New SSD hdparm shows "frozen" - whether secure erase is needed before installing Linux
Solution 1:
On at least some laptops (where disconnecting SATA power may prove... challenging), simply putting the laptop to sleep then waking it back up is sufficient, since it also power cycles the drive.
This was tested with a Lenovo T430 and a Samsung 840 EVO mSATA drive, where I was able to issue a secure erase from KUbuntu booted from a flash drive (Live CD environment) using hdparm following Samsung's instructions from Samsung's SSD FAQs on performing a secure erase in different OS environments.
Edit: Linux instructions from Samsung page
- Check the device (check the device you want to test now) $ sudo fdisk -l
- Check device status (assuming that the test device is set at /dev/sdb in step 1) => Must be "not frozen", otherwise Secure Erase cannot be run. $ sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdb
- Set Password (the reference shown below recommends using NULL for password, so it is set as NULL) $ sudo hdparm --security-set-pass NULL /dev/sdb
- Run Secure Erase $ sudo hdparm --security-erase NULL /dev/sdb [ Reference ] http://linux.die.net/man/8/hdparm http://tinyapps.org/docs/wipe_drives_hdparm.html