Questions tagged [hdparm]

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Seagate HDD spins up - Not understanding why (WD does not)

I have built a NAS with TrueNAS at my home. I access the data around once every week (twice, as I will run a ZFS scrub once per week), hence I prefer to spin-down the disks when I do not access the ...
3 votes
1 answer
4k views

Making HDD to spindown when not mounted but to keep it spinning while mounted

Is it possible to make harddisk spin when it's mounted and to stop spinning when I unmount it? I was finding answers on the internet, but there is not any precise answer for such a question. There is ...
0 votes
0 answers
156 views

Silicon Power SSD ATA password protected disk wipe

I have bought Silicon Power SSD S55 disk on eBay. Unfortunately it turned out to be with ATA password protection. Can I wipe or reset it to use as new drive? I have found instructions how to secure ...
3 votes
1 answer
247 views

Are spare sectors stored in a hard drive's Host Protected Area (HPA)?

I need to wipe some used hard drives before using them in case they contain malware. Is it safe to remove the host protected area? Is the HPA used to store spare sectors? It is only 1 MB but might ...
1 vote
2 answers
279 views

Cannot manage APM Level on WDC WD100EMAZ

I was looking into configuring some sleep schedules for my server disks, but it looks like I cannot change any settings on my drives. I am looking for some help on this because I am pretty ...
1 vote
0 answers
23 views

Eco / Stand-by / Spindown settings for LaCie Rugged Triple USB 3?

I have two LaCie Rugged Triple USB 3 external HDDs connected to a powered USB hub. When my Mac is 'on,' the drives are managed by macOS and go into stand-by correctly. But when the Mac is off, the ...
1 vote
1 answer
333 views

Cannot set/enable HPA on SSD using hdparm (SG_IO: bad/missing data)

I am trying to set up a HPA on a new 2TB Patriot P210 SATA SSD: $ sudo hdparm -Np3600000000 --yes-i-know-what-i-am-doing /dev/sda /dev/sda: setting max visible sectors to 3600000000 (permanent) ...
34 votes
2 answers
76k views

Hdparm - Checking if a drive is spun down

Is there anyway to find out if a hard drive has spun down? I've been using the following command to spin it down after idle time: hdparm -S 120 /dev/hdX However I'm not sure it's working correctly ...
0 votes
2 answers
201 views

Secure erase verification methods for different storage media?

Do secure erase technologies available on different types of media set a status or verification flag? Is there a industry standard to verify when a drive has gone through the process?
17 votes
6 answers
108k views

hdparm error: SG_IO: bad/missing sense data

I'm trying hdparm in Kali Live to add a ATA password to my Micron M600 Self-encrypted SSD, I use: hdparm --security-set-pass PASSWORD sda But I get: sda: Issuing SECURITY_SET_PASS command, password=...
1 vote
0 answers
201 views

nvme performance difference (OS dependent)

My laptop has two nvme drives: WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-512G-1101 (512GB) Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus (1TB) I guess I have performance issue under Linux Mint 21.1 (5.15.0-56-generic). To determine ...
2 votes
2 answers
7k views

How to know the standby time of a disk before spinning down?

Under Linux, the command hdparm can change the idle time before next standby. hdparm -S 120 /dev/hdc #setting standby to 120 (10 minutes) But how to know what was the previous setting? Sadly, the ...
0 votes
1 answer
135 views

High HDD load-count after short smart test

I use an old laptop as a DIY NAS with Debian 9.6 with a HGST HTS541010B7E610 HDD. The HDD had Power_On_Hours of more than 37k with a Load_Cycle_Count of only 380. After doing a short smart test with ...
8 votes
3 answers
26k views

How to unfreeze drive in Linux?

I run sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda results: Security: Master password revision code = [redacted just in case it's sensitive data] supported not enabled not locked ...
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is the “idle3” timeout mess still relevant on Western Digital WD Blue hard drives from 2022?

THE QUESTION: Is the “idle3” timeout still relevant for 2022 Western Digital Blue hard drives, and specifically for their WD40EZAZ line? Or should I take hdparm -J reporting an invalid exchange as ...
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

Spin-Down not working on WD-Red

I am using a WD Red drive Model Family: Western Digital Red Device Model: WDC WD120EMFZ-11A6JA0 I have set it to spin down after 10 minutes: hdparm -S 120 /dev/sdc /dev/sdc: setting ...
0 votes
1 answer
279 views

hdparm: Are parameters (like spindown time set using -S) saved on machine or on the hard disk?

