Samsung Magician 4.0 Bootable Secure Erase Utility...

[Synomenon]

Just installed Magician 4.0 on my Windows 8 system. Says that it cannot secure erase the SSD w/in Windows and wants me to create a bootable USB or CD/DVD. I created the bootable USB on a SD card in a USB card reader. I booted it up, but the display is all corrupt and nothing is readable.

I redid the bootable USB option with a flash drive and have the same issue. Haven't tried a bootable CD/DVD since I don't have an optical drive.


Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[MoInSTL]

Is this a desktop? Do you have onboard video? If so, change it in your BIOS to use it, then hook your monitor up to it, reboot and it will be legible.

It may not be supported in Windows 8.

 

[Synomenon]

It's a desktop. All my monitors are connected to my NVIDIA GTX680.

 

[MoInSTL]

I edited my post. Not sure about Windows 8. The above is the workaround I use.

 

[Synomenon]

Magician 4.0 says it cannot secure erase my Samsung 840 Pro. and has me create a bootable utility to do it outside of Windows 8. Bootable utility just displays glitchy / corrupt graphics once launched.

 

[MoInSTL]

The only solution I know this early in the morning is the one I suggested. If you don't have onboard graphics, it asks is you want to erase it and that it's frozen. You can Y and Y.
IIRC, it bounces you out to a DOS prompt. Type SEGUI0.exe. (That's a zero, not an O).

The selected drive is in a Frozen State.
To continue with Secure Erase please follow the directions below:

Do not switch the computer off during the process.
1. Open computer casing.
2. Disconnect the SATA power cable from the SSD, then reattach after a few seconds.
3. Restart the application by typing 'SEGUI0.exe' and then proceed.
Press any key to continue

Edit" When you are at the garbled screen, try the Escape key to get to DOS prompt. Type SEGUI0.exe.

 

[corkyg]

Why in the world can't Samsung Magician create the required bootable drive - preferably a USB flash drive? That utility should be part of Magician.

Or, the bootable drive in .ISO format could be downloadable at the Samsung web site.

 

[4REEE]

I realize that I am in the minority since I have Windows 8, but it's now close to mid-May 2014 and Samsung's Magician still won't work for Windows 8!!

 

[Synomenon]

It's working just fine now on my Windows 8 PC...

 

[Coup27]

I remember reading ages ago on another forum that people running the Samsung DOS utilities such as secure erase or the firmware updater on systems with nVidia GFX cards had corrupted displays once the utility was booted. There was no resolution on the threads I saw, except to use either onboard GFX or an AMD card. The reason Magician cannot secure erase in Windows is because you cant erase the drive you are currently using. This is why secure erase has to be either on a secondary drive (eg. D : \ ) or done outside of Windows.

A thought. Do you have another SSD/HDD you could temporaily install Windows on and then connect the SSD you wish to erase as a secondary drive and then secure erase it that way?

Why in the world can't Samsung Magician create the required bootable drive - preferably a USB flash drive? That utility should be part of Magician.

I don't understand. That feature is part of Magician?

 

[tidy]

...the display is all corrupt and nothing is readable.

I remember reading ages ago on another forum that people running the Samsung DOS utilities such as secure erase or the firmware updater on systems with nVidia GFX cards had corrupted displays once the utility was booted. There was no resolution on the threads I saw, except to use either onboard GFX or an AMD card...

For the record, it's SEGUI0 /s from the *DOS prompt (press ESC from the corrupted screen) to make it readable.

*You still have to disconnect the power to the drives for ~5 seconds to get them out of the damned 'frozen state', so do this before you execute SEGUI0 /s.

 

[smakme7757]

Just installed Magician 4.0 on my Windows 8 system. Says that it cannot secure erase the SSD w/in Windows and wants me to create a bootable USB or CD/DVD. I created the bootable USB on a SD card in a USB card reader. I booted it up, but the display is all corrupt and nothing is readable.

I redid the bootable USB option with a flash drive and have the same issue. Haven't tried a bootable CD/DVD since I don't have an optical drive.


Has anyone else experienced this?

It does this on Nvidia cards.
If you have inbuilt graphics (HD4000 or something like that) use that and it will work. That's what i had to do. Most modern CPUs from Intel have inbuilt graphiocs now, so all you need if your motherboard has a VGA or DVI out your all good .

Edit: I seeMoInSTL has already given the solution.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The only solution I know this early in the morning is the one I suggested. If you don't have onboard graphics, it asks is you want to erase it and that it's frozen. You can Y and Y.
IIRC, it bounces you out to a DOS prompt. Type SEGUI0.exe. (That's a zero, not an O).

