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You should know already that you can do this on your own risk/responsibility. No guarantee that this will work in your case.
For removing the password lock you need a live linux cd/stick [I’ve done this using fedora 13 live cd]. Boot the linux and with hdparm -I /dev/sda you can see the security parameters:
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
enabled
locked
not frozen
not expired

Tested on western digital WDC WD2500YS:
you should read here about hdparm parameters.

hdparm --security-unlock WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCW /dev/sda
hdparm --security-disable WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCW /dev/sda

You should see smth like:
/dev/sda:
Issuing SECURITY_UNLOCK command, password="WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCW", user=master
/dev/sda:
Issuing SECURITY_DISABLE command, password="WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCW", user=master

after checking with hdparm -I /dev/sda: you should see:
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
not enabled
not locked
not frozen
not expired: security count

That means your hard drive is unlocked.

If you see smth like: expired: security count it means that you have tried more than 3 times invalid password and you should reset(power cicle) the drive.

This entry was posted by admin on September 17, 2010 at 2:43 pm under linux, security. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

12 Comments

  1. Dexter says:

    if i want to remove the password a external HD,
    What can i do?

    February 27, 2011, 8:53 pm

  2. Mojo1990 says:

    Are you suggesting WDC is the password to unlock drives?

    July 8, 2011, 9:15 pm

  3. toderu says:

    I have succesfully unlocked 2 drives with that password. since I don’t have feedback, I can’t tell you for sure.

    July 8, 2011, 10:48 pm

  4. Marcelo says:

    Any one knows the Default password for HITACHI HD?

    September 15, 2011, 7:36 pm

  5. RIgoberto says:

    hola donde consigo el live cd fedora porfa

    September 10, 2012, 8:49 pm

  7. fed says:

    if Master password revision code = 257. what can i do?

    November 6, 2012, 4:53 pm

  8. Lekgolo says:

    My WDC WD3200BJKT-75F4T0 does not accept this WDC… master password. I tried with hdparm (Windows version and one from within Ubuntu 10.04). It stays locked and gives SECURITY_UNLOCK: input/output error. What might be the problem as this drive is having church records.

    Please help

    February 21, 2013, 4:07 pm

  9. toderu says:

    maybe the drive is deffective? do you hear any unusual noises coming from the drive when you try to access it?

    February 21, 2013, 4:47 pm

  10. Lekgolo says:

    The drive is not defective as such as at closer look there is no unusual sound coming from it. It gives code 15579 after three unsuccesful login during POST on the original DELL XPS studio 1640. When I plug it on a FSC scenic I get code 00000. On DELL Latitude E6500 I get no code at all and it tries to boot to other bootable devices.

    What does this mean??

    May 4, 2013, 12:24 pm

  11. Bill says:

    its toast as far as repairing or unlocking the boot goes, but you should be able to retrieve data from it with it mounted in a docking station or internal connection to mobo as secondary drive, or external connected drive case eSATA or USB…

    December 28, 2014, 5:24 am

  12. daeimandal says:

    if i want create the password what can i do?

    January 19, 2015, 5:01 pm

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