Join Log in
Score:0
avatar Server

Disk doesn't show any partition table or partition changes

cn flag
TheBeege

I wanted to clone an encrypted drive to a new drive, so I set up CloneZilla to do a disk-to-disk clone. At the beginning, it said 9 hours to run, so I let it run overnight. The next day, it had 145 hours remaining. I figured I could just wipe the disk, so I forcibly stopped the operation.

Now, the disk shows the partition table (GPT) and the partitions from the original disk, but I can't wipe it. sgdisk, parted, even dd all do nothing. Here's what it looks like now:

Model: SAMSUNG 870 QVO (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name      Flags
 1      2097kB  524MB   522MB   fat32                  boot, esp
 2      524MB   4819MB  4295MB  fat32        recovery  msftdata
 3      4819MB  1996GB  1991GB
 4      1996GB  2000GB  4295MB                         swap

No change from after aborting the CloneZilla operation. I tried dd'ing the GPT from /dev/zero to wipe the partition table, but that shows no change, either. I tried to dd the whole drive, start to end, but it only ran at 2GB/hr. I'm guessing that's due to it running over USB 3, but that still seems quite slow. I even tried getting a new enclosure, and the rate is still too slow.

At this point, I'm not interested in cloning to it anymore. I'd rather just install an OS from scratch and copy my data over.

How can I wipe this drive? Is it FUBAR?

20
0 + 0
ssd
dd
gpt
Tom Yan avatar
in flag
Tom Yan
Almost sounds like it died at the very beginning / some point during the cloning process.
1
Reply
Appleoddity avatar
ng flag
Appleoddity
This is an SSD. Have you tried using the manufacturer’s tool (Samsung Magician) or another tool to perform a secure erase? It sounds like the drive may have gone in to read only mode - which indicates the drive has reached end of life (write limit), or is a catastrophic failure likely requiring RMA. In any case, Samsung Magician should be able to give better insight.
1
Reply
cn flag
TheBeege
I hope that's not the case, Tom :( But we'll see. It's an idea worth keeping mind. Thank you.
0
Reply
cn flag
TheBeege
I did not know about Samsung Magician. I'll look into that, thank you!
0
Reply
cn flag
TheBeege
You both were right. Drive is dead. I tried Samsung Magician, and it can't even pull the serial number. Secure Erase and all other features don't work. I'll see about RMA. Thanks again
0
Reply
ธงชาติไทย
Elon Musk
I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.