[Bglug] Secure erase of an SSD different from HD

[William Park]

Starting point is
    hdparm -I /dev/sdX
and check "Security" section at the bottom.

In particular, check if it's "frozen" or "not frozen", because you have
to unfreeze it before erasing.  If it's frozen, then put the computer to
sleep and wake it.

Speed-wise, though, "hdparm" method is about the same as "dd" method.
-- 
William

On Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 11:39:31PM -0500, Rashkae wrote:
> On 15-12-30 10:56 PM, Andrew Howlett wrote:
> >
> >i paid $9 for the partition magic iso mentioned in the article. partition magic is a linux distro, fits on a 1G USB stick.
> >
> 
> For those who would rather use all kind of arcane commands to do it
> themselves:
> 
> (Note: risky commands, use at own risk.)
> 
> hdparm --security-set-pass NULL /dev/sd?
> hdparm --security-erase NULL /dev/sd?
> hdparm --security-disable NULL /dev/sd?
> 
> Some BIOSs will pre-emptively disable the security features.  (This prevents
> malware from locking your drive with an unknown password, bricking it.)  The
> easiest way I found around this is to boot the Linux environment, then
> hotplug the SDD you want to blank.
> 
> New versions of linux-util suite include a command to trim the entire
> device:  The command is called *blkdiscard*.  This is a good to restore the
> performance of an SSD when re-using the drive, and should effectively do the
> same thing.  *However.*  The standard does not require the drive to return
> null bytes from those sectors before they are re-used.  I think most drives
> will do so, but blkdiscard should probably not be used instead of a proper
> secure-erase.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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