Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
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Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Hi, all.
I'm looking to sell the old HDDs that are in my TS-431, but I want to make sure that the new owner cannot retrieve information from it.
I know I can go out and buy an external inclosure, put the drives in it, and then use Disk Utility (I'm on a Mac) to do a secure erase.
Is there a way that I can do the same thing without having to buy anything else? Disk Utility will not recognize network drives and I don't see any options in the QNAP web access page. My tech knowledge is pretty basic, so I might need to be walked through more complex solutions.
Thanks!
edit: I did a lot of searching both on these and other forums and websites before posting this.
I'm looking to sell the old HDDs that are in my TS-431, but I want to make sure that the new owner cannot retrieve information from it.
I know I can go out and buy an external inclosure, put the drives in it, and then use Disk Utility (I'm on a Mac) to do a secure erase.
Is there a way that I can do the same thing without having to buy anything else? Disk Utility will not recognize network drives and I don't see any options in the QNAP web access page. My tech knowledge is pretty basic, so I might need to be walked through more complex solutions.
Thanks!
edit: I did a lot of searching both on these and other forums and websites before posting this.
- pwilson
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
You can approximate this on the NAS itelf, by overwriting every sector on each drive with random data:Ma358 wrote:Hi, all.
I'm looking to sell the old HDDs that are in my TS-431, but I want to make sure that the new owner cannot retrieve information from it.
I know I can go out and buy an external inclosure, put the drives in it, and then use Disk Utility (I'm on a Mac) to do a secure erase.
Is there a way that I can do the same thing without having to buy anything else? Disk Utility will not recognize network drives and I don't see any options in the QNAP web access page. My tech knowledge is pretty basic, so I might need to be walked through more complex solutions.
Thanks!
Code: Select all
for i in a b c d ; do dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sd$i bs=4096 ; done
WARNING: This command will DESTROY all the data on all 4 drives. No confirmation.
Patrick M. Wilson
Victoria, BC Canada
QNAP TS-470 Pro w/ 4 * Western Digital WD30EFRX WD Reds (RAID5) - - Single 8.1TB Storage Pool FW: QTS 4.2.0 Build 20151023 - Kali Linux v1.06 (64bit)
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Thanks for the quick reply.
That sounds like what I am looking for. I've already copied all of the data onto my local drive and a secondary external drive, so data loss isn't a concern.
The problem is that I don't know where to enter that code to get it going.
edit: did some looking around. Found telnet access settings. I logged into it using Terminal. I haven't entered the code yet, but I'm thinking that should be where I do it, yeah?
That sounds like what I am looking for. I've already copied all of the data onto my local drive and a secondary external drive, so data loss isn't a concern.
The problem is that I don't know where to enter that code to get it going.
edit: did some looking around. Found telnet access settings. I logged into it using Terminal. I haven't entered the code yet, but I'm thinking that should be where I do it, yeah?
- pwilson
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
I never use Telnet personally. (It's insecure - cleartext passwords ). I prefer to use SSH for this task here. (This won't matter in this instance, as you are wiping the NAS anyway).Ma358 wrote:Thanks for the quick reply.
That sounds like what I am looking for. I've already copied all of the data onto my local drive and a secondary external drive, so data loss isn't a concern.
The problem is that I don't know where to enter that code to get it going.
edit: did some looking around. Found telnet access settings. I logged into it using Terminal. I haven't entered the code yet, but I'm thinking that should be where I do it, yeah?
This said, yes you are in the right place. My command needs to be entered in at the command line of the NAS, so yes, you need to use either Telnet or SSH to do this. (It isn't a mistake that Telnet is disabled by default, while SSH is enabled by default).
You need to login as "admin" to gain access.
Patrick M. Wilson
Victoria, BC Canada
QNAP TS-470 Pro w/ 4 * Western Digital WD30EFRX WD Reds (RAID5) - - Single 8.1TB Storage Pool FW: QTS 4.2.0 Build 20151023 - Kali Linux v1.06 (64bit)
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Patrick, thank you for all your help.
I really appreciate it!
I really appreciate it!
- tariqnisarahmed
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Another great post of the late Mr. Wilson's that has helped me out. I am running an SSH session using PuTTY to my QNAP TVS-463. It has 2 6TB drives in place set up in Raid 1. Have already run the command, but for future reference, would it be necessary for me to wipe both -- since the second drive would copy the first? Or is it necessary to run the command on both drives? And in any case, how long do you think I will have to wait until I see a result in PuTTY? (Right now I just have a green square below the command I entered. Guessing it won't change till the job is done.)pwilson wrote:You can approximate this on the NAS itelf, by overwriting every sector on each drive with random data:Ma358 wrote:...Is there a way that I can do the same thing without having to buy anything else? Disk Utility will not recognize network drives and I don't see any options in the QNAP web access page. My tech knowledge is pretty basic, so I might need to be walked through more complex solutions.
Thanks!
Code: Select all
for i in a b c d ; do dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sd$i bs=4096 ; done
WARNING: This command will DESTROY all the data on all 4 drives. No confirmation.
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- schumaku
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Note: Be careful with "blindly" using a b c d ... newer NAS models make use of the n+1 device for the firmware - so check for the Flash device and avoid dd'ing it:
[~] # hal_app --get_boot_pd port_id=0
/dev/sde
[~] # hal_app --get_boot_pd port_id=0
/dev/sde
- tariqnisarahmed
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Thanks, Schumaku! I will keep that in mind for next time. This time around, I was preparing to return the TVS-463 and the Reds because Amazon was willing to take them back, minus a small percentage. I am upgrading to a TVS-871, so please do wish me luck with the new system. Thanks again!
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Just a quick check, are these commands still valid for today? I have a one bay NAS and I need to wipe them too
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
I plan to sell my old TS-269 Pro w/ 2x WD 6TB Reds, and I'm keen to securely wipe all my data? Are these commands still valid for today QTS 4.3.3 i.e. a b? Please provide all code. Thanks.
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Also, if QNAP provides an app/utility to assist with this task, please let me know.
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
Is the below code correct for my TS-269 Pro?
Code: Select all
for i in a b ; do dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sd$i bs=4096 ; done
- dolbyman
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Re: Selling My Old HDDs (secure delete question)
just make sure you do not erase your DOM