Your BIOS is sending the ATA Security Freeze Lock command to your drive(s). This prevents rogue software (malware) from setting a password on your drive, but it also inhibits the Security Erase Unit command.
See this document:
http://www.t13.org/documents/UploadedDocuments/docs2010/f10114r0-Remove_SANITIZE_FREEZE_LOCK_EXT.pdfThe authors cite the HDDErase FAQ which suggests three different methods for bypassing a BIOS security freeze lock. They also suggest two other possible methods for erasing a drive, namely the Sanitize Device feature set and the SCT Write Same command. The latter command writes a user defined data pattern to each sector in a specified range (or the entire drive). The command is executed in the background, without further communication from the host.
Page 357 of the ATA standard talks about the SCT Write Same command.
ATA Command Set - 4 (ACS-4):
http://t13.org/Documents/UploadedDocuments/docs2017/di529r18-ATAATAPI_Command_Set_-_4.pdfSeagate has a suite of tools called the SeaChest Utilities. These include a writeSame command.
https://apps1.seagate.com/downloads/certificate.html?key=19044734837Edit: It appears that HDDErase attempts to exploit a flaw in some HDDs which resets their freeze lock status after a COMRESET is issued. And no, I don't have a BIOS with this freeze lock feature.