JP5193018B2 - Information processing apparatus, head withdrawal method for information processing apparatus, and computer-executable program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a head retracting method of the information processing apparatus, and a computer-executable program, and more specifically, a main body side casing, and a main body side casing that can be opened and closed, and The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including a monitor-side casing having a monitor and having a head-use recording apparatus built in or attached thereto, a head retracting method of the information processing apparatus, and a program executable by a computer.

  A hard disk device (hereinafter referred to as “HDD”) is a magnetic recording device used for storing information. Normally, information is recorded on concentric tracks on one side of one or more magnetic recording disks. The disk is rotatably supported by a spindle motor. Information is written to and read from the track by a recording / reproducing head (hereinafter referred to as “head”) provided in the actuator arm. The actuator arm is rotated by a voice coil motor. The voice coil motor is excited by current to rotate the actuator and move the recording / reproducing head. The head senses a magnetic change emitted from the surface of the disk and reads information recorded on the disk surface. In order to record data on the track, current is supplied to the head. The current supplied to the head generates a magnetic field that magnetizes the disk surface. Such HDDs are widely installed in notebook information processing apparatuses.

  Even among HDD failures, a so-called mechanical shock failure, in which a head collides with a disk due to an external impact during the operation of the HDD and the disk is damaged, resulting in an error in reading data, has occurred frequently. For example, in a notebook PC, a mechanical failure of the HDD frequently occurs when the notebook PC is shocked or moved during the operation of the HDD. Here, there is no problem if the notebook PC is moved after the power is turned off. However, if the notebook PC is moved before completely shifting to the suspend mode, a mechanical failure of the HDD may occur. .

  In a notebook PC, it is common to move to a suspend mode when the monitor-side casing is closed. Suspend (also referred to as “standby”) refers to a state in which power consumption is reduced while preserving the working state. In this suspended state, the HDD has evacuated the head to the retreat area, and the HDD is also turned off. .

  In suspend, since the head is retracted to the retract area, there is no problem when the notebook PC is moved after completely entering the suspend mode. However, the time when the suspend request is detected is just before the monitor-side housing is completely closed, and it takes a certain amount of time to completely enter the suspend mode. In some cases, the HDD is in an operating state. When the closing operation of the monitor-side casing is completed in a state where the state is not shifted to the suspended state, the head may collide with the disk due to the impact caused by the collision between the monitor-side casing and the main body, and the disk may be damaged. At this time, if the notebook PC is moved to move, an operation shock is applied to the HDD, so that the head may collide with the disk and the disk may be damaged. As a method of detecting the closing angle of the monitor-side housing, a method using an angle sensor is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

JP 11-338575 A JP 2006-163459 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in an information processing apparatus that shifts to a standby state in conjunction with a closing operation of a monitor-side housing, a failure due to a collision between a head and a disk of a head-use recording apparatus is disclosed. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of preventing the problem, a head withdrawal method for the information processing apparatus, and a computer-executable program.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes a main body-side housing, and a monitor-side housing that can be opened and closed with respect to the main body-side housing and has a monitor. In an information processing apparatus in which a head-use type recording apparatus can be built in or mounted, an angle sensor that detects an opening angle between the monitor-side casing and the main body-side casing, power management is controlled, and standby Power mode control means for executing transition to a state, etc .; determination means for determining movement and position of the monitor-side casing based on the detection result of the angle sensor; and head retraction in the head-use recording apparatus An instruction means for instructing, and when the monitor-side casing enters a predetermined area, the determination means outputs a request to shift to the standby state to the power mode control means, The instruction means is instructed to retract the head, and the power mode control means starts the transition to the standby state when there is a request for transition to the standby state. When instructed, the head use type recording apparatus is caused to retract the head before the closing operation of the monitor side casing is completed.

  Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the power mode control unit completes the transition to the standby state immediately after the head retraction of the rotary recording medium is completed.

  Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, when the instruction means is instructed to retract the head, the instruction means temporarily retracts the head on the rotary recording medium before the closing operation of the monitor side housing is completed. The determination unit permits the power mode control unit to access the head-use recording apparatus when the closing operation of the monitor-side casing is completed, and the power mode control unit When the access is permitted, it is desirable that the head-use recording apparatus is accessed necessary for the transition to the standby state to complete the transition to the standby state.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the head-use recording apparatus is a hard disk.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the standby state is suspend.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a main body side housing, and a monitor side housing that is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body side housing and has a monitor. In a method of retracting a head of an information processing apparatus that can incorporate or mount a head-use recording apparatus,
A step of determining a movement and position of the monitor-side housing based on a detection result of an angle sensor that detects an opening angle between the monitor-side housing and the main body-side housing; and A means for outputting a request to shift to the standby state to the power mode control means when the monitor side housing enters a predetermined area, and instructing the instruction means to retract the head; and the power mode control. Means for starting transition to the standby state when there is a request for transition to the standby state; and when the instruction means is instructed to retract the head, the monitor side housing is closed. And a step of causing the head-use recording apparatus to retract the head before the operation is completed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a main body side housing, and a monitor side housing that is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body side housing and has a monitor. An angle sensor in which a determination means detects an opening angle between the monitor-side casing and the main body-side casing. A step of determining the movement and position of the monitor-side housing based on the detection result, and the determination means powers the request for transition to the standby state when the monitor-side housing enters a predetermined area. A step of outputting to the mode control means and instructing the instruction means to retract the head; and a step of starting the transition to the standby state when the power mode control means has requested to shift to the standby state When And a step of causing the computer to execute the step of retracting the head using the head-type recording apparatus before the closing operation of the monitor-side casing is completed when the instruction unit is instructed to retract the head. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, a main body side housing and a monitor side housing that is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body side housing and includes a monitor can be incorporated or mounted. In the information processing apparatus, an angle sensor that detects an opening angle between the monitor-side casing and the main body-side casing, and a power mode control unit that controls power management and performs transition to a standby state or the like Determination means for determining the movement and position of the monitor-side housing based on the detection result of the angle sensor, and instruction means for instructing the head-use recording apparatus to retract the head. The means outputs a request for shifting to the standby state to the power mode control means when the monitor-side casing enters a predetermined area, and instructs the instruction means to retract the head, The power mode control means starts the transition to the standby state when there is a request for transition to the standby state, and the instruction means, when instructed to retract the head, In the information processing apparatus that shifts to a standby state in conjunction with the closing operation of the monitor-side housing, the head use recording apparatus is configured to cause the head-use recording device to retract the head before the closing operation is completed. There is an effect that it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus capable of preventing a failure due to a collision between a head of a type recording apparatus and a disk.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In addition, constituent elements in the following embodiments include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art or that are substantially the same.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a notebook PC to which the information processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the notebook PC 1 includes a main body side housing 2 and a monitor side housing 3 which are substantially rectangular parallelepipeds. The main body side housing 2 includes a keyboard, a pointing device, an HDD (not shown) (see FIG. 2), and the like. The monitor side housing 3 includes a monitor 18. Furthermore, the main body side housing 2 and the monitor side housing 3 are connected to each other by a pair of left and right connecting portions (hinge portions) 4 at their respective end portions, and the connecting portion 4 can freely open and close these housings. I support it. One connecting portion 4 is provided with an angle sensor 60 (not shown) (see FIG. 2) for detecting the angle between the main body side housing 2 and the monitor side housing 3.

  Generally, when the display-side housing 3 is closed, the mode is changed to the suspend mode. As described above, since the timing for detecting the suspend request is immediately before the monitor side housing 3 is completely closed, it takes a certain time to completely enter the suspend mode. The HDD may be in an operating state. When the monitor-side housing 3 is closed or the notebook PC is moved while the HDD is in operation, an operation shock is applied to the HDD, causing the head and the disk to collide, resulting in a failure of the HDD.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the angle sensor 60 is provided in the connecting portion 4 between the monitor-side casing 3 and the main body-side casing 2 to detect the movement and position of the monitor-side casing 3 and monitor-side casing 3. Is predicted, and the head of the HDD is retracted until the monitor-side housing 3 is closed. As a result, even if an impact due to movement or the like is applied to the notebook PC 1 immediately after the monitor-side housing 3 is closed, failure of the HDD is prevented, and the main body-side housing accompanying the closing of the monitor-side housing 3 3 prevents a failure of the HDD due to a collision with 3.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic hardware configuration diagram of the notebook PC. In the notebook PC 1 shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 11 executes various arithmetic processes under program control to control the entire notebook PC 1. The CPU 11 includes a system bus FSB (Front Side Bus) 12, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus 20 as a high-speed I / O device bus, and an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) as a low-speed I / O device bus. Each component is interconnected via a three-stage bus called a bus 40. The CPU 11 employs a cache memory that stores a part of the contents of the main memory in, for example, an SRAM, and the processing speed is increased by storing program codes and data in the cache memory. In recent years, SRAM of about 128 Kbytes is integrated as a primary cache in the CPU 11. However, in order to compensate for the shortage of storage capacity, 512 K to 2 M is provided via a BSB (Back Side Bus) 13 which is a dedicated bus. A secondary cache 14 that is an external cache of about bytes is placed. Note that it is possible to reduce the cost by omitting the BSB 13 and connecting the secondary cache 14 to the FSB 12 to avoid a package having a large number of terminals.

