![]() ![]() The question is really about whether an ordinary person can realistically truly low-level reformat modern HDDs, not whether one can hack their innards to levels worthy of a DefCon paper :) I'm also assuming the user can pull off the PCB but doesn't have a clean room, and really doesn't want to dismantle anything if they can format using a software-only approach through usual SAS/SATA ports. I'm assuming that any firmware/flasher encryption keys are a non-issue but they might be a serious obstacle in reality. ![]() There's some "get-out" clauses I've got to mention, to make the question more focused: So my question is, can an end user these days truly low-level format a modern HDD? Meaning, rewrite the actual data tracks as if the disk platters were not already formatted and had no tracks or data whatsoever, and it works? I also mean realistically and outside a lab/production line - whether it can be done via software-only in a home or small-scale environment, is necessary software available that an average end-user would need. Maybe rewriting the tracks would only make the drive's parameters suboptimal rather than unusable. In which case perhaps the platters can be truly low level reformatted (because the physical components and parameters are unchanged once initially assessed/measured). Furthermore because two PCBs for the same model may not be interchangeable so possibly the issues go deeper. Also to improve yields, drives that are slightly sub-tolerance might have slightly different control parameters that don't push them so hard (so they can still be sold as intended). ![]() One reason for my doubt is that with modern drives, I'd be surprised if the original track write wasn't part of a larger process, where the data obtained is then fed into calibration and control parameters governing the details of head control for each platter and the unit as a whole, so that manufacturing variations in nanometer-scale electronics and head servos etc, or variations in the microcontroller or HDD firmware, result in internal parameters exactly suited to governing that specific drive. Manufacturers allow download of tools for their drives (such as Seagate's "seatools"), which can do something described as "low level formatting", but its not at all clear to me if this is simply a "lower level reformat" or a true low-level format. "Reformatting" usually just means clearing the user data content within the existing tracks/sectors (this includes wiping track 0, or "quick formatting"). As is well known, modern HDDs (think 4 to 8TB SAS/SATA) are low level formatted by the manufacturer before sale, ready to hold data. ![]()
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