iStorage Datashure SSD User Manual

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User Manual

Remember to save your PIN in a safe place. If lost or forgotten, there is no way to access the
datAshur SSD.

If you are having difficulty using the datAshur SSD, please contact our technical support department on [phone]
(Mon-Fri | 09:00 - 17:30 GMT) or email [e-mail].

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All trademarks and brand names are the
property of their respective owners.

Copyright © iStorage, 2015. All rights reserved.

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.

Distribution of the work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial purposes is prohibited unless
prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED AS IS AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES,
INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT,
ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.

iStorage shall not be liable by virtue of this warranty, or otherwise, for any incidental, special or consequential damage
including any loss of data resulting from use or operation of the product, whether or not iStorage was apprised of the
possibility of such damages.

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Table of Contents

About the iStorage datAshur SSD .................................................................................................... 4

1. How to create the Admin PIN .................................................................................................... 5

2. LED indicators and their actions ................................................................................................ 5

3. Waking the datAshur SSD ......................................................................................................... 6

4. Unlocking the datAshur SSD ..................................................................................................... 6

5. Locking the datAshur SSD ........................................................................................................ 6

6. Admin Mode ............................................................................................................................. 6

7. Adding a new User PIN ............................................................................................................. 7

8. Deleting the User PIN ................................................................................................................ 7

9. Changing the User PIN .............................................................................................................. 7

10. Changing the Admin PIN ........................................................................................................... 8

11. Setting Read-Only or Read/Write modes from Admin Mode ..................................................... 8

12. Setting Read-Only or Read/Write modes from the User Mode ................................................... 9

13. Setting the Unattended Auto-Lock Feature .............................................................................. 10

14. Setting a Self-Destruct PIN ......................................................................................................11

15. datAshur SSD Brute Force Protection ......................................................................................12

16. Performing a Complete Reset ...................................................................................................13

17. Initializing and Formatting datAshur SSD after a complete reset ............................................... 14

18. Hibernating, Suspending or Logging Off from the OS .............................................................. 15

19. datAshur SSD Setup for Mac OS .............................................................................................. 15

20. Diagnostic Mode ...................................................................................................................... 16

21. Lock-Override Mode ................................................................................................................ 17

22. Booting from the datAshur SSD ................................................................................................ 17

23. Troubleshooting ....................................................................................................................... 18

24. Technical Support .................................................................................................................... 20

25. Warranty and RMA information ................................................................................................ 20

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About the iStorage datAshur SSD

3

12

UNLOCK button

LOCK button

LED Indicator lights

First Time Use

The datAshur SSD

®

is shipped without a preset Personal Identification
Number (PIN) installed. A 7 to 16 digit Admin PIN must be created before
the datAshur SSD can be used.

PIN REQUIREMENTS:

PINs must be a minimum length of 7 and maximum 16 digits
Cannot contain all consecutive numbers (2345678 or 9876543)
Cannot contain all of the same number (i.e. 1111111)

NOTE:

The drive comes preformatted with NTFS file system for Windows. For Mac,
Linux or Android, please refer to your OS formatting requirements or this
manual.

BATTERY NOTE:

The datAshur SSD has an internal rechargeable battery with a smart
charging circuit. For safety, each datAshur SSD ships with a partial charge.
Although the drive can be used out of the box, we recommend plugging the
datAshur SSD into a powered USB port for 80 minutes to fully charge.

The battery will automatically charge when the drive is inserted into a
powered USB port, regardless of its operational mode. In standby mode, the

RED LED fades in and out slowly to indicate charging and glows solid RED

to indicate that it’s fully charged.

If the battery is completely discharged, the datAshur SSD will go through
a self-test (indicated by a RED, GREEN, and BLUE LED sequence) when
inserted into a USB port.

This Admin PIN is used to access the datAshur SSD and set the Admin
mode features of the drive.

Note: It’s normal for this device to be warm to the touch during use.

