4286 error when executing nvme format

[volsa]

Hi,

I recently was experiencing performance issues so I thought I'd try nvme-cli. Having read the docs I executed the command sudo nvme format /dev/nvme0n1 without any success. I am getting the following error:

NVME Admin command error:ACCESS_DENIED: Access to the namespace and/or LBA range is denied due to lack of access rights(4286)

# nvme id-ctrl /dev/nvme0n1 outputs the following model name LENSE20512GMSP34MEAT2TA which apparently is a NVMe device created by Lenovo?
Anyways, is there any solutions to execute the command?

Thanks in advance :)

[keithbusch]

Sounds like your device has a security feature that's locked the drive. Unfortunately security implementation is vendor specific (or at least not defined by NVMe), so nvme-cli doesn't have device specific unlocking capabilities.

[volsa]

Thanks for the reply! So I checked if there is any option in the BIOS to "unlock" the drive but I was unsuccessful. After doing some research I finally stumbled upon the Thinkpad Drive Erase Utility so I guess you're right. For anybody with the same issue (Thinkpad specific), just check out the link! I'll test this today and report back. In any case I guess the issue is solved / closed?

[volsa]

So I erased all contents of my drive with the Thinkpad Drive Erase Utility and the performance is indeed better than before. Too bad nvme-cli couldn't be executed but the issue is solved.

[pitrk]

If you have a Lenovo E590 with similar problem and Thinkpad Drive Erase utility does not support your laptop, go to BIOS and run Secure Wipe.

[tomty89]

[Hope you don't mind me spreading the possible solution]
See #816 (comment)

[bughunter2]

As mentioned by tomty89, a possible solution may be to suspend/resume your computer.
If you're using a console in a Linux live or rescue environment, that boils down to:
echo mem | sudo tee /sys/power/state
Afterwards you might be able to use 'nvme format' successfully.