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I have a few hard drives, laptop and desktop IDE, which I would like to Secure Erase. I'm aware that other methods exist for removing the data, but this is the safest and most efficient, and it's the one I want to use.

Other than hooking them up to an old desktop (I only have a laptop) how can I manage this?

In man hdparm it says

hdparm provides a command line interface to various kernel interfaces supported by the Linux SATA/PATA/SAS "libata" subsystem and the older IDE driver subsystem. Many newer (2008 and later) USB drive enclosures now also support "SAT" (SCSI-ATA Command Translation) and therefore may also work with hdparm.

However, I bought one which is support to support SAT, and reflected on the word 'may'. This was ii337 Gembird AUSI01.1

Edit: Initially I intended to destroy the drives after erasing them. I didn't realise that there might actually be people who would want old drives as they're quite ubiquitous. Of course that's how things become rare; people assume nobody wants them. I'll give some consideration to selling them or donating them to someone who wants them.

Of course, this makes Secure Erase all the more necessary. Things like writing zeroes to the whole drive will be effective, but will reduce the life of the drive, and take much longer.

Ne Mo
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because Not RC related as it is about modern OS and modern Computers. Also PATA are still actual products. Please try main Stackexchange.com – Raffzahn Feb 13 '18 at 12:18
  • I just had someone on meta told me it was on topic. – Ne Mo Feb 13 '18 at 12:19
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    @Raffzahn: stackexchange.com isn't a Q&A site, it is the company home page. I'm not sure which SE site would be better than this one. Also: https://retrocomputing.meta.stackexchange.com/q/551/276 – Chenmunka Feb 13 '18 at 12:26
  • @Chenmunka you're right,i ment to write stackoveflow. But since it is a linux related question, it's maybe as well suited for unix.* or unbuntu.* debending on the flavour he uses. Reading the question I can't find anything RC related, as it's all about up to date hardware (like a modern USB adaptor) and software. – Raffzahn Feb 13 '18 at 12:36
  • Secure erase is performed by the (old) drive's own firmware. It's most convenient to use Linux to trigger it, but which specific OS software, or hardware you use isn't important, as long as it works – Ne Mo Feb 13 '18 at 12:49
  • @Raffzahn: I guessed you meant a site like SO. We do have other questions regarding connecting old devices to new computers. Let's see how the community's votes go. – Chenmunka Feb 13 '18 at 13:01
  • @meno Well, if there is no requiement, then go ahead and use the laptop you mentioned. – Raffzahn Feb 13 '18 at 13:18
  • Are these drives you intend to re-use? – Blrfl Feb 13 '18 at 15:04
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    If you're going to physically destroy them and do a decent job of it, there's no need to wipe them. – Blrfl Feb 13 '18 at 15:53
  • I like to be thorough :) this question could be relevant to someone who owned retro hardware and wanted to sell it – Ne Mo Feb 13 '18 at 16:05
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    @:CloseVoters: Our current meta consensus is that these questions are on-topic. This highlights a significant lack of meta usage. Please post on the meta question explaining why you consider this question off-topic. (cc: @Raffzahn) – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 10:19
  • @wizzwizz4 my close vote isn't about a generic issue like talked about in Meta, but this specific question. It is only related to todays technology with PATA drives and controllers still being sold new for new machines, modern OS support those flawless. Further the OP explicitly states that he does not want to use old hardware. He also states in comments that he does not want to read any data or reuse the drive or do any vaguely retro activity, but destroy it anyway, making the question itself superfluous. A Nail will do it. So while PATA may be on topic, this question is not. – Raffzahn Feb 14 '18 at 10:40
  • @Raffzahn Ignore the OP's background information, and focus only on the question. "How do I Secure Erase a PATA hard drive without a compatible desktop motherboard?" Given a PATA hard drive (on-topic), how can one use new hardware ([tag:new-hardware-adaptation]) to trigger the Secure Erase feature of the drive? – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 10:47
  • @wizzwizz4 Sorry, but ignoring the background provided (it's there for a reason) is rubbish. His question isn't about erasing a PATA drive, it is about erasing it in a non-retro environment. And that's clearly OT. And all the issues do be discussed about are all related to todays bridge controllers - if at all. I know you are trying hard to make it on topic, but it is in no way I can even imagine. – Raffzahn Feb 14 '18 at 12:00
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    @Raffzahn We've had questions about PATA before, and they've been deemed to be on-topic (PATA counts as retro). We've had questions about interfacing with retro devices in a non-retro environment, and that's been deemed to be on-topic. Please state how this is different so we can resolve this confusion. – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 15:36
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    Yes, and you don't have a clear guide to what's on topic here. If that's established and this falls foul, I'll delete it. I asked on meta whether this question was permissible, and the only concern was the shopping recommendation element, which I removed. I don't see what more I could have done to try and respect the rules of this stack. – Ne Mo Feb 14 '18 at 15:59
  • @NeMo Don't delete it; if it's deemed off-topic it'll be closed by other users; no need to delete it and remove the useful answers (which you can't do, by the way). – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 18:18
  • @wizzwizz4 Well, I clearly did, and it would be a nice trait if you read them and respond accordingly. I'ts right above your comment. – Raffzahn Feb 14 '18 at 21:59
  • @Raffzahn I'll rephrase. We are communicating from different backgrounds, different cultures... In fact, one of the few things we share is the language we're currently using. As such, I will only be able to extract a limited amount of information from your <500 characters of comment. Please rephrase it so that I understand how you are addressing my points, and I'll try to do the same. – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 22:04
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    @Raffzahn I think I see where you're coming from now. You're saying that PATA is still used and so isn't really retro, correct? – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 22:53
  • I don't know if that's his point, but in any case it makes no sense. What's the point of a stack about something that nobody uses? This stack is a good idea because people do use these things; not only for nostalgia, but for utilitarian reasons. – Ne Mo Feb 15 '18 at 15:52
  • @NeMo I think you're overestimating the scope somewhat. Please read https://retrocomputing.meta.stackexchange.com/q/2/278. – wizzwizz4 Feb 18 '18 at 16:56
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because meta consensus seems to be that PATA is off-topic, at least by itself. – wizzwizz4 Feb 18 '18 at 17:00

