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  • Factory Performance after Firmware update

    Just wondering, i have read a lot on using hdderase and how it restores factory performance to an ssd. I have a falcon on 1571 firmware and i want to flash it to 1819...i know the firmware update process erases the drive, so does this process also restore factory performance or should i still hdderase the drive after i have updated the firmware? any information would be much appreciated.

  • #2
    Still use HDDErase, but I couldn't use it on my Falcon. It always seem to stall when loading up the application. CCleaner's Secure wipe 3 pass does a great job though.

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    • #3
      hdderase restoring performance

      thanks for that...ill try hdderase tomorrow after ive imaged

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      • #4
        if you are imaging then do a destructive wipe using sanitary erase from ocz. It works like a charm

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        • #5
          finally easy procdure to erase

          thanks macdaddy...i tried the tool you mentioned but it kept failing with error 04...in any case for those of you out there who have issues with hdderase, as i did, follow this tutorial:

          http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/fo...le-with-AHCI-!
          -----> at step G, when asked to refresh devices, go to the gparted menu (where "file" is in windows) and select refresh. then your drive should appear.
          ------> step H just double click on the terminal icon on the main desktop.
          ------> DO NOT GO TO STEP I. PROCEED TO THE FOLLOWING TUTORIAL AND BEGIN AT STEP 1. TYPE THE COMMANDS INTO THE TERMINAL WHICH IS NOW OPEN AND READY TO RECEIVE COMMANDS!

          http://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase

          follow the steps. the outputs may be slightly different but the main chunks you are looking for are :

          Security:
          Master password revision code = 65534
          supported
          not enabled
          not locked
          not frozen
          not expired: security count
          supported: enhanced erase

          once the erase command has executed, and after you have completed step 4, close the terminal window, and double click on the exit button on desktop...select shutdown option...your drive will now appear as an unitialised unallocated drive, just like when u bought it from the shop! Brilliant and works great. note that this tutorial gives instructions for simple security erase NOT ENHANCED version, since this is unnecessary with SSDs. USE ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE 2010 home LIVE CD to image and backup ur drives...works like a charm

          PLEASE NOTE ALL THE WARNINGS GIVEN IN THE TUTORIALS. I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE THAT BRICKS THEIR DRIVES OR LOSES THEIR DATA!

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          • #6
            I tried using HDDErase but it doesn't work...how do I use Sanitary Erase?...do I run it in Windows on the SSD boot drive itself?...what about CCleaner Secure Wipe?...I heard HDDErase was the best at this and was wondering if sanitary erase and CCleaner do the job just as well

            I always use Diskpart's 'clean all' command to wipe my drive...does that not do the same thing as HDDErase?

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            • #7
              how hdderase works

              titus...like i said sanitary erase didnt work for me, as far as i know you are supposed to boot from a drive other than your ssd and run sanitary erase on this other drive with the ssd attached as a slave. then simply run the tool. it didnt work for me though it kept failing with error 04. with ccleaner i tried to do some research on how it works, but i cant seem to find anything on it. a lot of data destroying software programs write data over and over to all the sectors, but this not what you want, you simply want to empty all sectors of data by writing logical 0s or 1s. The way hdderase works is to use the "ata security erase" feature, which is a built in ATA specification, which is built into the firmware for all PATA and SATA drives since 2001. This uses the preferred method of writing all 0s or 1s as i described, and resets your drive to as if you bought it brand new, and for an ssd restores factory performance. The method i posted above using the tutorials is just another way to execute this security erase feature.

              as far as diskpart clean all is concerned, it seems to do the same thing by writing 0s to all sectors, however i cannot say for sure if it is the same, but it seems to be. I know for a fact that it doesnt work by issuing the "ata security erase" feature, and i know that the ata security erase feature works, but i cant say for diskpart.

              sorry for long explanations hope i answered your questions!

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              • #8
                what i do for sanitary erase is i make a BartPe on usb. This gives me a windows environment with the usb i have sanitary erase in it. I attach the ssd in and boot to usb for the windows environment and run sanitary erase. This is every quick takes no time at all. You can just make a windows partition and attach the ssd and flash it.