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1. How to create the Admin PIN

2. LED indicators and their actions

The datAshur SSD is shipped without a preset Personal Identification Number (PIN) installed. A 7 to 16-digit Admin PIN
must be created before the datAshur SSD can be used. This Admin PIN can be used to set any and all of the Admin Mode
Features of the datAshur SSD, as well as to access the datAshur SSD’s data.

To Create the Admin PIN:

1. Wake up the datAshur SSD by pressing the UNLOCK button, both the
BLUE and GREEN LEDs will be solid

2. Press UNLOCK + the number 9 button at the same time. The BLUE LED will be solid and
the GREEN LED will blink.

3. Enter your Admin PIN and press the UNLOCK button.
If the PIN meets the requirements the GREEN LED will blink three times.

Should the PIN NOT meet the requirements, the RED LED will blink three times, before
returning to solid BLUE and blinking GREEN (restart from step 3).

4. Re-enter the Admin PIN and press the UNLOCK button again. The GREEN LED will
illuminate for one second, followed by a solid BLUE LED.
Should the PINs NOT match, the RED LED will blink three times, before returning to a solid

BLUE and blinking GREEN (restart from step 3).

5. The datAshur SSD is now in Admin mode (solid BLUE LED) and other Admin features can be
set. (I.e. adding a User)

6. To exit the Admin mode, press the LOCK button. The drive will return to the locked standby
state. If no action is taken within 30 seconds, the drive will return to a locked sleep state.

Note: The GREEN LED will blink if PIN is accepted; If the PIN is NOT accepted,

the RED LED will blink, and you will need to return to step 3 to resume the Admin PIN setup process.
PINs must be a minimum of 7 digits and a maximum of 16 digits.

Cannot contain all consecutive numbers (2345678 or 9876543)
Cannot contain all of the same number (i.e. 1111111)

Slow Fading RED Battery charging (when plugged into USB port)

No LEDs datAshur SSD locked and asleep

Blinking RED Error / incorrect key entry; Mode Not Available;

User PIN Change

Solid RED Locked / Standby state; Awaiting PIN entry

Blinking GREEN PIN entry accepted

Solid BLUE /
Blinking GREEN

Waiting for New User / Admin PIN

Solid BLUE Admin Mode

Solid GREEN datAshur SSD unlocked

Alternating

RED / BLUE

Indicates a mode has been entered that can
result in the deletion of a User or the data on the
datAshur SSD (depending on the mode chosen.)
Also used when setting Auto-lock feature.

One second RED
followed by one
second GREEN
followed by one
second BLUE

Self-test mode to ensure all components are
ready and working properly

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3. Waking the datAshur SSD

When the datAshur SSD is not in use, it will enter a sleep state. While in this state, the datAshur SSD is locked and cannot
be accessed.

To wake the datAshur SSD so it can accept keypad inputs, press the UNLOCK button once. The RED LED will be solid
(standby state.)

Note: If the datAshur SSD has never been used, the BLUE and GREEN LED‘s will be solid indicating

that the Admin PIN must be set before the datAshur SSD can be used.

4. Unlocking the datAshur SSD

1. Press the UNLOCK button to wake the datAshur SSD from sleep (as described above) the RED LED will be solid.

2. Enter either a User PIN or Admin PIN and press the UNLOCK button. If the PIN is accepted, the GREEN LED will
rapidly blink three times, then will slow down to one blink per second until it’s plugged in to a USB port at which time it
will turn to a solid GREEN LED. (If the PIN is incorrect, the LED will blink RED.)

3. A blinking GREEN LED indicates that the datAshur SSD is unlocked and ready for use. The datAshur SSD is now ready
to plug into a USB port for use. If it is not plugged into a USB port within 30 seconds, the datAshur SSD will lock and
return to sleep state.

