How to clear a drive encryption
Actually, 2 questions:
I have a separate, solid state drive that was encrypted when I first started using it. However, the encrypt key was changed and so I can't access the drive. Presently, I can neither mount nor clear the drive. Thus:
- How to best identify the drive so that I don't go and wipe out my / directory? I know the computer-drive are attempting to talk (I see the device busy light flashing) but I can't determine if the drive is mounted anywhere.
- What is the best way to remove the encryption? I was thinking of simply reformatting the drive.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
system
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
add a comment |
Actually, 2 questions:
I have a separate, solid state drive that was encrypted when I first started using it. However, the encrypt key was changed and so I can't access the drive. Presently, I can neither mount nor clear the drive. Thus:
- How to best identify the drive so that I don't go and wipe out my / directory? I know the computer-drive are attempting to talk (I see the device busy light flashing) but I can't determine if the drive is mounted anywhere.
- What is the best way to remove the encryption? I was thinking of simply reformatting the drive.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
system
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
add a comment |
Actually, 2 questions:
I have a separate, solid state drive that was encrypted when I first started using it. However, the encrypt key was changed and so I can't access the drive. Presently, I can neither mount nor clear the drive. Thus:
- How to best identify the drive so that I don't go and wipe out my / directory? I know the computer-drive are attempting to talk (I see the device busy light flashing) but I can't determine if the drive is mounted anywhere.
- What is the best way to remove the encryption? I was thinking of simply reformatting the drive.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
system
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
Actually, 2 questions:
I have a separate, solid state drive that was encrypted when I first started using it. However, the encrypt key was changed and so I can't access the drive. Presently, I can neither mount nor clear the drive. Thus:
- How to best identify the drive so that I don't go and wipe out my / directory? I know the computer-drive are attempting to talk (I see the device busy light flashing) but I can't determine if the drive is mounted anywhere.
- What is the best way to remove the encryption? I was thinking of simply reformatting the drive.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
system
system
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
asked Dec 28 '18 at 19:51
TerryDex
11
11
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
You generally have two kinds of drive encryption:
- Native drive encryption (e.g. drive it self receives clear text and encrypts it)
- Operating system encryption.
Drive encryption.
This is typically described as hardware encryption. The drive receives the key, and caches it. All crypto operations are performed by the drive. If this is the case for your drive, you may be able to use hdparm to issue a secure erase to the drive, or reset it in some fashion.
Operating system level encryption.
This is the default used by the Ubuntu installer. The operating system is performing the encryption, and encrypted data is sent to the drive. The crypto operations are performed by the CPU in the computer, not by the disk.
As this is the common for Ubuntu, I'm assuming this is what you have. In this case, you can simply delete the offending partition, and create new partitions.
This can be done using gparted. Simply run pkexec gparted /dev/sdX where /dev/sdX is the device in question. Select the partition, select Delete, create a new one, and apply the action to the device. This will remove the old partition, and create a new one in its place.
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "89"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1105202%2fhow-to-clear-a-drive-encryption%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
You generally have two kinds of drive encryption:
- Native drive encryption (e.g. drive it self receives clear text and encrypts it)
- Operating system encryption.
Drive encryption.
This is typically described as hardware encryption. The drive receives the key, and caches it. All crypto operations are performed by the drive. If this is the case for your drive, you may be able to use hdparm to issue a secure erase to the drive, or reset it in some fashion.
Operating system level encryption.
This is the default used by the Ubuntu installer. The operating system is performing the encryption, and encrypted data is sent to the drive. The crypto operations are performed by the CPU in the computer, not by the disk.
As this is the common for Ubuntu, I'm assuming this is what you have. In this case, you can simply delete the offending partition, and create new partitions.
This can be done using gparted. Simply run pkexec gparted /dev/sdX where /dev/sdX is the device in question. Select the partition, select Delete, create a new one, and apply the action to the device. This will remove the old partition, and create a new one in its place.
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
add a comment |
You generally have two kinds of drive encryption:
- Native drive encryption (e.g. drive it self receives clear text and encrypts it)
- Operating system encryption.
Drive encryption.
This is typically described as hardware encryption. The drive receives the key, and caches it. All crypto operations are performed by the drive. If this is the case for your drive, you may be able to use hdparm to issue a secure erase to the drive, or reset it in some fashion.
Operating system level encryption.
This is the default used by the Ubuntu installer. The operating system is performing the encryption, and encrypted data is sent to the drive. The crypto operations are performed by the CPU in the computer, not by the disk.
As this is the common for Ubuntu, I'm assuming this is what you have. In this case, you can simply delete the offending partition, and create new partitions.
This can be done using gparted. Simply run pkexec gparted /dev/sdX where /dev/sdX is the device in question. Select the partition, select Delete, create a new one, and apply the action to the device. This will remove the old partition, and create a new one in its place.
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
add a comment |
You generally have two kinds of drive encryption:
- Native drive encryption (e.g. drive it self receives clear text and encrypts it)
- Operating system encryption.
Drive encryption.
This is typically described as hardware encryption. The drive receives the key, and caches it. All crypto operations are performed by the drive. If this is the case for your drive, you may be able to use hdparm to issue a secure erase to the drive, or reset it in some fashion.
Operating system level encryption.
This is the default used by the Ubuntu installer. The operating system is performing the encryption, and encrypted data is sent to the drive. The crypto operations are performed by the CPU in the computer, not by the disk.
As this is the common for Ubuntu, I'm assuming this is what you have. In this case, you can simply delete the offending partition, and create new partitions.
This can be done using gparted. Simply run pkexec gparted /dev/sdX where /dev/sdX is the device in question. Select the partition, select Delete, create a new one, and apply the action to the device. This will remove the old partition, and create a new one in its place.
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
You generally have two kinds of drive encryption:
- Native drive encryption (e.g. drive it self receives clear text and encrypts it)
- Operating system encryption.
Drive encryption.
This is typically described as hardware encryption. The drive receives the key, and caches it. All crypto operations are performed by the drive. If this is the case for your drive, you may be able to use hdparm to issue a secure erase to the drive, or reset it in some fashion.
Operating system level encryption.
This is the default used by the Ubuntu installer. The operating system is performing the encryption, and encrypted data is sent to the drive. The crypto operations are performed by the CPU in the computer, not by the disk.
As this is the common for Ubuntu, I'm assuming this is what you have. In this case, you can simply delete the offending partition, and create new partitions.
This can be done using gparted. Simply run pkexec gparted /dev/sdX where /dev/sdX is the device in question. Select the partition, select Delete, create a new one, and apply the action to the device. This will remove the old partition, and create a new one in its place.
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
answered Dec 28 '18 at 21:42
vidarlo
9,17442444
9,17442444
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
add a comment |
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
Thank you. How do I go about mounting the drive when it doesn't show up in /dev or /usr/dev?
– TerryDex
Dec 29 '18 at 23:01
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Ask Ubuntu!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.
Please pay close attention to the following guidance:
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1105202%2fhow-to-clear-a-drive-encryption%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
