From nobody Thu Oct 10 13:16:08 2024 X-Original-To: questions@mlmmj.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mlmmj.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4XPVdW5cRCz5Z22r for ; Thu, 10 Oct 2024 13:16:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from robert@rrbrussell.com) Received: from fhigh-a5-smtp.messagingengine.com (fhigh-a5-smtp.messagingengine.com [103.168.172.156]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature RSA-PSS (4096 bits) server-digest SHA256) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4XPVdV601lz4VKm for ; Thu, 10 Oct 2024 13:16:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from robert@rrbrussell.com) Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org; none Received: from phl-compute-06.internal (phl-compute-06.phl.internal [10.202.2.46]) by mailfhigh.phl.internal (Postfix) with ESMTP id CC3A811401A4; Thu, 10 Oct 2024 09:16:29 -0400 (EDT) Received: from phl-imap-10 ([10.202.2.85]) by phl-compute-06.internal (MEProxy); Thu, 10 Oct 2024 09:16:29 -0400 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=rrbrussell.com; h=cc:cc:content-transfer-encoding:content-type:content-type :date:date:from:from:in-reply-to:in-reply-to:message-id :mime-version:references:reply-to:subject:subject:to:to; s=fm2; t=1728566189; x=1728652589; bh=baDF8JP1/9oqq31r8+EW7p/VCd62c7yR H0QNvg6DYC0=; b=D/uLv+E/MPMidU7U6dyo6PQ0CHczkoWzMb8mIClirwZ/9RER vZMQ+JCJIDrGLJgzU9/nII8brHp69dvtS0jP70ujpJjT4J0EEnSiVbLsbpqMnRU5 x4ImpVgHh3+QXKBg7MB3Yrw2WCXon8bGjSQArbCwo0lkjIzmE4IKhVfe6489hW5b 6mlWPEQhvzFRU/7syVUOn1EdY5Ac1hwB6eSpLTp/xKA5V0xG90YrG+FHZVZpjdzj KxpISY2TrApqctB/NZZ6y1wSJFNQNiB2xIAhlJm1wZvTnz/xIdrlVNkdW5HOHZll Mg7wp5yRDAdYOJ4/SFuyVH1JBeuYYvehSPOilw== DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d= messagingengine.com; h=cc:cc:content-transfer-encoding :content-type:content-type:date:date:feedback-id:feedback-id :from:from:in-reply-to:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :references:reply-to:subject:subject:to:to:x-me-proxy:x-me-proxy :x-me-sender:x-me-sender:x-sasl-enc; s=fm2; t=1728566189; x= 1728652589; bh=baDF8JP1/9oqq31r8+EW7p/VCd62c7yRH0QNvg6DYC0=; b=E 1YyetftgOPfqlpHyCjW15gObbaxJoolrQoUtJXhT3RpR+t2yuAxrI7pwgL/r9JoB Gx2hKQMgCAJfSiL0q/j8szDbG+/PqlnJaaN3cGgx44tMmdI7U1goIeju7tlXnCAO btqh4AgPg574lgnjIzp6/oPbiTX74q9XCJ7p96fL9VC4XEUaZefghb0y5SwRelzn ecZMatHqdkB23/OxvM5Wyh6oXAaZH3FhORrf3hDoesS1rSixGl3M8DwKyUh6oCbf nER13VWt7mTDn1Ucg36EhuOwuj4idC0KJBQH6mAZ/b88QKEyviWs9dGyp1f8VBAP gpgqTsNVBINeER7Gg2DLQ== X-ME-Sender: X-ME-Proxy-Cause: gggruggvucftvghtrhhoucdtuddrgeeftddrvdefhedgieehucetufdoteggodetrfdotf fvucfrrhhofhhilhgvmecuhfgrshhtofgrihhlpdggtfgfnhhsuhgsshgtrhhisggvpdfu rfetoffkrfgpnffqhgenuceurghilhhouhhtmecufedttdenucenucfjughrpefoggffhf fvvefkjghfufgtgfesthhqredtredtjeenucfhrhhomheprhhosggvrhhtsehrrhgsrhhu shhsvghllhdrtghomhenucggtffrrghtthgvrhhnpeeileevgfelkeeukeeifedviedvud eljeevgeejtdefvdefkeeghedtgeduieffgfenucevlhhushhtvghrufhiiigvpedtnecu rfgrrhgrmhepmhgrihhlfhhrohhmpehrohgsvghrthesrhhrsghruhhsshgvlhhlrdgtoh hmpdhnsggprhgtphhtthhopeefpdhmohguvgepshhmthhpohhuthdprhgtphhtthhopehq uhgvshhtihhonhhssehfrhgvvggsshgurdhorhhgpdhrtghpthhtohepkhhuugiiuhesth gvnhgvsghrrghsrdgtohhmpdhrtghpthhtoheprhhfghesthhrihhsthgrthgvlhhoghhi tgdrtghomh X-ME-Proxy: Feedback-ID: ie421460a:Fastmail Received: by mailuser.phl.internal (Postfix, from userid 501) id 4D3E63C0066; Thu, 10 Oct 2024 09:16:29 -0400 (EDT) X-Mailer: MessagingEngine.com Webmail Interface List-Id: User questions List-Archive: https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-questions List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:16:08 -0500 From: robert@rrbrussell.com To: "Michael Sierchio" , "Ronald F. Guilmette" Cc: questions@freebsd.org Message-Id: In-Reply-To: References: <5117.1728561469@segfault.tristatelogic.com> Subject: Re: How to zero a failing disk drive before disposal? Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Rspamd-Pre-Result: action=no action; module=replies; Message is reply to one we originated X-Spamd-Result: default: False [-4.00 / 15.00]; REPLY(-4.00)[]; ASN(0.00)[asn:209242, ipnet:103.168.172.0/24, country:US] X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: 4XPVdV601lz4VKm X-Spamd-Bar: ---- On Thu, Oct 10, 2024, at 07:46, Michael Sierchio wrote: > On Thu, Oct 10, 2024 at 7:58=E2=80=AFAM Ronald F. Guilmette=20 > wrote: >> I have a pretty ancient 4TB spinning rust drive (WD4001FAEX) that is = unambiguously at >> death's door: >=20 >> Any suggestions? If worse comes to worse I guess I will end up writi= ng my own tiny >> little C program to just write 4KB blocks to a designated output file= while ignoring >> all output errors, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel if somebody= else already >> created something I can use in this context. > > There is no method of writing to a disk that can reliably delete or=20 > obscure all data =E2=80=93 modern disk drives silently remap sectors, = making=20 > them unavailable to the host for writes. If the data on the drive is=20 > particularly sensitive, physical destruction of the media is the best=20 > approach. The DOD method is crush, then burn. ;-) > > -M True M but you=E2=80=99re completely ignoring applicable threats. Unless= you=E2=80=99re likely a target of supply chain tampering, just use the = ATA Secure Erase feature built into the drives firmware and send the fai= ling drive out for proper recycling. Physical destruction of the drives is the only option if supply chain ta= mpering is a concern otherwise encrypt the disk, use the ATA Secure Eras= e, and reuse or recycle depending on estimated drive life left. The hdparm manual page discusses how to invoke the ATA Secure Erase feat= ure. It may require hot plugging the data cable for the drive.