Erasing Samsung 840 evo not working.

[qeThaNoL]

I have a samsung 840 evo ssd and I just can't work out how to erase it. I have tried with the 'secure erase' option with which it comes, made a bootable usb and at boot-up it stuck at "Loading FreeDOS".
Tried parted magic and I encountered the error shown in the picture.
(ssd has windows installed on)
Any suggestions ?

 

[jlpurvis]

I have a samsung 840 evo ssd and I just can't work out how to erase it. I have tried with the 'secure erase' option with which it comes, made a bootable usb and at boot-up it stuck at "Loading FreeDOS".
Tried parted magic and I encountered the error shown in the picture.
(ssd has windows installed on)
Any suggestions ?

Have you tried using dban? It might take longer, but it can erase ssds as well.

 

[qeThaNoL]

Have you tried using dban? It might take longer, but it can erase ssds as well.

Read about dban; I don't think it's safe to nuke ssds with it.

 

[inachu]

I have come across drives that if it supports TPM and you enabled it both in BIOS and on the hard drive/OS and when the drive dies then it is a total loss and will be unable to FDISK/FORMAT it.

Not sure if it is in this particular case but only the OP to this thread would know.

 

[qeThaNoL]

I have come across drives that if it supports TPM and you enabled it both in BIOS and on the hard drive/OS and when the drive dies then it is a total loss and will be unable to FDISK/FORMAT it.

Not sure if it is in this particular case but only the OP to this thread would know.

Well, this ssd can be encripted with BitLocker but that option is disabled.

 

[inachu]

I think the only choice would be to visit the OEM website.Download their flash utility and see if you can flash the SSD which might wake it up. If push comes to shove you could RMA it.

 

[qeThaNoL]

I still didn't work it out. Tried HDDerase and the secure erase again and this time it is stuck at loading the usb. Waited 10 min and still stuck. Tried on 2 usbs formatted as fat32. I don't know what I can try anymore.

 

[inachu]

I still didn't work it out. Tried HDDerase and the secure erase again and this time it is stuck at loading the usb. Waited 10 min and still stuck. Tried on 2 usbs formatted as fat32. I don't know what I can try anymore.

Well if the BIOS can see it then the software should be able to see it and work with it.

Sounds like the SSD is a bad lemon.

 

[Bubbaleone]

I still didn't work it out. Tried HDDerase and the secure erase again and this time it is stuck at loading the usb. Waited 10 min and still stuck. Tried on 2 usbs formatted as fat32. I don't know what I can try anymore.

You didn't mention what OS and hardware you're running but Samsung's Secure Erase bootable DOS utility is not supported for Windows 8 and 8.1 systems and, if you're unacquainted with DOS syntax, it can be problematic to use. Stay away from HDDErase as it hasn't been supported by the UCSanDiego CMRR since 2008 or 2009. I've been running 840 Pros for a couple of years and much prefer using the internal ATA Secure Erase feature (hdparm) available in the excellent, open source, Parted Magic.


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