February 13, 201016 yr Ok guys I bought a bunch of Seagate drives when they had the 5 year warranty. And now the first one has failed. UNRAID to the rescue no data loss. However I have to return the bad drive to get the replacement. What ideas on wiping it? I am not sure if I can access the drive to run a software wipe. (have not removed the drive yet) Is there a Magnet you can buy that will do the job easier and faster?
February 13, 201016 yr Ok guys I bought a bunch of Seagate drives when they had the 5 year warranty. And now the first one has failed. UNRAID to the rescue no data loss. However I have to return the bad drive to get the replacement. What ideas on wiping it? I am not sure if I can access the drive to run a software wipe. (have not removed the drive yet) Is there a Magnet you can buy that will do the job easier and faster? If is still writable you can use the preclear_disk.sh script on it. You can use the "-n" option and skip the pre/post read phases and just fill it with zeros. If it is not writable, then I doubt you'll find any magnet strong enough. They are not as susceptible to accidental erasure from a strong magnet as you might think. iF NOT "WRITABLE" One way to ensure the data on the entire disk is un-readable (including original locations of re-allocated sectors) is to heat the platters within it to a temperature above a point known as the Curie temperature. At this point, the energy being put into the magnetic material on the platters from the heat will permanently disrupt the magnetic domain structure of the material, turning it into a paramagnetic material. See here for detailed instructions, if you are really paranoid. If in warranty you might not want to use the method described in the second link. Seagate might not take it as readily in return. If not in warranty, the disk will probably lose some of its re-sale value if you use heat to erase it, but if you are really paranoid, the drop in value will not be a significant issue compared to the peace of mind you will have knowing your data cannot be recovered easily. Joe L. (Curie_temperature of iron = 768°C, well above the normal temperature range recommended for disks in an unRAID server combine that with 660.32 °C being the melt temperature of aluminum will guarantee the erasure of the data, and the potential corresponding loss of value on ebay. Best to sell the lump of metal as-is, untested. )
February 13, 201016 yr Author Thanks Joel but I have to be able to return for warranty. This particular drive doesn't hold anything critical - but I was thinking what if it did. I guess I have to start reading all the threads on Truecrypt but then I probably need a better cpu than my p4.
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