# ATA master password with non-ascii characters

## qubix

Hi!

I just got a task at my workplace. I have a HDD with ATA master password that has a destroyed ext3 filesystem on it. I need to connect it to a linux box and try to fix it. The problem is that the ATA master password does not consist of printable characters. It's just a random string of hexes.

Hdparm allows only ascii chars as the ATA master password. Is there any other way I could feed the master password data to the kernel for the HDD to become accessible?

Tried googling with no sensible results.

Best regards

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## bombcar

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=78509

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## qubix

oh goodie. So there is no way other than doing that in the code of hdparm. Well... I'll get right to it then.

regs.

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