  The FSB 12 and the PCI bus 20 are connected by a CPU bridge (host-PCI bridge) 15 called a memory / PCI chip. The CPU bridge 15 includes a memory controller function for controlling an access operation to the main memory 16 and a data buffer for absorbing a difference in data transfer speed between the FSB 12 and the PCI bus 20. It has become. The main memory 16 is a writable memory used as an execution program reading area of the CPU 11 or a work area for writing processing data of the execution program. For example, it is composed of a plurality of DRAM chips. This execution program includes an OS capable of power control based on ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface), various drivers for operating hardware of peripheral devices, utility programs, application programs for executing specific tasks, and the like. included. These execution programs are stored in the HDD 31 or the like.

  The video subsystem 17 is a subsystem for realizing functions related to image display, and includes a video controller. The video controller processes a drawing command from the CPU 11, writes the processed drawing information into the video memory, reads out the drawing information from the video memory, and outputs it as a drawing data to a monitor 18 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD). ing.

  The PCI bus 20 is a bus capable of relatively high-speed data transfer. Connected to the PCI bus 20 are an I / O bridge (also referred to as a south bridge or an I / O hub) 21, a card bus controller 22, an audio subsystem 25, a docking station interface (Dock I / F) 26, and the like.

  The I / O bridge 21 is a control circuit having a bridge function between the PCI bus 20 and the ISA bus 40, and includes a DMA controller function, a programmable interrupt controller (PIC) function, a programmable interval timer (PIT) function, and an IDE ( It has various functions such as an Integrated Device Electronics (USB) interface function, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) function, an SMB (System Management Bus) interface function, and a built-in real-time clock (RTC). In addition, management of power supplied to each device of the notebook PC 1 (power management) is performed.

  The DMA controller function is a function for executing data transfer between a peripheral device (for example, FDD (floppy (registered trademark) disk drive)) and the main memory 16 without intervention of the CPU 11. The PIC function is a function for executing a predetermined program (interrupt handler) in response to an interrupt request (IRQ) from a peripheral device. The PIT function is a function for generating a timer signal at a predetermined cycle, and the generation cycle is programmable. The interface realized by the IDE interface function is connected to the IDE hard disk drive (HDD) 31 and the CD-ROM drive 32 is connected to the ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface). Instead of the CD-ROM drive 32, another type of IDE device such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) drive may be connected. The external storage devices such as the HDD 31 and the CD-ROM drive 32 are stored in a storage place called “media bay” or “device bay” in the main body of the notebook PC 1, for example.

  The I / O bridge 21 is provided with a USB port and is connected to the USB connector 30. Furthermore, an EEPROM 33 is connected to the I / O bridge 21 via an SM bus. This EEPROM 33 holds information such as a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), a program for controlling the embedded controller 41, a password registered by the user, a supervisor password, and a product serial number. A memory that is nonvolatile and can be electrically rewritten.

  The card bus controller 22 is a dedicated controller for directly connecting the bus signal of the PCI bus 20 to the interface connector (card bus) of the card bus slot 23. The card bus slot 23 can be loaded with a PC card. It is. The docking station interface 26 is hardware for connecting a docking station (not shown) that is a function expansion device when the computer system 10 is a notebook personal computer.

