I have a OCZ Vertex 2 256GB flash drive I bought some time ago. I'd like to experiment with Linux on this drive, and I'd like to wipe it factory-clean. Intel provides an "ssd-toolbox" utility which performs a low level format and restores the drive to factory performance, but I cannot seem to find a similar tool for my Vertex 2.
How does one perform a low level block erase on a Sandforce drive?
PS: The drive is in a Dell Latitude E6500. I tried multiple times to use tools which claimed to issue the SECURITY_ERASE ATA command. The free secure erase tool from the Center for Magnetic Research will not start (my guess is that DOS doesn't like the machine with 4GB of RAM), and when I tried to use a linux livecd and hdparm, it reported that my drive was "frozen", and I was unable to find anything in the BIOS to stop it from being frozen.
Best Answer
Under unixoid systems you can do it with "hdparm". You need to get "root" first, then do the following. This is assuming that the drive you want to low-level format is "/dev/sda" and that you have "hdparm" installed.
The parameter is a capital "i", not a lowercase "l", just in case the font is ambiguous. If the drive shows "frozen" you must first "un-freeze" it. What you need to do to "un-freeze" it depends on the device. Most devices will "un-freeze" if you put the system to "suspend to RAM" mode, then wake it up again. If the device shows "not frozen", you can proceed.
Then show the device info again with the capital "i" as parameter.
It should now display "enabled" under "Security:". This is quite a critical step. The device is now secured. If you power it down, it will lock and might become inaccessible. When you perform the low-level format NOW, security will be disabled again and you can continue using the device.
The device should now be physically wiped.
Once more with the capital "i". Confirm that security has returned to "not enabled". You can now partition and format the device.