The selected drive is in a Frozen State.
To continue with Secure Erase please follow the directions below:

Do not switch the computer off during the process.
1. Open computer casing.
2. Disconnect the SATA power cable from the SSD, then reattach after a few seconds.
3. Restart the application by typing 'SEGUI0.exe' and then proceed.
Press any key to continue

Edit" When you are at the garbled screen, try the Escape key to get to DOS prompt. Type SEGUI0.exe.

Interesting, to include my quick review of posts subsequent to your own.

Generally, I wouldn't need a secure-erase unless I were re-purposing the SSD -- something I've only done for a couple 60GB SSDs of the SandForce flavor. So if it's a question of graphics hardware interfering with the self-booting secure-erase utility, it might be just as easy to try something else, even if it costs $5.00:

http://partedmagic.com/

The guide for PM suggests a sequence similar to what you suggest as a solution to making Magician work -- if the SSD is in a "locked" state -- or as you say, "frozen." And if the solution with Magician works, no need to spend $5.00.

 

[Elixer]

You can also use a linux boot CD/DVD/thumb drive and use that utility to secure erase a SSD.

It is as simple as typing hdparm --security-erase-enhanced NULL /dev/sdX
where sdX is the SSD of your system. (could be sd0, sd1.. or whatever).

 

[VirtualLarry]

You can also use a linux boot CD/DVD/thumb drive and use that utility to secure erase a SSD.

It is as simple as typing hdparm --security-erase-enhanced NULL /dev/sdX
where sdX is the SSD of your system. (could be sd0, sd1.. or whatever).

No, it's not. That's an incorrect guide. You need to set a user password first, to lock the drive, then supply the user password again to secure erase. Otherwise, the drive will not erase.

 

[Elixer]

What if my password was NULL
hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass NULL /dev/sdX
hdparm --security-erase-enhanced NULL /dev/sdX

 

[BonzaiDuck]

What if my password was NULL
hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass NULL /dev/sdX
hdparm --security-erase-enhanced NULL /dev/sdX

Actually, I find this issue of a password a tad confusing. Parted Magic seems to warn off a NULL pwd, and give s default of "password." I can only say I worked through it and PM secure-erased the drive successfully.

I wonder if I'll be surprised by some new obstruction when I deploy the drive in its renewed state . . . :\

 

[Elixer]

AFAIK, the only reason it wants/uses a password, is so you don't make the mistake of doing a secure erase on the wrong drive.

So, this is pretty much a fool proof way of doing it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

AFAIK, the only reason it wants/uses a password, is so you don't make the mistake of doing a secure erase on the wrong drive.

So, this is pretty much a fool proof way of doing it.

The first of the two options for a "locked" or frozen SSD was confusing to the point I'm still apprehensive about the results. There's not enough "balloon" help info to fully explain "go into sleep mode" or however they word it.

I panicked when my monitor went "amber" and heard the fans rev. I must have punched the reset button about three times, but "no cigar" -- whatever it was doing, it was going to continue. And before I realized that losing the visual on the monitor -- "sleep mode" -- was part of the process, I flipped the rocker switch on the PSU.

It all came back, I found the other option with advice to uncable the SSD for 30 seconds, and then reconnect. It supposedly completed a secure-erase cycle successfully the second time around. I'll only know for sure over a period of time once I have re-purposed the SSD. But if it says so -- if it's monitoring smart data, then I shouldn't worry . . . I suppose.

 

[aviator79]

Easiest secure erase:
- Download Rufus
http://rufus.akeo.ie/
- Download Parted Magic (old version, freeware)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html
- Create USB stick with Rufus and the ISO
- Boot USB stick
- Click on "Secure Erase"
- Choose the option that says "secure erase"
- If drive is locked, PM will provide instructions to unlock drive.

done.

 

[bram1212]

I have multiple locked Samsung 840 PRO 256GB drives which I want to reuse. the user and master passwords have been changed.

Do you know any procedure to reuse the drives? Samsung says it's possible but only at their repair centre and charge 40 euro a piece. :O

Got them on my internship to have a challange to unlock them, but so far no luck. otherwise we'll have to throw them away but that would be a shame since it's new tech.

kind regards,
Bram (Netherlands)

 

[corkyg]

The next trick qould be to use Magician 4.4 instead of 4.0. It should be AOK with Win 8/8.1.

 

[jhansman]

Methinks Samsung does not quite have Magician there yet; tried to use it (4.4) to clone my 830 boot drive to a new 840 EVO, and it failed, twice. Ended up using the clone tool in Acronis TI, which worked perfectly. Ironic, no?

 

[SenZjo]

using diskpart from an admin dosbox in windows works perfect aswell :3 and its included in windows XD

 

[vigorito]

hi guys i need assistance to secure erase samsung m2 512 ssd with user password forgotten