Unlock SSD – How to Unlock an SSD Disk with hdparm

hard drivelinuxphysical-securitysata

I have an SSD disk with password protection, but the password was lost long time ago… so I tried to erase the ATA security with the hdparm command.

With "hdparm -I", the disk information looks interesting as below:

root@ubuntu:~# hdparm -I /dev/sda

/dev/sda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
    Model Number:       TX21B10400GE8001                        
    Serial Number:      FG002VTA
    Firmware Revision:  PRO6F515
    Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
...........................
Commands/features:
    Enabled Supported:
       *    SMART feature set
            Security Mode feature set
...........................
Security: 
    Master password revision code = 65534
        supported
    not enabled
        locked
    not frozen
    not expired: security count
        supported: enhanced erase
    2min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 2min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 50011731001636dc
    NAA     : 5
    IEEE OUI    : 001173
    Unique ID   : 1001636dc
Checksum: correct

As you can see, the disk is in the security locked state, and it doesn't support hdparm security mode feature.

When use the security unlock command on this disk, the results are as below:

root@ubuntu:~# hdparm --user-master u --security-unlock 123456 /dev/sda
security_password="123456"

/dev/sda:
 Issuing SECURITY_UNLOCK command, password="123456", user=user
SECURITY_UNLOCK: Input/output error

I'm wondering if there is any other way to unlock this SSD disk and remove the password?

Best Answer

I was able to get this to work on my Western Digital WD20EURS. After piecing together tips from all over Google, I was able to get a master password, research the commands of hdparm, and use your example in your original question to resolve my issue. Maybe this will help you too.

First off, I found a list of master passwords for various brands of drives.

Here are two locations, (replaced with Web Archive versions to avoid link rot)

My method:

  • Used ESCAPE to cancel Bios HD password request.
  • Booted into CentOS7 CLI (previously installed yum install hdparm)
  • Command hdparm -I /dev/sda to check if drive was "locked" ( -I is capital i )
  • Command hdparm --user-master m --security-unlock PASS /dev/sda
    • m = using master password
    • PASS = for me, typing 'WDC' ten times, with a finishing 'W'
      • found this password in the links listed above
  • Command hdparm -I /dev/sda again ( -I is capital i ). This time the drive showed "not locked" (at which I hesitantly rejoiced)
  • Command hdparm --user-master m --security-disable PASS /dev/sda
    • This should disable the password on the hard drive and allow you to boot without needing a password next time.
  • Then I put the drive back into my Windows machine. I was able to see all the partitions in the drive, erase them, and use this new drive!
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