  The ISA bus 40 is a bus whose data transfer rate is lower than that of the PCI bus 20. An embedded controller 41, a flash ROM 44, and a super I / O controller 45 are connected to the ISA bus 40. Furthermore, it is also used to connect peripheral devices that operate at a relatively low speed such as a keyboard / mouse controller. The Super I / O controller 45 is connected to an I / O port 46, which drives the FDD, inputs / outputs parallel data via the parallel port (PIO), and inputs / outputs serial data via the serial port (SIO). ) Is controlling.

  The embedded controller 41 controls a keyboard (not shown) and is connected to the power supply circuit 50 and takes part of the power management function together with the gate array logic by a built-in power management controller (PMC). It is a control circuit. In addition, an angle sensor 60 and the like are connected to the embedded controller 41 via their input / output terminals, and these operations are monitored and controlled.

  The angle sensor 60 detects an opening angle between the main body side housing 2 and the monitor side housing 3 and outputs an analog voltage corresponding to the opening angle to the A / D input terminal of the embedded controller 41. The embedded controller 41 A / D converts the voltage input from the angle sensor 60 at a predetermined sampling interval, and outputs it to the CPU 11 as angle information. Since the configuration of the angle sensor 60 can be a known configuration, a detailed description of the configuration is omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic software configuration diagram related to the control of the HDD 31 of the notebook PC 1. Hereinafter, functions realized by the CPU 11 executing the program will be described with the program as an operation subject. In the figure, “Suspend Request” is a command for requesting transition to the suspended state, “Command Pass” is an instruction to pass a command from the OS 71 to the HDD 31, and “Command Intercept” is a command from the OS 71 to the HDD 31. The instruction to suspend, “Enable Cache”, is a standard command of the HDD in the ATA standard, permits the write cache, and returns a write command completion response to the PC side before the actual write processing is completed. The command to be set, “Disable Cache”, is a standard command of HDD in the ATA standard, prohibits the write cache, and instructs the PC side to reply to the completion of the write command after the actual write processing is completed. “Standby” is a standard command for HDDs in the ATA standard, and the HDD 31 is turned off. This command is used to issue a command to retract the head to the retracting area and stop the rotation of the spindle motor. “Write cache” has a cache in the memory in the HDD 31 that temporarily stores data to be written to the disk, and returns a write command completion response to the PC before the actual write process is completed. Thus, the performance of writing to the HDD 31 is improved.

  The HDD 31 is compliant with the ATA standard. The OS 71 is an OS that does not require access to the HDD 31 when shifting to suspend, and is, for example, DOS. The OS 71 controls the overall power management, and performs power management such as power save mode processing such as suspend and hibernation of the notebook PC 1, CPU clock management, and video clock management. The OS 71 accesses the HDD 31 via the device driver 72 and reads / writes the data.

  The monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 monitors the angle information of the angle sensor 60 at a predetermined sampling period, determines the movement and position of the monitor-side casing 3, and suspends the monitor-side casing 3 in a predetermined area. When the processing area (see FIG. 4) is entered, a suspend transition request is output to the OS 71 and the suspend preprocessing program P2 is instructed to retreat the head of the HDD 31.

  The device driver 72 controls data read / write to the HDD 31 under the control of the OS 71.

  The suspend pre-processing program P2 permits or denies access to the HDD 31 of the OS 71 according to the instruction of the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1, and when the head side is instructed from the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 Before the closing operation of the monitor side housing 3 is completed, the HDD 31 is caused to retract the head.

  In the above configuration, the CPU 11 executes the OS 71 to execute the power mode control means, the CPU 11 executes the monitor side housing operation prediction program P1, the determination means, and the CPU 11 executes the suspend preprocessing program P2 to indicate the instruction means. Realized.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining each area of the monitor-side housing 3. In the figure, according to the angle of the monitor-side housing 3, it is divided into three areas: a suspend non-process area (a), a suspend pre-process area (b), and a suspend process area (c). The suspend non-processing area (a) indicates an area that is normally used. The suspend preprocessing area (b) is an area where the monitor-side housing 3 may be closed after a certain time. The suspend processing area (c) is an area for shifting to suspend. In the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1, the position of the monitor-side casing 3 is any one of the areas (a) to (c) based on the angle information input from the angle sensor 60 with a predetermined sampling period. Determine whether.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the head retracting process at the time of suspend transition. With reference to FIG. 5, the head evacuation process when the information processing apparatus 1 configured as software as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, it is assumed that the HDD 31 is in the “write cache permission” state in the suspend non-processing area (a). First, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines whether or not the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (step S1). When the monitor-side casing 3 has not moved (“No” in step S1), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Pass” to the suspend preprocessing program P2 (step S1). S2). When the suspend preprocessing program P2 receives “Command Pass”, it passes the command to the HDD 31 of the OS 71. On the other hand, when the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (“Yes” in step S1), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Intercept” to the suspend preprocessing program P2. (Step S3). When the suspend pre-processing program P2 receives “Command Intercept”, the suspend pre-processing program P2 temporarily stops the command for the HDD 31 of the OS 71. Subsequently, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines the area of the monitor-side casing 3 (step S4), and if it is determined that it is in the suspend non-processing area (a), the process returns to step S1.

