[SOLVED] How to safely clear off SSD without hooking up to new laptop?

[dolokhov]

I have an old internal SSD I was thinking about hooking up to my laptop for some extra storage when docked. It's an internal SSD, and it was used with my old gaming PC.

However, I used to...borrow...movies and shows back in the day, and was not overly cautious about threats to security. Is there a way to wipe this SSD without ever having it open to my current laptop, which I've been much more cautious with? Or am I better off just buying an external SSD?

 

[howtobeironic]

You do need to connect it somewhere to reset it, be it a computer or a disk eraser dock (see: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Hard-Drive-Eraser-SDOCK1EU3P/dp/B011NLY9FQ) The latter allows you to nuke a drive without ever hooking it to a computer, but I doubt you'd want to spend 220 USD for an one off job.

However, you have another option. You can write Ubuntu live ISO on a USB drive, boot from it, (the live USB does not mount internal disks by itself, but you can use the Disks app to check/mount/unmount drives. A drive by logic cannot be read or written without being mounted so as long as you have the main drives unmounted, you should be alright.), then use your preferred way (delete partitions from gparted for quick solution, or use hdparm for sanitizing the drive, both have very comprehensive guides) to get rid of the data. Then you turn the PC off, format the Ubuntu pendrive, and you're done.

If you need help at any part, just ask away.