Optimize P4 PCs to Write Zeros to Hard Drives?

[kenitholson]

Hi,

Was very disappointed with the write zero speed of the old P4 PC that I wanted to use to wipe some large HDDs.

By chance decided to try another P4 PC and got significantly higher write zero speed for same HDD using same software (DBAN 1.06 Floppy).

Am wondering if there is anything that can be done to optimize these old P4 PCs to write zeros to HDDs or if this is due to hardware differences?

Appreciate any comments.

Thanks

Ken

[fzabkar]

You could use the internal Secure Erase feature of HDDs. Just issue the command and the HDD does the rest by itself.

https://cmrr.ucsd.edu/resources/secure-erase.html

[einstein9]

Or use SATA controller (4 ports or more) ... if you do alot of wiping (Qty)

and run the App here (http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low ... rmat-Tool/)

you can buy it if need to have faster speed

[kenitholson]

fzabkar

"You could use the internal Secure Erase feature of HDDs." https://cmrr.ucsd.edu/resources/secure-erase.html

Thanks for the tip and link!

Checked the Readme file "Secure erase overwrites all user data areas with binary zeroes"

Do you normally use it? If yes how does the speed compare to other write zero apps?

Ken

[kenitholson]

einstein9,

Thanks for the tip "use SATA controller (4 ports or more)"

Am a beginner so did search and found "Serial ATA wiki" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

How can I tell what SATA revision ver my PC has?

Think my PC has 4 ports but may be an older ver.

Clarification: If I get a SATA controller (4 ports or more) card with SATA revision 3.3 can I use it with my older P4 PC?

Thanks again for your help!

Ken

[kenitholson]

Spildit,

Thanks for the link http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=1412

What is the software used to test if HDD internal Secure Erase feature is actually working?

Ken

[kenitholson]

Fzabkar,

Downloaded Secure Erase from https://cmrr.ucsd.edu/resources/secure-erase.html was successful making a bootable floppy with it and started OK.

The HDD want to write zeros to supports it so started.

Problem: got message "ATA Security Feature Set is prohibited by the system BIOS chip" What do I change in BIOS to Allow it?

Also message "Do you want HDDerase to attempt to override BIOS freeze lock?" Have you tried this?

Ken

[fzabkar]

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.pdf

The 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.pdf

Seagate has a suite of tools called the SeaChest Utilities. These include a writeSame command.

https://apps1.seagate.com/downloads/certificate.html?key=19044734837

Edit: 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.

[kenitholson]

fzabkar and Spildit,

Since my last post decided to try "Secure erase" on a Dell P4 PC and while did not get any error messages it stopped at "Secure erase" screen with flashing -

Then decided to check youtube and used keywords "secure erase" and got a lot of not relevant results. next used "secure erase" software and got ~ 2K results. Checked a number but also nothing.

Last tried "secure erase" G.F. Hughes" got 0 results

Since the readme file with Secure erase mentions HDD could be damaged I decided to wait ~15 min before shut down. Then used DBAN Floppy and HDD was still working.

Any links to video tutorials for Secure erase?

Thanks again for both your comments and help!!!

[kenitholson]

Spildit,

Thanks for your detailed explanation and links.

Ken