  On the other hand, if the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 determines that the area of the monitor-side casing 3 is the suspend preprocessing area (b), the monitor side casing operation prediction program P1 sets “Disable Cache” to the HDD 31 to the suspend preprocessing program P2. "Is output (step S5). This is to prevent the write data from being stored in the HDD 31 by putting the HDD 31 in the “write cache prohibited” state.

  Next, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines whether or not the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (step S6). When the monitor-side casing 3 has not moved (“No” in step S6), the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 outputs “Command Pass” to the suspend preprocessing program P2 (step S6). S7), the process returns to step S6. When the suspend preprocessing program P2 receives “Command Pass”, it passes the command to the HDD 31 of the OS 71. On the other hand, when the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (“Yes” in step S6), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Intercept” to the suspend preprocessing program P2. (Step S8). When the suspend pre-processing program P2 receives “Command Intercept”, the suspend pre-processing program P2 temporarily stops the command for the HDD 31 of the OS 71.

  Thereafter, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines the area of the monitor-side casing 3 (step S9). If the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 determines that the monitor-side housing 3 is in the suspend non-processing area (a), the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 outputs “Enable Cache” to the HDD 31 to the suspend preprocessing program P2. (Step S10), the process returns to Step S1. Upon receiving “Enable Cache”, the HDD 31 enters a write cache permission state.

  If it is determined that the monitor-side housing 3 is in the suspend preprocessing area (b), the process returns to step S6. If the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines that the monitor-side casing 3 is in the suspend processing area (c), it outputs “Suspend Request” to the OS 71 (step S11). When receiving the “Suspend Request”, the OS 71 starts a process for shifting to the suspend state. Then, the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 causes the suspend preprocessing program P2 to output “Standby” to the HDD 31 (step S12). Upon receiving “Standby”, the HDD 31 retracts the head to the retracting area and stops the rotation of the spindle motor. Thereafter, the OS 71 immediately completes the suspend transition, and the notebook PC 1 enters the suspended state (step S13).

  For example, the time required to completely close the monitor-side housing 3 from the state of about 90 degrees with respect to the main body-side housing 2 (to complete the closing operation) takes about 1.5 seconds even if it is steep (actually The time is even longer because it is often used at an angle of more than 90 degrees). On the other hand, the time required for the HDD 31 to retract the head after receiving the standby is 0.5 second or less for most models. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, when the monitor-side casing 3 enters the suspend processing area (c), the operation of closing the monitor-side casing 3 is completed by outputting “Standby” to the HDD 31. Before the operation, the head of the HDD 31 can be retracted, and the HDD 31 can be moved.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the monitor-side casing 3 enters the suspend processing area (c), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 issues a request for transition to suspend to the OS 71. The suspend preprocessing program P2 is instructed to evacuate the head of the HDD 31, and when there is a request to shift to suspend, the OS 71 starts shifting to suspend, and the suspend preprocessing program P2 When the head withdrawal is instructed, the head of the HDD 31 is retracted before the closing operation of the monitor housing 3 is completed. The impact due to the completion of the closing operation can be avoided, and even if there is an impact due to the movement of the notebook PC immediately after closing the monitor housing, It is possible to prevent failure due to collision of the disk.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the OS 71 completes the transition to the suspend state immediately after the head withdrawal of the HDD 31 is completed, and puts the notebook PC 1 into the suspend state. When an OS that does not require access to the HDD is installed, it is possible to prevent a failure due to a collision between the HDD head and the disk.