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                • #9
                  You don't need any eraser when you apply a firmware update that erases the flash.
                  Stop giving useless advices.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by kkara4 View Post
                    This uses the preferred method of writing all 0s or 1s as i described, and resets your drive to as if you bought it brand new, and for an ssd restores factory performance. The method i posted above using the tutorials is just another way to execute this security erase feature.
                    I tried the different methods but still could not get HDDErase to work...at first it would just hang on one of the loading screens before even getting to the main erase window...I fixed that by switching from IDE Enhanced Mode to IDE Compatible Mode in the BIOS...it then loaded but I got a 'BIOS Security Lock' error...I thought I fixed that by hooking up my SSD only after the BIOS load screen appeared...I was then able to select the wipe method but it came back with a 'Failed' error

                    I thought I read that HDDErase was not compatible with all motherboards...I'm thinking maybe my ASUS Maximus Formula board is not supported

                    Originally posted by macdaddy View Post
                    what i do for sanitary erase is i make a BartPe on usb. This gives me a windows environment with the usb i have sanitary erase in it. I attach the ssd in and boot to usb for the windows environment and run sanitary erase. This is every quick takes no time at all. You can just make a windows partition and attach the ssd and flash it.
                    thanks...I'll try this and see if it works

                    Originally posted by bjone View Post
                    You don't need any eraser when you apply a firmware update that erases the flash
                    it's true that a firmware flash does the erase but I'm not sure if it's as effective as using HDDErase
                    Last edited by Titus; 02-10-2010, 05:15 PM.

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                    • #11
                      @ bjone

                      dont come on these forums and start abusing me...its up to everyone else whether i give "useless" advice or not, and there is no need for you to make specific post saying it. Are you an expert on nand flash erasure? i dont think so. i dont think you completely understand how the firmware update process works either. according to the firmware update post, the partition is simply deleted, NOT SECURELY ERASED; until i stand corrected by GSKILL TECH, that is what i am going to believe.

                      @ macdaddy

                      thankyou for this suggestion ill leave it to others to give it a try. i have an older machine which doesnt allow booting from USB (this is the machine i use to erase my drives), so i use cd methods. my 80 gig drive takes 30 minutes to erase using my procedures, including inserting cds and waiting for gparted to load etc. so am happy. but thanks for your suggestions.

                      @ titus

                      my procedure does not use hdderase, so am a bit confused as to where you got stuck. i agree with your compatibility issues, i have read this also.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by kkara4 View Post
                        @ titus

                        my procedure does not use hdderase, so am a bit confused as to where you got stuck. i agree with your compatibility issues, i have read this also.
                        I'll try Gparted and see if it works for me...thanks for posting the instructions

                        why did you skip step I in the original guide for?...did it not work using that method?

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                        • #13
                          it is important that you do not go to step I, since you are not setting a password in this way. On the wiki link (the second part of my tutorial), if you scroll down there is a section labelled "known issues", where the process by which you do not set a password manually is explained, and the subsequent implications. Basically the possibility is there of your drive being frozen and locked with a password that you do not know, whereas my method ensures that if something happens you will know the password. There are probably some other reasons as well i am unsure of, but i performed my method twice today and it works perfectly fine. i chose to do the longer detailed article way since it was explained more thoroughly with proper screenshots, than on the first part of my tutorial (the one with step A,B,C....). hope this helps you out!

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                          • #14
                            kkara4:

                            Restoring factory performance is achieved by clearing internal allocation structures.

                            If a firmware erases the flashs, its due to the fact that it is using a different internal allocation structure than previous firmwares.
                            A firmware that uses the same allocation structure will probably not need a flash erase (1819>1916, don't know if G.Skill will provide a 1916 firmware update that doesn't flush internal allocations).

                            I understand why a firmware NEEDS to start from a clean, rebuilded allocation structure from the ground-up, but i don't understand why a firmware update would only erase the first LBA sector (partition table), it doesn't make sense from any point of view.

                            BTW HDDErase is just some form of "Trim everything", which was a quite effective way of cleanning internal allocations for SSDs that doesn't exposes Trim ATA feature (through Trim, a quick format under Win7 should push the firmware to converge to a nice and clean internal allocation state, providing full performance when writing to LBAs never touched from a filesystem point of view).
                            Last edited by bjone; 02-11-2010, 05:05 AM.

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                            • #15
                              thankyou for your feedback bjone...we will await a reply from gskill tech to see how exactly the firmware update process erase procdure is executed...i dont think you are correct about your allocation structure explanation, since ocz drives are exactly the same and their firmware updates do not require the drive to be erased.

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