitely NOT set on lock.  I have also tried two other memory cards, and always receive the same message, even when I have "double-checked" that the lock switch is not set on locked.

Therefore, I am led to believe the problem is with the camera, not with these memory cards.

What can the problem be, for both of these issues? What can be done to resolve these issues without taking the camera to a repair shop.

This camera has been gently handled and used since first purchases. Nothing other than a memory card has been inserted into the memory card opening. And, as mentioned, until about a month ago the memory cards I have used "popped out" instantly. Now they tend to become stuck inside, as often they do not pop right out when depressed.

It would seem to me that I should not be having these problems with this relatively new camera --- don't you agree?

Thanks for any assistance.

Scott Kinney

Atlanta, Georgia

[TCampbell]

Scott,

Sounds like something is jammed in the SD card slot.  

The "write protect" switch on the edge of yoru SD card isn't actually electronic... it's just a tab.  Inside the card slot, there's a sensor that detects which position the switch is in.  If anything is blocking it, it can think the tab is in the lock position when it's really not locked.  I believe the sensor is mechanical (it uses a micro-swtich to tell if it can slide into the notch... or not.)

Eject the card, take a tiny light and shine it in the slot to see if there's some debris in it (I'm embarrased to admit that when I got my first DSLR, I inserted an SD card "backward" and broke some of the plastic "fins" near the contacts... then learned that some of the plastic material was stuck in the slot and I needed to carefully remove it.) 

The card sould be inserted into the camera with the label-side facing the back of the camera.

The fact that, at least for a while, it sounds like your card wouldn't stay in the slot -- suggests that there may be some dirt or debris in that card slot.

If the slot is clear, you may need to send it in for service.

[scott30575]

Thank you very much, Tim, for your good and thorough reply.

I appreciate all of your excellent comments and thoughts about this situation with my Rebel T3i.

Using a small flashlight, I tried to see if I could spot anything "lodged" inside the memory card slot, but due to the smallness and narrowness of the m.c. opening, it wasn't easy to see inside very well. I would be surprised if anything is stuck inside, but I agree that yes, there could be!

I may go ahead and purchse a new memory card, and if the problem persists, will probably go ahead and take the camera in for repair, whch hopefully will not cost an arm and a leg!

I am most grateful for your reply and suggestions! If I can resolve the issue, I will let you know the outcome and reason why I continue to receive the "Card's Write Protect Switch is set to lock" message.

With best regards. Have a nice weekend!

Scott Kinney

[marcjarnet]

Unfortunately, i have had two 600D's and both have had the card write protection problem one the camera was replaced under warranty, yes replaced and not fixed, the other was out pf warranty, i work with micro components and i replaced the card reader twice thinking the first replacement was faulty but the problem doesn't always appear to be the card reader board as people stated, it still has the fault and i am stumped. I was hoping an electronic guru or hacker can overide the write protection in the firmware, would be cheapest and best solution.except to load the firmware you need the camera to read the card, DOH.

The 600d is a great camera when kept in cotton wool and never or rarely would i reccomend taking out the card once it is in the camera, as this is the achilles heal of this model and probably others, i have never had this problem with any of the more expensive canon cameras, OBVIUOSLY A BIT MORE CARE IN THOSE MODELS.

Marc 

[Graybeard763]

I just had the same problem, read all the replies on the thread. Looked for debris in the slot but found none. Finally I tried just holding the card in as far as it would go and turned the camera on while pushing it in and that worked. So far has been working since.

[JojoYoder]

---

@TCampbell wrote:

Scott,

Sounds like something is jammed in the SD card slot.  

The "write protect" switch on the edge of yoru SD card isn't actually electronic... it's just a tab.  Inside the card slot, there's a sensor that detects which position the switch is in.  If anything is blocking it, it can think the tab is in the lock position when it's really not locked.  I believe the sensor is mechanical (it uses a micro-swtich to tell if it can slide into the notch... or not.)

Eject the card, take a tiny light and shine it in the slot to see if there's some debris in it (I'm embarrased to admit that when I got my first DSLR, I inserted an SD card "backward" and broke some of the plastic "fins" near the contacts... then learned that some of the plastic material was stuck in the slot and I needed to carefully remove it.) 

The card sould be inserted into the camera with the label-side facing the back of the camera.

The fact that, at least for a while, it sounds like your card wouldn't stay in the slot -- suggests that there may be some dirt or debris in that card slot.

If the slot is clear, you may need to send it in for service.

---

Looks like that's the problem for my Canon M50, except they don't use a switch in this model. It's a tiny wire bent to fit into the slot if the card is unlocked, and if it's locked it'll press aganst a pin. Wife jammed the SD card in backwards and it manipulated this wire such that it's depressed againt the pin regardless of the lock position. Such a tiny space I'm not able to fix it.

Sucks, because we've always needed a camera, and we just got this one in December.

[reginabm]

hi there, i am having this problem on my 70D, my sd card has no physical switch on the side to lock and unlock, how can i remove or unlock the write protect on the sd card? i put other sd card in the camera and it works, only this particular sd card doesnt work on my camera, couldnt take photos on it and couldnt delete photos as well. please advise.

cheers,

regina

[Waddizzle]

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@reginabm wrote:

hi there, i am having this problem on my 70D, my sd card has no physical switch on the side to lock and unlock, how can i remove or unlock the write protect on the sd card? i put other sd card in the camera and it works, only this particular sd card doesnt work on my camera, couldnt take photos on it and couldnt delete photos as well. please advise.

cheers,

regina

---

If your SD card has no switch on the side, then the card may have been damaged.  Buy a new one.

[RobertTheFat]

On some older media (mini-floppies, for example) the write-enable switch would be removed or disabled if the device was being used as part of a software distribution or something similar. I've never seen anything like that on an SD card, probably because I've never seen an SD card used for a software distribution. But it's conceivable that something of the sort is at work here; i.e. someone wanted to ensure that the current contents of the card didn't get inadvertently deleted or overwritten.

Alternatively, the card just wasn't very well made, and the switch got accidentally broken off. Hopefully it didn't fall into the card slot, but I guess that would have been obvious by now.

[sarpatterz]

Took me hours to figure it out but there is a tiny little switch on the side of SD card... nothing at all to do with the camera itself!... but just click it the other way, put it back into the camera and it will work again.