5. Locking the datAshur SSD

Press the LOCK button. When successfully locked, The LED will turn solid RED indicating that it’s in standby state.
The datAshur SSD will not be recognized by the operating system in the standby state.

Note: If data is still being written to the drive, the datAshur SSD will wait until that operation is completed

and then it will lock automatically.

To set up any of the datAshur SSD’s Admin functions, the Admin mode must first be entered. Once in the Admin mode, the
desired function of the datAshur SSD can be accessed. While in the Admin mode, the data on the datAshur SSD will not be
accessible and only the Admin functions can be modified.

Prior to your first use of the datAshur SSD, you must first set an Admin PIN. Immediately after setting up your Admin PIN,
you may then continue setting up other functions. If you do nothing for a period of 30 seconds, the datAshur SSD will revert
to its standby state.

To re-enter the Admin mode, perform the following steps below.

1. Press and hold UNLOCK + the number 0 button for five seconds until the LED blinks RED. (This indicates that you can
enter the Admin PIN.)

2. Enter the Admin PIN and press the UNLOCK button.

3. The Admin Mode is indicated by a solid BLUE LED.

4. To exit Admin Mode, either allow 30 seconds of inactivity or press the LOCK button.

6. Admin Mode

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7. Adding a new User PIN

The datAshur SSD can have one Admin PIN and one User PIN, making a total of two working PINs. Adding a User is a
perfect way to securely share the datAshur SSD or deploy it for use where the User does not require access to the Admin
features.

While the User has limited functionality and no Admin rights to the datAshur SSD, they can still access the datAshur SSD’s
data, change their PIN, and set the datAshur SSD to Read Only or Read / Write modes.

To add a new User PIN:

1. Enter the Admin Mode by holding UNLOCK + the number 0 button for five seconds; With the RED LED blinking, enter
the Admin PIN and press the UNLOCK button. The LED will be solid BLUE.

2. Press and hold UNLOCK + the number 1 button until the BLUE LED glows solid and the GREEN LED starts blinking.

3. Enter the User PIN and press UNLOCK the LED will blink GREEN three times, then return to solid BLUE LED and
blinking GREEN.
Should the PIN NOT meet the requirements, the RED LED will blink three times, before returning to solid BLUE and

blinking GREEN (restart from step 3).

4. Re-enter the same User PIN and press UNLOCK. To verify the User PIN was successfully added, the GREEN LED will
be solid for three seconds and then a solid BLUE LED, indicating that the datAshur SSD has returned to the Admin
mode.
Should the PINs NOT match, the RED LED will blink three times, before returning to a solid BLUE and blinking GREEN

(restart from step 3).

8. Deleting the User PIN

You can delete the User PIN by doing the following:

1. Enter the Admin mode. (Hold UNLOCK + the number 0 button for five seconds – with the LED blinking RED, enter the
Admin PIN and press the UNLOCK button.) The LED will now turn solid BLUE.

2. Press and hold the buttons 7 + 8 for five seconds. The GREEN LED will blink three times then the RED and BLUE
LEDs will blink alternately.

3. Press and hold the buttons 7 + 8 again for five seconds. The GREEN LED will be solid for two seconds.

4. The datAshur SSD will return to Admin mode indicated by the solid BLUE LED.

Note: Deleting the User PIN will also delete the Self-Destruct PIN (if it has been set.)

9. Changing the User PIN

The User PIN can be changed within the User mode (datAshur SSD unlocked, GREEN LED blinking.)

Note: The Admin PIN cannot be changed while in the User mode. The Admin PIN can only be changed

from within the Admin mode.

Note: Adding a User PIN can only be done within the Admin mode.

Note: The GREEN LED will blink if the PIN is accepted; If the PIN is NOT accepted,

the RED LED will blink and you will need to resume the User PIN setup process.
PINs must be a minimum of 7 digits and a maximum of 16 digits.
Cannot contain all consecutive numbers (2345678 or 9876543)
Cannot contain all of the same number (i.e. 1111111)