[PLUG] Read only USB drive

[George Zipperlen <George.Zipperlen@mail.com>]

I'm looking for an in-hardware method to make a USB drive read-only. Either with a built in switch, or, via a small, inexpensive, USB 'sleeve' sitting  between the drive and the USB port. 

Use case (1): A larger equivalent to CD-ROM or DVD Write Once Read Many, for archival backup.

Use case (2): bootable USB sticks

Use case (3): A way to safely distribute data, even their own (!) to an end user who might inadvertently trash something, or be using an OS which messes with any file system attached to a USB port.

Search on product sites like Microcenter.com led me nowhere.  DuckDuckGo (Google) not particularly helpful, mostly junk and solutions in software. I got a sense that USB sticks with a switch do (used to?) exist.  After a few tries, I have no idea what keywords would find the 'sleeve' I described, if such a thing exists. Most of the matches involved software protection dongles; the closest I could find was expensive forensics hardware, which confirms my belief that this is technically feasible. 

Apologies, this is not really a Linux question, as any flavor of Unix derived OS will have some way to 'mount -r', even through a GUI.

If this is an FAQ, a pointer to the right place would be appreciated. 

Thank you
--
George Zipperlen 
Sent from my iPhone


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