Erasing Intel 320 SSD properly

[dandreye1]

Hi All,

Sorry posting it here as cannot see any legacy Intel SSD specific forums here.

What are the best 2-3 ways to erase an Intel 320 series SATA SSD properly? I recall reading somewhere that to consider its space free SSD needs it filled with 0xFF and not 0x00  normally written by default by the likes of dd/hdparm. Is my SSDSA2CW120G3 one of such SSDs and so needs filling with 0xFF or perhaps some other value? In fact should I even bother if security is not a concern? (no sensitive data on it whatsoever; the OS is to be reinstalled right after).

Obviously one of the easiest ways would be changing encryption key but I never enabled encryption on this SSD so that I can easily read it using any of my laptops... unless some "user transparent encryption" is always on regardless. 

Many thanks in advance!

[AlHill]

When I want to erase ANY disk, I use diskpart.  Clean will wipe out all partitions.  And, if I am really paranoid, I use CLEAN ALL.  When I start that command,  I can go out, cut the grass, grab lunch, go to Bloomingdales and, when I return, it is usually finished.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

[dandreye1]

@AlHill,

 > When I start that command,  I can go out, cut the grass, grab lunch, go to Bloomingdales and, when I return, it is usually finished.

Thanks for your reply. Does the "clean" option actually fill the disk with any pattern then? (I suppose so if that's how long it takes)

Meanwhile just to refine my original inquiry (more clarity came only after submitting it): my main concern is resetting the SSD back to the best possible working state, i.e. if filling it with any particular patter doesn't help achieve that goal I'll just re-partition it w/o explicit erasing (in fact I certainly wouldn't want to use that "extra" write in vain). 

Also (just for the sake of answering my original inquiry) I now understand Enhanced Secure Erase option of the ATA spec fills the disk with the manufacturer-set pattern (unlike ordinary Secure Erase), which I suppose is exactly what I'd be after if I had to erase it securely: looks like my SSD does support such option.

[AlHill]

Diskpart Help Clean says:

ALL Specifies that each and every byte\sector on the disk is set to
zero, which completely deletes all data contained on the disk.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

[dandreye1]

Yes: Diskpart - clean vs clean all . It also tells us "clean" alone w/o "all" doesn't fill the disk with anything, so perhaps I need this one then.

I used (Linux-based) hdparm a few times with an SSD before and ESE would just take several seconds, hopefully writing whatever the maker specified into each SSD as designed. Perhaps an Intel rep seeing this could officially confirm ESE using hdparm or an equivalent would be best indeed for my particular SSD if security were a concern.

[Steven_Intel]

Hello dandreye1,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

I am glad to see you have found assistance in the thread.

I just wanted to let you know that the support for Intel 320 SSD and many others have been transferred to Solidigm. Feel free to go to their support page: https://community.solidigm.com/t5/solid-state-drives-nand/bd-p/Solid_State_Drives

Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel. 

Thank you for your understanding.  

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[dandreye1]

Hi @Steven_Intel ,

Thanks for your reply: I'll also try asking there then.

Best Regards,

D.

[dandreye1]

Hi @Steven_Intel ,

> I just wanted to let you know that the support for Intel 320 SSD and many others have been transferred to Solidigm. Feel free to go to their support page: https://community.solidigm.com/t5/solid-state-drives-nand/bd-p/Solid_State_Drives

After answering some intro questions they asked me I'm being redirected back here:

"Hi dandreye,

We are sorry to hear you have issues with your drive and understand your frustration.

You will need to clearly state to Intel that this is with regards to their software product (RST), and this is not a Solidigm product. You would need to contact Intel directly as we are a separate entity.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Kind regards.  
Nebiyu
Solidigm Customer Support"

I have no idea why they decided it's an RST SW related question. Here's my thread with them just in case:

https://community.solidigm.com/t5/solid-state-drives-nand/erasing-an-intel-320-series-ssd-properly/td-p/23932

Could we please proceed further with my inquiry? My main question is: which particular hex value is written into an Intel 320 SSD to bring its memory cells back to the idle (factory) state?

Thanks in advance!

[n_scott_pearson]

Oh, this is hilarious. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with RST. RST offers absolutely no capabilities for resetting drives at all (that's simply not its function). If this last question that you posed is exactly what you asked Solidigm, I have no idea why RST would even come up in the conversation.

...S

[dandreye1]

@n_scott_pearson :

Indeed. I'm trying to proceed with them once again, just hope they won't bounce me back here closing the loop...

[dandreye1]

Now they say this:

"The Intel 320 series has been EOS (End of service) since 2021-06-18. The specific technical information did not migrate from Intel to Solidigm. Should you have any questions regarding your drive, please check the product specifications."

Could anyone at Intel please confirm that's the case indeed and so they don't have to support Intel 320 Series SSDs anymore?

Thanks in advance!

[n_scott_pearson]

According to the information I was able to obtain through backups of the Intel site taken by the Internet Archive (and accessed using the WayBack Machine), Intel began listing the 320 Series as having reached End-Of-Life in mid-2014. They didn't publish End Of Interactive Service (EOIS) information back then, but I would expect it was three years later, within 2017. EOIS is when Intel Customer Support would discontinue responding to queries regarding this product. In the 2017 data, it lists the drives as being in the Legacy category.

...S

[dandreye1]

Understood: thank you!