Darik’s Boot and Nuke DBAN - Stuck on PCI (sysfs)

Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is a utility to securely wipe media hardware – typically hard drives. The utility is used mostly with Windows based systems as it provides a bootable ISO that can be run from USB or a CD.

From DBAN’s website:

DBAN is free erasure software designed for the home user. It automatically deletes the contents of any hard disk that it can detect. This method prevents identity theft before recycling a computer. DBAN is also a commonly used solution to remove viruses and spyware from Microsoft Windows installations.

In this case, sometimes DBAN will get hung on legacy systems when performing a hardware check as part of wiping. DBAN follows a specific order before committing to a wipe process. You may get stuck on the infamous “PCI (sysfs)” message.

Waiting For USB Devices to Register…………..Done

PCI (sysfs)…….

To fix this, reboot your machine and get into the BIOS (Typically F8). In BIOS, turn off all onboard ports including 1394 port, media card readers, audio ports, and USB if you can. Sometimes DBAN won’t recognize a driver it’s trying to load for it’s process to wipe. Typically in most cases, this is a legacy Media Card reader.

Save the BIOS settings, reboot from DBAN media, and try the wipe again. It should get further and complete a successful wipe for you. Let us know if you experience an issue!