> D-BAN is great for Windoze and Linux (my boyfriend has it for his Linux > boxes). However, OS X's Disk Utility offers -- if you click"Options" > after you select "Erase" -- "Zero Out," which writes zeroes all over the > disk, plus two more called 7-Pass Erase and 35-Pass Erase, which write > data to the drive 7 and 35 times, respectively. To the best of my > knowledge, the 35-Pass Erase is D-BAN equivalent. The 35-Pass Erase also > takes half a century (er, well, you know what I mean). However, if I was > going to sell my hard drives, I would definitely 35-Pass erase them > first. When I get a "new" used HD, I do a "blind" (just run, don't look) > 7-Pass erase on it before formatting for my own use. I'd do the 35 in > this case too, but it really does take a long time, and, not only do I > not look on the "new" drive first, well whatever might be on it, it's > not MY data! So I personally only recommend the 35 if you're planning to > SELL the drive to someone else. Not everybody chooses to be as "blind" > as I do.
Two things: 1: DBAN is Linux. There exists an ISO for PPC, although I think it's still beta. http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/dban/dban-2.0.0/dban-2.0.0_powerpc.iso/download Still Linux but you don't need to remove the drive from a Mac to wipe it. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried the PPC flavor as my G5 is still in service.) 2: I can't believe Apple put that in their software - there is *no need* to run Gutmann's 35-pass wipe from any tool on any drive you can put in a Mac, even ones with a Motorola 68k processor. That 35 passes is a theoretical "I don't know the storage technology" and it only applies for drive storage standards that pre-date disks that talk SCSI. The idea is that the sum of the passes will ensure that all the bits get switched at least twice regardless of any encoding or compression technology used by RLL or MFM disks etc. - things Macs have never used. My policy: Redeployment - quick erase (same as dd if=/dev/zero of=<disk>) Disposal / failed, no private keys on device: DOD-short (3-pass) Private keys on disk: DOD-full (7-pass) -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