3 Answers3

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Buy a PCI or PCIe PATA adapter card. They're really cheap, and can be incredibly useful in these days of motherboards that lack integrated PATA adapters. As far as I know, they should be able to run all commands supported by the drives.

Jules
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https://www.amazon.ca/Mosuch-Adapter-Converter-Optical-External/dp/B002OV1VJW

You need a device such as this - which has a USB to PATA (and SATA) interface. An external power supply (usually supplied) can be used to power the drive, and is necessary for 3.5" drives (although still recommended for 2.5").

This will let you connect your drive up to any machine with a USB port, although the device will be slower with USB 1.1 ports.

I believe USB 3.0 versions are around as well, if you want faster access, particularly to SATA drives.

Jim MacKenzie
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    Thanks. I already have a couple of those. Many of them can't execute the ASE command, and I need one that's confirmed to work with it – Ne Mo Feb 13 '18 at 17:37
  • @NeMo https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Securely_wipe_disk It looks like this can be done via command line tools. Only simple write access is required. – Jim MacKenzie Feb 13 '18 at 18:22
  • @JimMacKenzie I think you should add information from that link into your answer; that would make it more useful. – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 10:15
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You're overthinking the problem. Just drill a few holes through the drive!

snips-n-snails
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    If somebody wants to Secure Erase, it's often because they want to sell the disk on. PATA hard drives are hard to come by nowadays, and we generally don't recommend destroying equipment on this site. -1. – wizzwizz4 Feb 13 '18 at 18:28
  • I just saw that the OP does intend to destroy the drives. However, this is not a useful answer because it does not answer the question. – wizzwizz4 Feb 13 '18 at 18:32
  • @wizzwizz4 Because making data unreadable is not the same as securely erasing it? – snips-n-snails Feb 13 '18 at 18:40
  • Well no, it's not. What if I want to erase without destroying in future? Moreover, others may read this who want to sell their device – Ne Mo Feb 13 '18 at 19:07
  • @NeMo Then they can post another question with their specific requirements stated explicitly. – snips-n-snails Feb 13 '18 at 19:12
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    @traal Not securely erasing; "Secure Erase" is a feature of PATA (and iirc SATA) drive controllers. – wizzwizz4 Feb 13 '18 at 19:15
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    @wizzwizz4 That's a good point. – snips-n-snails Feb 13 '18 at 19:25
  • @wizzwizz4 I considere it a fine answer, as it gets down to the point exactly refering to the intention of the OP. One schould not try to twist a question into a different direction. – Raffzahn Feb 14 '18 at 22:01
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    @Raffzahn Well... The intention, at least how I read it, is to activate the Secure Erase function of the drive. Regardless of whether the drive is then going to be destroyed by the OP, other people looking to activate the Secure Erase function will not find this answer useful. And as the OP no longer intends to necessarily destroy the drives, that point is now moot (though as the question was edited after this answer was posted that's sort of a grey area). – wizzwizz4 Feb 14 '18 at 22:09