Disk wiping: Difference between revisions

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* To wipe a SSD by the [https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase ATA Security Erase] command:
* To wipe a SSD by the [https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase ATA Security Erase] command:


#Make sure the drive is not frozen and support "enhanced erase":
#Make sure the drive is not frozen, support "enhanced erase" and <code>hdparm</code> prints "XXXmin for SECURITY ERASE UNIT":
#:<code># hdparm -I /dev/sdX
#:<code># hdparm -I /dev/sdX
#:[...]
#:[...]
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#::        3<span style="background:#ffff00">min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT</span>. 3min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
#::        3<span style="background:#ffff00">min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT</span>. 3min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
#:[...]</code>
#:[...]</code>
#:Check that <code>hdparm</code> prints "XXXmin for SECURITY ERASE UNIT".
#Set a user password (this password will be cleared on the next step, so the exact choice does not matter):
#Set a user password (this password will be cleared on the next step, so the exact choice does not matter):
#:<code># hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass foo /dev/sdX</code>
#:<code># hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass foo /dev/sdX</code>

Revision as of 15:39, 20 September 2014

  • To wipe an HDD by writing zeros to it:
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX iflag=nocache oflag=direct bs=4M
The average speed is above 100 MB/s, so 1 TB takes about 2-3 hours.
To print transfer statistics (to stderr):
# killall -USR1 dd
  1. Make sure the drive is not frozen, support "enhanced erase" and hdparm prints "XXXmin for SECURITY ERASE UNIT":
    # hdparm -I /dev/sdX
    [...]
    Security:
    Master password revision code = 65534
    supported
    not enabled
    not locked
    not frozen
    not expired: security count
    supported: enhanced erase
    3min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 3min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
    [...]
  2. Set a user password (this password will be cleared on the next step, so the exact choice does not matter):
    # hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass foo /dev/sdX
  3. Issue the ATA Secure Erase command:
    # hdparm hdparm --user-master u --security-erase foo /dev/sdX