(Embodiment 2)
The HDD suspend transition process according to the second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, access to the HDD 31 is not required when the OS 71 shifts to suspend, whereas in the second embodiment, access to the HDD 31 is required when the OS 71 shifts to suspend. The case will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic software configuration diagram related to the control of the HDD 31 of the notebook PC 1 according to the second embodiment. In the figure, the description of the same part as in FIG. 5 is omitted, and only different points will be described. In FIG. 6, “Unload Immediate” is an HDD standard command in the ATA standard, and even if “write cache” or “look ahead look ahead” processing is being performed, these are temporarily suspended and the head is saved. This command is used to evacuate to an area and is used when the head needs to be urgently evacuated (impact avoidance, etc.) because pre-processing is not required for “Standby”.

  The OS 71 is an OS that requires access to the HDD 31 when shifting to suspend, and is, for example, Windows XP (R). When the access is permitted after the closing operation of the monitor-side housing 3 is completed, the OS 71 performs the access necessary for the transition to the suspend to the HDD 31 and then completes the transition to the suspend, Put PC1 in the suspended state.

  When entering the head retraction area (see FIG. 7), the monitor side case operation prediction program P1 instructs the suspend preprocessing program P2 to temporarily retreat the head of the HDD 21, and the position of the monitor side case 3 is When the OS suspend processing area (second half) (see FIG. 7) is reached, access to the HDD 31 of the OS 71 is permitted.

  The suspend pre-processing program P2 temporarily retracts the head to the HDD 31 before the closing operation of the monitor-side housing 3 is completed when the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 instructs the head to be temporarily retracted. Make it.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining each region of the monitor-side housing 2 according to the second embodiment. In the figure, depending on the angle of the monitor-side housing 3, a suspend non-processing area (a), a suspend pre-processing area (b), an OS suspend processing area (first half) (c), a head withdrawal area (d), and an OS The area is divided into five areas: a suspend processing area (second half) (e).

  The suspend non-process area (a) is an area that is normally used. The suspend preprocessing area (b) is an area where the monitor-side housing 3 may be closed after a certain time. The OS suspend process area (first half) (c) is an area where the suspend process is performed before the monitor side housing 3 is closed. The head withdrawal processing area (d) is an area for protecting the head from an impact when the monitor-side housing 3 is closed. The OS suspend process area (second half) (e) is an area where the remaining suspend process is performed after the monitor side housing 3 is closed. In the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1, the position of the monitor-side casing 3 is any one of the areas (a) to (e) based on angle information input from the angle sensor 60 at a predetermined sampling period. Determine whether.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the head retracting process at the time of suspend transition according to the second embodiment. With reference to FIG. 8, the head retraction process at the time of suspend transition of the information processing apparatus 1 configured as software as shown in FIG. 7 will be described.

  In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the HDD 31 is in the “write cache permission” state in the suspend non-processing area (a). First, the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 determines whether or not the monitor-side housing 3 is moving (step S21). When the monitor-side casing 3 has not moved (“No” in step S21), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Pass” to the suspend preprocessing program P2 (step S21). S2). When the suspend preprocessing program P2 receives “Command Pass”, it passes the command to the HDD 31 of the OS 71. On the other hand, when the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (“Yes” in step S21), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Intercept” to the suspend preprocessing program P2. (Step S3). When the suspend pre-processing program P2 receives “Command Intercept”, the suspend pre-processing program P2 temporarily stops the command for the HDD 31 of the OS 71. Subsequently, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines the area of the monitor-side casing 3 (step S24), and if it is determined that it is in the suspend non-processing area (a), the process returns to step S1.

  On the other hand, if the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 determines that the area of the monitor-side casing 3 is the suspend preprocessing area (b), the monitor side casing operation prediction program P1 sets “Disable Cache” to the HDD 31 to the suspend preprocessing program P2. "Is output (step S25). This is to prevent the write data from being stored in the HDD 71 by putting the HDD 31 in the “write cache prohibited” state.

  Next, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines whether or not the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (step S26). When the monitor-side casing 3 has not moved (“No” in step S26), the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 outputs “Command Pass” to the suspend preprocessing program P2 (step S26). S27), the process returns to step S26. When the suspend preprocessing program P2 receives “Command Pass”, it passes the command to the HDD 31 of the OS 71. On the other hand, when the monitor-side casing 3 is moving (“Yes” in step S26), the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Intercept” to the suspend preprocessing program P2. (Step S28). When the suspend pre-processing program P2 receives “Command Intercept”, the suspend pre-processing program P2 temporarily stops the command for the HDD 31 of the OS 71.

