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Protecting Your Digital Assets
TM
CRU WiebeTech Drive eRazer Ultra User Manual
WHY DOES THE USB CONNECTOR LOOK LIKE USB 3.0 BUT THE DOCUMENTATION SAYS
IT’S USB 2.0?
The Drive eRazer Ultra uses a USB 3.0 style connector because it shares a form factor and many parts with
another product. However, the controller chip that drives the Drive eRazer Ultra’s USB connection supports
USB 2.0 only. The port can be used with either USB 2.0 or 3.0 type cables and with either USB 2.0 or 3.0
hosts, but it will operate at USB 2.0 speed. The intended purposes of the port are the previewing of a drive
and firmware upgrading, rather than for lengthy data transfers. For these two purposes USB 2.0 speed is
sufficient.
CAN I SWITCH DRIVES OR ATTACH A HARD DRIVE WHEN THE UNIT IS TURNED ON?
This is not recommended, because it could cause an electrical short that could damage the Drive eRazer
ultra or the drive.
Q: WILL MY DRIVE ERAZER ULTRA WORK WITH A SOLID STATE DRIVE (SSD)?
Short answer: SSDs erased by the Drive eRazer Ultra in any mode would be safe from casual data retrieval
attempts, but for very sensitive data the only way to guarantee security is to physically destroy the drive.
Longer answer: With SSDs, the host (such a computer or a Drive eRazer Ultra) does not have direct access
to the sectors on the drive. There is therefore no way to guarantee that a command to erase a given sector
will actually erase that sector.
The SSD’s controller may instead remap that physical sector to a new logical sector, leaving the data intact
but inaccessible. Even a full overwrite of a SSD may therefore not result in a fully wiped drive. However, the
data remaining on the drive would not be accessible via normal means. Recovering such data would require
removing the actual flash chips from the SSD’s circuit board and accessing them with special equipment and
software tools.
Secure Erase modes offer the best chance of fully erasing an SSD because they use the drive’s built-in
erasing function. Secure Erase is defined by the ATA specification and requires drives to fully erase all user
accessible data areas when the command is received. The Enhanced version also erases any data within
HPA or DCO areas. However, at least one study has shown that some SSD manufacturers did not correctly
implement this portion of the ATA specification. So, while most SSDs will be erased fully by Secure Erase,
some may not. If you know that a particular SSD model correctly implements Secure Erase modes per the
ATA spec, these modes can erase the SSD completely. If you’re unsure, you should assume that data frag
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ments could remain.
MY DRIVE ERAZER ULTRA SHOWS “WRITE CMD ERROR” ON THE LCD AND THE ERASE
HAS STOPPED PROGRESSING. WHAT DO I DO NEXT?
This message means that the drive reported an error when attempting to execute a write command sent
to it by the Drive eRazer Ultra. Several things can cause such an error, such as a bad block on the drive, or a
poor physical connection between the Drive eRazer Ultra and the drive. It may occur if the drive or dock is
moved or bumped during the erase process. This is an unrecoverable error (indicated by the lighting of the
Red “Error” LED).
The next step is to turn off the Drive eRazer Ultra’s power. If you like, you can turn the Drive eRazer Ultra
back on and attempt to erase the drive again. A bad block is not always 100% bad, so sometimes a block
that fails to be overwritten on one attempt will succeed on the next try. Make sure the cables connecting
