Erasure fails due to Erasure target is offline

Problem

Erasure status is Not Erased and additional information of the erasure is "Erasure Target is offline".

The issue has been seen with following computers and drives.

Cause

Possible cause of "Erasure target is offline" issue might be a firmware based erasure command which is executed on the drive during the erasure. The target drive or the machine reacts to the firmware command by disconnecting the drive that fails the erasure.

Resolution

Possible workarounds:

• Reboot the device and erase with an erasure standard which performs an overwriting process such as Aperiodic Random Overwrite (Clear-level erasure)
• Update disk firmware  (If update available)
• Update computers BIOS (If update available)

Firmware based erasure commands are executed on a drive when one of the below erasure standards is being used or any of the mentioned "Erasure Options" are configured to be enabled:

• Erasure Standards:
  • Blancco SSD Erasure
  • NIST 800-88 Purge
  • NIST 800-88 Clear
  • BSI-2011-VS
  • BSI-GS
  • BSI-GSE
  • Cryptographic Erasure
  • TCG Cryptographic Erasure
• Erasure Options:
  • Remove Hidden Areas
  • Erase Remapped Sectors

More information for the erasure standards can be found within the Blancco Drive Eraser manual.

In situations where the erasure has failed due to the "Erasure target is offline" issue, Blancco would appreciate the following in order to get closer to a fix.

• Collect an issue report right after the erasure has failed with the "Erasure target is offline" message. The issue report should then be collected before shutting down or rebooting the machine.
• Contact the Blancco Support Team if you are able to send the machine for further investigation and testing.
• Contact the Blancco Support Team if you are able to allow a remote connection for investigation and testing.