Say, I connect my external hard drive to a machine/computer and set the spindown time to 5 seconds using: hdparm -S1 <disk dir> I test this setup, and the disk does spin down after it is ...
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

hdparm -C states the drive is in standby regardless if the drive is in standby or not

I have a strange issue. I have a WD Green 3TB drive that always reports its in standby. The drive will go to sleep on it's own after 30 minutes (regardless of what I set with hdparm. But if I do -C ...
0 votes
0 answers
545 views

USB external drive does not show if it is in hibernation mode in Debian

Good companions. I'm trying to find out if one of my hard drives has gone into hibernation (or sleep) mode but my thumb drive always shows this: sudo hdparm -C /dev/disk/by-uuid/E2C2A877C2A61FB1 /dev/...
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

Why does disabling head parking on HGST 7K1000 HDD cause read/write sounds every second (or sometimes more)?

When the APM value of the drive is set to 254 or 255 (head parking is disabled) using either hdparm or HDDScan utilities, my HGST 7K1000 HTS721010A9E630 hard drive is occasionally making normal quiet ...
2 votes
0 answers
2k views

How to prevent harddisk from spinning up and down?

I recently added a Toshiba Enterprise MG06ACA10TE 10TB disk to one of my servers. Since then, I receive between 5-15 of these messages in syslog every day: smartd[625]: Device: /dev/sdb [SAT], CHECK ...
0 votes
0 answers
23 views

'drive perfetch count' in hdparm

What's the drive perfetch count in hdparm and what does it do? Should I change it? I would like to have both: Information for HDDs and SSDs hdparm -h -P Set drive prefetch count
0 votes
0 answers
4k views

Remove unknown ata password with hdparm

I received 2 320Gb 2.5" harddrives, Toshiba Model Number: MQ01AB032 and Western Digital Model Number: WDC WD3200BPVT-35ZEST0. Both have the same hdparm Security output which I obtained by ...
2 votes
5 answers
9k views

Partially Solved: SSD security password - stuck with an I/O Error

Model in question is a Kingston SV300S37A120G. I read here that when trying to unlock a security password, I should put “quotes” around it if it contains special characters. Does that apply for caps? ...
18 votes
1 answer
28k views

hdparm doesn't read SSD? HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(identify) failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device

I'm trying to use hdparm to do secure erase of my 512GB SSD SK Hynix. SSD has Windows 10 installed in it. I boot Ubuntu from a usb flash drive. sudo fdisk -l I get a lot of different disks, turns out ...
1 vote
3 answers
924 views

3TB Western Digital Hard drive is showing only 2TB

I do not believe this to be an issue with formatting. Both Linux and Windows (64bit) see it as 2TB drive. However it is supposed to be a 3TB drive. It is in an enclosure, and I am wondering if perhaps ...
1 vote
1 answer
11k views

How to make hdparm settings survive reboot?

hdparm settings are lost after reboot. How to setup hdparm -B60 /dev/sda to be saved for the next reboot?
1 vote
1 answer
218 views

How do I build the openSeaChest hard drive tools for Cygwin?

As detailed here, the hdparm tool hasn't been actively maintained on Cygwin for some time. This results in a situation in which there is no current tool that can perform the firmware-level Secure ...
0 votes
1 answer
586 views

Can the HPA and DCA contain user data from the filesystem?

The HPA and DCO are hidden areas on some drives that can be used to install firmware-based malware or deliberately hide some files. Tools like hdparm can be used to wipe these areas, as can most ...
2 votes
0 answers
6k views

How to erase a locked SSD

I received 2 locked SSDs. I managed to unfreeze them by a power cycle. hdparm reports: supported enalbed locked not frozen not expired: security count supported: enchanced ...
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why do I need to "hdparm -r" in order to mount a Sony camcorder read/write and why is it dangerous?

When I plug my Sony camcorder into my Linux systems, the file system gets mounted read-only. I cannot simply mount it read-write, I first have to use "hdparm -r0" to make the "device" read-write. Why ...
2 votes
1 answer
4k views

What is preventing my disk from spindown?

I have Ubuntu 20.04.1 installed on my laptop on SSD, and I also have a HDD for my large files. I want my hard disk to go to standby mode and spindown after 10 minutes. so I set it with hdparm with ...
0 votes
0 answers
238 views

HDD failure and format error, shows 4.1 GB instead of 1.86 TB

I have a Seagate 2.0 TB HDD. I had Ubuntu installed on it and grub on my SSD. I removed the cable when trying to change it. After that when I plugged it in grub showed the black error screen with grub&...
0 votes
3 answers
17k views

My Crucial SSD is locked after an erase attempt and can't seem unlock even with correct password. Is there such a thing as a master password?

