Wiping SSDs - How to?

[britechguy]

I have not (yet) ever needed to or been asked to wipe an SSD. It seems to me that someone mentioned very recently that actual wiping like used to be done with HDDs is actually unnecessary, and that there is an appropriate technique to "wipe" an SSD such that any prior data is, and will remain, inaccessible to others (except, perhaps, the NSA - which isn't a real concern in the real world for most of us) that does not involve overwriting the entire drive.

First, is this true, or am I misremembering something?

Second, if true, what is the appropriate technique?

Third, if true, do Microsoft's own disk cleaning commands like "clean all" or Clean-Disk have the intelligence to differentiate between an HDD and SSD and apply the appropriate technique to each (if anyone knows)?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

The manufacturing tools are one good choice to run the ATA Secure Erase command. A free download from the drive manu's site.

Since we use 99% Crucial for our SSDs....we it installed on our bench rigs, and have a few of those USB to SATA bridges avail to hot swap plug in and nuke.

Crucial Storage Executive Tool | Firmware Download

Download the latest version of Crucial Storage Executive to get the most from your SSD hard drive. Includes information on storage used & drive health.

uk.crucial.com

 

[britechguy]

Thanks.

I figured that the manufacturer's tools were all likely to have a secure erase option. I just wondered if there might be a "generic way" or "generic tool" that did the same thing.

 

[Diggs]

Each manufacturer makes their own tools and I keep a copy of each and use what matches the SSD. I dislike the Samsung tools as they require a hard boot from their media for secure wipes.

 

[britechguy]

@Diggs,

We're both very much in the same boat in that the variety that's out there in the residential sector seems to be significantly wider than it is in the business sector. I'm at the mercy of what I actually "find in there."

Even in my own household, and by intention, I have Adata, Crucial, and Samsung SSDs in different machines. I have a lot of very price conscious clients, and I can't just say, "Go with {insert most expensive in class} SSD." I like to determine, firsthand if possible, what qualifies as "good enough" in my book. But I have rolled the dice in the past when time was of the essence. I put a PNY SSD in one client's machine that's been very happy for almost 2 years now, so I have no issue with PNY.

 

[fincoder]

I figured that the manufacturer's tools were all likely to have a secure erase option. I just wondered if there might be a "generic way" or "generic tool" that did the same thing.

I agree, the manufacturers' tools are not practical in a workshop environment where we see all kinds of drives. Even factory-fitted OEM drives made by major brands like Samsung can't be used with Samsung's software (designed for their retail drives), not to mention obscure OEM SSD manufacturers.

I think the only generic option is to use standard HDD methods of writing zeros or whatever. M.2 drives that are no longer needed could be easily broken though!

 

[NJW]

I just wondered if there might be a "generic way" or "generic tool" that did the same thing.

You can, of course, use any Linux. You might need to install hdparm if it isn't included by default, but I think it's already in Mint. The kernel.org page explains in detail – don't be put off by the red warnings: many of them aren't relevant with modern drives (that page was last changed in 2013) or are fairly self-evident to a technician.

Once you've done it a few times, it's pretty simple. If you search for "linux ata-secure-erase", you'll find plenty of alternative presentations of the same procedure.

The only step that might be troublesome is unfreezing the drive, but 'modern' hardware (for some value of 'modern') should work using the suspend to RAM method noted in the procedure. Top tip: use rtcwake -m mem -s 5 instead of echo -n mem > /sys/power/state for a quicker suspend and restore.

The drive should be connected directly to a suitable port, not through a USB bridge.