  Thereafter, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines the area of the monitor-side casing 3 (step S29). If the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 determines that the monitor-side housing 3 is in the suspend non-processing area (a), the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 outputs “Enable Cache” to the HDD 31 to the suspend preprocessing program P2. (Step S30), the process returns to Step S1. Upon receiving “Enable Cache”, the HDD 31 enters a write cache permission state.

  If it is determined that the monitor-side housing 3 is in the suspend preprocessing area (b), the process returns to step S6. Further, when the monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 determines that the monitor-side casing 3 is in the OS suspend processing area (first half) (c), it outputs “Suspend Request” to the OS 71 ( Step S31). When receiving the “Suspend Request”, the OS 71 starts a process for shifting to the suspend state. Here, since the OS 71 according to the second embodiment needs to access the HDD 31 when shifting to the suspend mode, the following processing is performed.

  The monitor side housing operation prediction program P1 causes the suspend preprocessing program P2 to output “Enable Cache” to the HDD 31 (step S32). When the HDD 31 receives the “Enable Cache” command, the HDD 31 enters a write-permitted state. This is so that a write request from the OS 71 to the HDD 31 can be processed quickly when shifting to the suspended state.

  Thereafter, the monitor side case motion prediction program P1 outputs “Command Pass” to the suspend preprocessing program P2 (step S33). When the suspend preprocessing program P2 receives “Command Pass”, it passes the command to the HDD 31 of the OS 71. Subsequently, the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines the area of the monitor-side casing 3 (step S34). The monitor-side casing operation prediction program P1 returns to step S33 when the monitor-side casing 3 is in the OS suspend processing area (first half) (c). On the other hand, if the monitor-side housing motion prediction program P1 determines that the monitor-side housing 3 is in the head withdrawal processing area (d), the monitor-side housing motion prediction program P1 Then, “Command Intercept” is output (step S35). When the suspend pre-processing program P2 receives “Command Intercept”, the suspend pre-processing program P2 temporarily stops the command for the HDD 31 of the OS 71. Subsequently, the monitor-side housing operation prediction program P1 causes the suspend preprocessing program P2 to output “Unload Immediate” to the HDD 31 (step S36). Upon receiving “Unload Immediate”, the HDD 31 urgently retreats the head to the retreat area and protects the head from the impact of closing the monitor side housing 3.

  The monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 determines the area of the monitor-side casing 3 (Step S37), and the monitor-side casing motion prediction program P1 Is determined to be in the OS suspend processing area (second half) (e), “Command Pass” is output to the suspend preprocessing program P2 (step S38). When the suspend pre-processing program P2 receives “Command Pass”, it passes the command to the HDD 31 of the OS 71 and permits access to the HDD 31 necessary until the OS 71 enters suspend. After performing the access necessary for the transition to the suspend, the OS 71 completes the transition to the suspend and puts the notebook PC 1 into the suspend state (step S39).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the suspend pre-processing program P2 completes the closing operation of the monitor-side housing when instructed to temporarily retract the head from the monitor-side housing motion prediction program P1. Before the operation, the HDD 31 is temporarily retracted, and the monitor-side case operation prediction program P1 determines that the monitor-side case 3 has been closed (the position of the monitor-side case 3 is the OS suspend processing area). (Second half) (when (e)), the access of the OS 71 to the HDD 31 is permitted. When the access is permitted, the OS 71 performs the access necessary for the transition to the suspend and then shifts to the suspend. Since it is determined that the notebook PC 1 is in the suspended state, an OS that requires access to the HDD is installed when shifting to the suspended state. The case, it is possible to prevent a failure due to collision of the HDD head and disk.

  In the above embodiment, the hard disk device has been described as the head-use recording device. However, the head-use recording device according to the present invention is not limited to the hard disk device, and data from the disk using the head is used. The present invention can also be applied to other recording apparatuses that read or write data. Further, although suspend has been exemplified as the standby state, the present invention is not limited to this, and any state can be used as long as the HDD head is retracted and the HDD power is turned off. The above embodiment can be applied.