My Crucial BX100 SSD is locked. I can’t unlock it with the correct (!) user password. So I’ve searched all over google, and read in a thread that I should try to unlock it with the master password. ...
1 vote
2 answers
10k views

hdparm errors: bad/missing sens data (no hdparm commands working)

I recently installed 4 Seagate 4tb SAS Exos 7e8 drives into my Dell r410 running Ubuntu Server 19.04. I am getting an error from hdparm everytime I try to run a hdparm command. The one command that ...
1 vote
1 answer
613 views

Why is hdparm not available on Cygwin?

I'm running Cygwin on Windows 7 and have done for several years now. I use kou1okada's brilliant fork of apt-cyg to install packages from the Cygwin repository, and up until now this has suited me ...
10 votes
2 answers
11k views

HDD Power-Up in Standby: prevent from spinning up

On my Linux Mint 17.1 system I am using a Western Digital WD20EZRX HDD for backup. To minimize power consumption and to extend drive endurance, I want the HDD to normally be in spun-down standby state,...
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why one of two HDDs wakes from sleep during the first Linux graphical login?

I have two archive HDDs, which I use very infrequently (I mount their partitions manually less than once a week on average). Since I turn my computer off at night, I tried to prevent them from ...
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

HDPARM - Reading password from a file? (Or inputting hex)

Almost complete Linux noob here, but I've been forced to switch over from Windows to a live Ubuntu to do some HDLocking magic. TLDR; I have an old Original Xbox that needs the internal drive to be ...
4 votes
2 answers
13k views

How to set the spin down timeout on WD Green HDDs

My internal WD20EARS disk does not spin down autoamtically. I tried hdparm -S 1 (5 seconds), but nothing happens. I disabled the IntelliPower headparking with wdidle3 from the Ultimate Boot CD. hdparm ...
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

hdparm: what does --dco-restore really do?

I am following instructions on this other SuperUser post: Harddrive - wipe out "hidden areas" like HPA and DCO also after malware infection For the last few days I have been researching ...
1 vote
0 answers
3k views

blk_update_request: critical medium error, but hdparm is successful

I apologize for the long post; the tl;dr version is that I got a couple of "critical medium error" messages in dmesg, but hdparm is able to read the affected sectors just fine. What gives?! Read on ...
1 vote
0 answers
662 views

hdparm -S not working as it should

I have a server running Debian 8 with four 2TB-disks in RAID5 (mdadm). Since the server is used only occasionally, I've used "hdparm -S 244 /dev/sdX" for all drives which will make them spin down ...
0 votes
2 answers
520 views

Hdparm set pasword went wrong

I wanted to erase my ssd and so i set a password the drive in order to complete a ATA Secure Erase. Normaly the passwort get reset to NULL after completion of the erase. Then however I realised that ...
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

I've used hdparm secure erase on a USB SATA drive. Is it beyond recovery now?

Acting on information in an outdated version of the ULSAH, I have tried to wipe out my old backup disk (a USB-connected SATA drive, not an SSD) using hdparm with the following options (rather the way ...
0 votes
0 answers
814 views

SSD secure erase on RAID card (Linux)

My SSD RAID write performance has slowed dramatically from when it was new, so I want to use the ATA "secure erase" command to restore it. From my research, this is the best way to restore ...
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

HPA (Host Protected Area) disabled. Bad consequences?

If an SSD's HPA is disabled, then are there any bad consequences? (In terms of data integrity, wear leveling, etc.) Do the following options make any difference to the SSD controller? HPA disabled, ...
-1 votes
2 answers
4k views

How to run hdparm at startup so that it sets apm to 254?

I downloaded hdparm from here: https://sites.google.com/site/disablehddapm/ and so far it's been great, it successfully stopped rapid increase in load/unload cycle count. The only problem is that I ...
0 votes
2 answers
390 views

Can a HGST Replacement Hard Disk contain the wdidle3 parameter?

/dev/sda: SG_IO: bad/missing sense data, sb[]: 70 00 05 00 00 00 00 0a 04 51 00 00 21 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 SG_IO: bad/missing sense data, sb[]: 70 00 05 00 00 00 ...
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Error when running 'hdparm --dco-identify' in Linux

DCO: Device Configuration Overlay HPA: Host Protected Area Both are 'hidden' areas on a HDD. I am trying to detect if my HDD has a DCO and remove it/ restore to factory settings. This is so that I ...