View source for Wipe Disks


For HDDs, you need to overwrite everything.  
For SSDs, the BIOS can typically invoke a secure erase.

==HDDs - Using shred==
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
DEVICE=/dev/sdb
shred -v -n1 $DEVICE
</syntaxhighlight>

==SATA SSD Secure Erase==
[https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase]

Generally you do not want to write a bunch of zeros or random data to SSDs which would create significant wear.
For performance reasons, SSDs typically encrypt data internally.
A secure erase on an SSD will just generate a new internal encryption key, taking only a few minutes and avoiding unnecessary wear.
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
DEVICE=/dev/sdb

# Check if device is frozen
# On Ubuntu live, you may need to sleep and wake the system
sudo hdparm -I $DEVICE

# Set a password to Eins
sudo hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass Eins $DEVICE
# Check that the master password is enabled
sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda

# Run secure erase (wipes internal encryption key)
sudo hdparm --user-master u --security-erase Eins $DEVICE
# Or for secure erase enhanced (takes longer, wipes multiple times)
sudo hdparm --user-master u --security-erase-enhanced Eins $DEVICE

# After a few minutes, check that the master password is disabled
sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda
</syntaxhighlight>

==NVME - Secure Erase==
[https://askubuntu.com/questions/1310338/how-to-secure-erase-a-nvme-ssd reference]