Re: How to zero a failing disk drive before disposal?

From: Ralf Mardorf <ralf-mardorf_at_riseup.net>
Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2024 17:03:55 UTC
On Sun, 2024-10-13 at 11:42 -0500, robert@rrbrussell.com wrote:
> hdparm is the required program on both Linux and *BSD.  The procedure
> is set drive security password and then issue Secure Erase.

Hi,

regarding brand new information from 2013 you shouldn't use hdparm for
this task.

"hdparm
Warning: Do not attempt to issue a Secure Erase ATA command on a device
connected through USB; see
https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase and this answer
for [*] details."
- https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Securely_wipe_disk#hdparm

The kernel.org link is obsolete, "This page was last modified on 22 July
2013, at 16:58."

[*]
https://web.archive.org/web/20180711170859/http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1984547/secure-erase-external-usb-hard-drive.html
I get "The connection has timed out".

Regards,
Ralf