Secure Erase SSD

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Nellos

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Aug 30, 2013
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Greetings,

I'm trying to secure erase my SSD (Kingston HyperX Sh100S3/240G). I was planning on following the instructions given in the guide here. However, Kingston gives specific models that are compatible with the guide (V Series G2, V100, V+ G2, and V+100 SSDs), even though my specific type of SSD isn't listed, should I still use the guide as is?

The guide mentions nothing after you exit the secure erase procedure. As I understand it, the secure erase makes the drive exactly the same as it was when I first received it. So following the secure erase, I would put the windows OS CD in the optical drive and restart the computer? The windows installation should take care of formatting and partitioning the drive?

Lastly, there is a firmware update available for my SSD. The updates can be seen here. The relative part of the firmware update is "Enhanced reliability during power cycles and secure erases", which makes it seem to me that I should update the firmware prior to doing the secure erase. Two questions about this; will the secure erase procedure erase the firmware update? Second, I'm experiencing BSOD frequently, which is why I'm trying to restore the computer to as close to factory setting as possible. Would it be better to forego the firmware update because their is a high probability that I would experience the BSOD at some point during the update? Or is there a way to install the firmware (maybe in windows safe mode?) that I should do before performing the secure erase?



Computer specs:
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III Black Edition
Processor: Intel Core i7-990x
Memory: Corsair Dominator GT 12 GB (3x 4 GB)
SSD: Kingston HyperX SH100S3/240G
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra (2x same card in SLI)
Audio/NIC: Asus Republic of Gamers Thunderbolt
Optical drive: Asus BC-12B1ST
PSU: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
 
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smorizio

smorizio

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Jan 22, 2010
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The firMware update is to update a non changeable read only chip. Without the firmware update program a user can't change this small chip. Uses a hirem boot cd or USB stick and put the firmware update on the USB stick. Run it first then run the erase the the windows install. I would also run memtest86 overnight from hirem boot disk to check for bad ram stick.
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Jan 20, 2011
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Yes, you can use the guide to Secure Erase your drive but don't use it to update the firmware since your model is not listed.



Correct.



No, Secure Erasing the drive won't change whatever current version firmware you have.



I would update the firmware first and then SE the drive.
 
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Nellos

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Aug 30, 2013
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How would I go about doing this? The file isn't an ISO I can mount and boot from. It's a windows utility for updating the firmware while in the OS. You can see the firmware update procedure given by Kingston here. There's also a firmware update procedure for Linux, but no explanation about doing it through the BIOS. From the windows procedure it seems that the file "SH103_FWxxx.ffp" is the actual firmware file to be updated too, I'm just pretty unfamiliar with hiren's and don't know which of the many freeware applications I'd use to even do research about.



Also, is this the best way to update the firmware? I like that it will be done outside of windows and out of reach of the BSOD issue, I've just never done it before.

edit: I got caught up in all the different pieces of software and didn't notice mini xp. Would I run mini xp and then the windows update utility?
 
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Nellos

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One other thing I thought of, is there any issue that I'll be installing the firmware update through windows xp, but will then be using windows 7 after the secure erase?

Does Microsoft offer a copy of mini xp? I can't find it, but I don't mind paying for a copy rather than pirate it through hiren's.
 
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Nellos

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The problem I'm having with updating the SSD with my current OS is that my computer is unstable. After startup, within 30 seconds - 10 minutes (occasionally longer) I get a BSOD. This is why doing the firmware update through a repair CD like Hirens seemed so appealing to me.

However, there are requirements in the firmware update procedure, like must be using windows xp sp3 and the hard drive must be set to AHCI in the BIOS. Unfortunately, Hirens would require me to have the hard drive set to IDE, so Hirens is out. I've been considering Falcon 4's, but it is still mini windows xp and I'm nervous that the firmware update might require some framework released by microsoft not included in mini windows xp.

One alternative I can think of would be to use a Linux repair CD, but I don't know if the firmware update is different for linux users, or just the utility for doing the update. Therefore, I don't know if anything will be harmed when I install windows on the hard drive after doing the firmware update in linux.

Another alternative, and the one I'm considering most seriously as I continue doing research, is to buy a cheap HDD and attach it to my MOBO. I'll install windows on the new HDD, do all my windows updates, and then do the firmware update using the utility and guide provided. This also has benefits when doing the secure erase because I won't have to "hot plug" the SSD to prevent it from being frozen.
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Boot into Win 7 Safe Mode and let your system sit for 10 minutes and see if your system is stable.
If your system is stable then re-boot into Safe Mode and update your firmware. It shouldn't take 10 minutes for the software to update the firmware.

 
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Nellos

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So updating in safe mode is a no go. BSOD within 30 seconds every time. So it looks like I'm going to have to do something about the OS to be able to update the firmware. I can think of two ways to do it at the moment:

1.) Buy the second hard drive, install windows on it and do the firmware update from there. Newegg has a refurbished 120 Gb SATA III for 20$, which I can accept paying for to fix the expensive SSD.
2.) Use the windows disk to do a quick format of the SSD, and perform the firmware update on the new installation of windows (after making sure no BSOD).



Unrelated to getting my OS stable enough to update the firmware, I have another question about the firmware update procedure (sorry for so many questions, I'd just rather cover all my bases before making any actual adjustments). The firmware update guide says to connect the drive to a native SATA port. Currently, the drive is plugged into the Marvell SATA 6.0 connector, do I need to move the SATA signal cable to the ICH10R SATA 3.0 connector? Or does native SATA port encompass all SATA ports on the MOBO?


