Wiping SSDs

Thanks all for the information thus far.

@jaclaz
I fully agree with your "in a nutshell", however I find it prudent to be proactive and have ways of doing something so I can, as you note, preempt discussion/questions on things that aren't a true concern but can be theoretically possible. (I am in a criminal justice/LE environment after all.)

@chanle
You mention using 55 or AA as a wiping pattern but not 00 or FF. Its the same type of pattern, so why do you say not to use those two?

@raydenvm
Although I understand your terminology, how exactly are you performing the "write cycle" and "read cycle"?

Nothing really special, just simple ATA commands.

Write cycle - WRITE SECTORS EXT commands covering full disk range from the first LBA till the last one.
Read cycle - READ SECTORS EXT commands for whole disk range as well.

Nothing really special, just simple ATA commands.

Write cycle - WRITE SECTORS EXT commands covering full disk range from the first LBA till the last one.
Read cycle - READ SECTORS EXT commands for whole disk range as well.

Ok ) , so this needs to be asked
How exactly (running which OS and running which tool/commands) can you issue actual "simple" ATA commands?

Can you post an example of such "simple" commands and/or their sintax?

jaclaz

Just googled it a bit. Here is what I found for Linux
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Badblocks#read-write_Test_.28warningdestructive.29

Windows solution could be HDDSentinel with its WRITE + read test http//www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/61_surfacetest.html

I am pretty sure it is not difficult to find more tools on the Web. On top of that, any software engineer can write such a plain Write+Read wiper )

Just googled it a bit. Here is what I found for Linux
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Badblocks#read-write_Test_.28warningdestructive.29

Windows solution could be HDDSentinel with its WRITE + read test http//www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/61_surfacetest.html

Well, NO. (

Those are two examples of programs that DO NOT issue "simple ATA commands" whatever they issue is a SET of commands (and whether they are ATA commands or not is to be seen).

I am pretty sure it is not difficult to find more tools on the Web.

Sure. much more tools can be found, but the question was a tool capable of running the "simple ATA commands" you suggested.

On top of that, any software engineer can write such a plain Write+Read wiper )

Sure, and I will extend this to affirm that any hard disk manufacturer and most data recovery firms will have one, but again there are tens or hundreds of such tools, the question was about one that allows to use the suggested "simple ATA commands" as - AFAIK/AFAICT anything you can find works at a "higher" level and the actual "simple ATA commands" are leveraged through the OS driver for the device and rest assured that not *any* software engineer is capable to write an actual driver.

This is one of the tools that allows actually sending ATA commands
http//www.stbsuite.com/support/virtual-training-center/issuing-ata-commands
which at a mere US$ 4,995 apiece is not exactly what everyone can afford.

Most probably MHDD (Dos)
http//hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
or WHDD (Linux)
http//whdd.org/
might do something *similar* but cannot say.

Udisks
http//www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/udisks/
may represent a valid tool, but sending a "simple" ATA command appears to be particularly "complex"
http//udisks.freedesktop.org/docs/latest/udisks2-ATA-commands.html

jaclaz

OK, I see what you mean. I am 99% sure MHDD should work that simple way since, back in the day, I remember my discussions with its author Dmitry Postrigan, who is actually CEO of our company )

I am 99% sure MHDD should work that simple way since, back in the day, I remember my discussions with its author Dmitry Postrigan, who is actually CEO of our company )

I know ) , and I would dare to say that the existence of a company that was essentially founded on the exceptional competence and experience of one person in "low level" access to hard disk like devices including - among others - "simple" ATA commands might mean that after all they are not that much "simple" or it is not very "simple" to send them to the device.

As a matter of fact MHDD does provide an ERASE command, only slightly touched in the original manual
http//hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/mhdd_manual.en.html
but more detailed here
http//real-world-systems.com/docs/MHDD_en_manual.html

ERASE
If your drive is recognized by the BIOS, MHDD will use BIOS functions to erase the contents of the drive. Use /DISABLEBIOS command line switch to prohibit this.

First MHDD shows the disk ID, then invokes Fast Disk Eraser

Fast Disk Eraser v4.4 (LBA28/48/BIOS/ASPI)
Type start sector to write [0]
Type end sector [16514063]
tart 1785
End 1786
[] Continue? (y/N)

Start 234002

Sectors done 2, 0Mbytes completed
End 234002

allowing to specify a start and end sector, still MHDD has the inconvenience of running in DOS, the disk needing to be connected as Master on the second channel, etc.

jaclaz

I have looked at HDDGURU and the MHDD tool is an option, but is not a straightforward as I would like as I am trying to incorporate the desired method into a workflow.

@jaclaz
Are you familiar with the other tools? It would seem like several fit the bill at first glance (Wipe My Disks, HDD Low Level Format, etc.)

I am planning at this point to let the OS drive be taken care of through image restoration but still working on method for other connected drives and loose hard drives.

@jaclaz
Are you familiar with the other tools? It would seem like several fit the bill at first glance (Wipe My Disks, HDD Low Level Format, etc.)

I am planning at this point to let the OS drive be taken care of through image restoration but still working on method for other connected drives and loose hard drives.

Well, as said each and every tool can EITHER use
1. the ATA built-in command SECURE ERASE
OR
2. *anything* else

#1 will always be faster (and also more reliable in - say - 99% of cases) than *anything* else for simple, plain, single pass 00 write (which is what is actually *needed* to "sanitize" a disk for re-use.

You have the choice between SAFE ERASE (DOS) and hdparm (either Linux or Windows NT, possibly with a few small inconveniences under Windows NT, depending which atapi.sys driver is in use).

Some additional references/considerations here
http//reboot.pro/topic/16812-best-disk-eraser-for-use-in-win7pe/
http//reboot.pro/topic/16812-best-disk-eraser-for-use-in-win7pe/#entry153778

And in the "main" thread
http//reboot.pro/topic/13601-software-to-wipe-a-systemdrive-from-windows/

jaclaz