Kind of off-topic:
Should I leave the SSD connected to the ICH10R SATA 3.0 connector all the time? While researching this issue I've seen it indicated a lot that the intel ports are far better than the Marvell ports, but that is on a comparison of both being SATA 6.0 or 3.0. There doesn't seem to be a general consensus that I could find about marvell 6.0 compared to intel 3.0, most answers said they should perform similarly with intel being more stable and slightly less fast.

I remember at the same time I updated the drivers for the Marvell and ICH10R that I updated drivers for a jmicron controller. However, I don't see any mention of jmicron in the MOBO user manual, is the jmicron controller for the SATA connectors on the rear panel?
 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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I would go with option 2. You don't have to spend any money, and you don't have to wait for the drive to be shipped to you.



The native ports on your board are the Intel ports (ICH10R).
Before performing option 2 above, connect your SSD to one of the Intel ports (in AHCI mode) and see if your system is stable enough to update the firmware.



Once you've updated your firmware, Secure Erased the drive, re-installed Windows, and have a stable system, then you can benchmark the SSD on the Intel and Marvell ports, and see which port is faster.



Correct, the JMicron controller is your external SATA port.

 
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Dereck47

Dereck47

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Back on the topic of having a spare Windows drive, that's what I have.

I have a 320GB drive that's about 10 years old with a copy of Windows 7 (not activated) on it .

I have 2 SSD's in RAID-0 that I Secure Erase once a year to maintain performance.
Whenever I SE the drives or update the firmware on the drives, I just shut down my system, connect the drive, boot into BIOS, change my SATA mode to AHCI, boot to my HDD, SE the SSDs and/or update the firmware.

Then I just remove the HDD and change SATA modes when done. The whole process takes 20 minutes or less.

 
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Nellos

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Formatting and re installing windows seems to have made the system stable (as far as I can tell, stayed running for two hours without BSOD).

Since the Marvell controller has AHCI enabled in the BIOS from the get go I've never had to tinker with the AHCI driver installation, windows 7 just took care of it for me. However, the ICH10R has IDE enabled by default in the BIOS. I didn't notice this till after the windows installation is over, so I know I will be formatting and installing again after setting the drive to AHCI in the BIOS.

What I'm curious is, should I use the windows 7 drivers that are installed automatically when installing to an AHCI disk? Or should I be installing the Intel RST driver? If it's the Intel RST driver that's better, is that something that can be done after Windows is installed? Or is it something you have to put on a USB and install alongside Windows? Also if it's the RST driver, how can I tell which driver is the most current for my system? Asus seems to have stopped updating it's support website, as I know for a fact that the chipset driver was out of date.
 
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Nellos

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I've seen this page before looking for the drivers myself. I was originally put off from using it because it says it's for Intel Desktop boards. Now looking over the readme, something caught my attentions:

"Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology Release 12.5 is designed to provide
functionality for the following Storage Controllers:
• Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
• Intel(R) 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
• Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
• Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
• Intel(R) X79 Express Chipset"

Which one of these does the ICH10R fall under? I've tried googling it, but all the acronyms are making the search results somewhat indecipherable.

Also, I have the firmware updated. I just have to put back in the hardware I removed (Thunderbolt and 2nd graphics card) then I'll be doing the secure erase and reinstall.
 
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Nellos

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So I'm running into an issue with the secure erase process now. I can run HHDErase from the flash drive. However, after going through the legal pages and agreeing that the software is provided "as is", it hangs before reaching the screen where I select a drive.

Rerunning the utility has the same result. The SSD is plugged into the 2nd native SATA port (I could try and switch to the 1st if that would be better? I've heard that 1, 2, or 1-4 should all be OK depending on the website). The BIOS is configured for the storage to be in IDE compatibility mode.

Is this indicative that the drive is frozen by the BIOS and needs the hot plug solution? I want to make sure before trying something potentially dangerous like that.

Edit: Even though the guide from Kingston suggests using HDDErase for the secure erase, would it be OK to use Parted Magic for hdparm? As I understand it should send the same command to the SSD.
 
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Nellos

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Hmm, this is really odd. I follow the guide up till the last step and then it stops working. As soon as I finish reading the caution message and press yes to continue, it doesn't do anything or provide any indication that the secure erase is complete like the last step of the guide says.

Instead, I'm presented with the Usage for Xdialog window. It doesn't seem related, but it pops up every time I get to the last step of the guide in place of where it should say that the secure erase is complete.
 
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Nellos

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Aug 30, 2013
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Based on watching the video, it seems that I have a different version of parted magic (additional options when selecting to put magic parted into RAM, pic incoming). It also seems that I have a different version of secure erase (additional erase options in the first menu of secure erase, pic incoming). Despite the additional options, I select Internal Secure Erase command writes zeros to entire data area. The rest of the procedure in the video is identical to what I see up until the ATA Secure Erase Attention window where it warns you about bricking your drive. As soon as I press yes on that menu, the Usage for Xdialog window comes up.
 
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Nellos

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Aug 30, 2013
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OK, got it working. Turns out the latest version of parted magic has a bug in the GUI. You have to run secure erase from the command line instead of from the terminal. Thanks for all your help, definitely made this as painless as possible.
 
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