  In the above embodiment, a notebook PC has been described as an example of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. However, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to a notebook PC and can be opened and closed. Any device that has a monitor-side casing and can incorporate or mount a head-use recording medium can be applied to various information processing devices such as a mobile phone, a PDA, and a digital camera.

  The information processing apparatus, the head retracting method of the information processing apparatus, and the computer-executable program according to the present invention are widely useful for apparatuses capable of mounting a head-use recording medium such as an HDD.

1 is an outline external view of a notebook PC to which an information processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied. It is a schematic hardware block diagram of notebook type PC. It is a schematic software block diagram regarding control of HDD of notebook type PC. It is a figure for demonstrating each area | region of the monitor side housing | casing. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the head evacuation process at the time of a suspend transition. FIG. 10 is a schematic software configuration diagram regarding control of an HDD of a notebook PC according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining each region of a monitor-side housing according to the second embodiment. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a head evacuation process at the time of suspend transition according to the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Notebook PC
2 Body side housing 3 Monitor side housing 4 Connecting part 11 CPU
12 FSB
13 BSB
14 Secondary cache 15 CPU bridge (host-PCI bridge)
16 Main Memory 17 Video Subsystem 18 Monitor 20 PCI Bus 21 I / O Bridge 22 Card Bus Controller 26 Docking Station Interface (Dock I / F)
30 USB connector 31 HDD (hard disk drive)
32 CD-ROM drive 33 EEPROM
40 ISA bus 41 Embedded controller 44 Flash ROM
45 Super I / O controller 46 I / O port 60 Angle sensor 71 OS
72 Device driver P1 Monitor side case motion prediction program P2 Suspend pre-processing program

Claims (4)

In an information processing apparatus that includes a main body side housing and a monitor side housing that is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body side housing and includes a monitor,
An angle sensor for detecting an opening angle between the monitor-side casing and the main body-side casing;
Power mode control means that controls power management and executes the transition to the suspend state of the main body,
Determination means for determining the movement and position of the monitor-side housing based on the detection result of the angle sensor;
Instruction means for instructing the head-use recording apparatus to retract the head;
With
The determination means outputs a request to shift to the suspended state to the power mode control means when the monitor-side casing enters a predetermined area, and instructs the instruction means to retract the head.
The power mode control means starts transition to the suspend state when there is a request to transition to the suspend state.
The instruction means, when instructed to retract the head, causes the head-use recording apparatus to temporarily retract the head before the closing operation of the monitor-side casing is completed,
The determination unit permits the power mode control unit to access the head-use type recording apparatus when the closing operation of the monitor-side casing is completed,
When the access is permitted, the power mode control unit performs access necessary for the transition to the suspended state to the head-use recording apparatus, and completes the transition to the suspended state. Information processing device. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the head-use recording apparatus is a hard disk. A head of an information processing apparatus that includes a main body-side housing and a monitor-side housing that can be opened and closed with respect to the main body-side housing, and that can incorporate or mount a head-use recording device. In the method
A step of determining a movement and position of the monitor-side housing based on a detection result of an angle sensor that detects an opening angle between the monitor-side housing and the main body-side housing;
The determination means outputs a request to shift to the suspend state to the power mode control means when the monitor-side casing enters a predetermined area, and instructs the instruction means to retract the head of the head-use recording apparatus. Process,
The power mode control means, when there is a request to transition to the suspended state, to start transition to the suspended state;
A step of causing the head-use recording apparatus to temporarily retract the head before the closing operation of the monitor-side housing is completed when the instruction means is instructed to retract the head;
Permitting the power mode control unit to access the head-use recording apparatus when the determination unit completes the closing operation of the monitor-side housing; and
When the power mode control means is permitted to access, the head-use recording apparatus performs access necessary for the transition to the suspended state, and completes the transition to the suspended state;
A method of retracting a head of an information processing apparatus, comprising: A main body side housing and a monitor side housing which is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body side housing, and which is mounted on an information processing apparatus in which a head-use recording device can be built or mounted. Program
A step of determining a movement and position of the monitor-side housing based on a detection result of an angle sensor that detects an opening angle between the monitor-side housing and the main body-side housing;
The determination means outputs a request to shift to the suspend state to the power mode control means when the monitor-side casing enters a predetermined area, and instructs the instruction means to retract the head of the head-use recording apparatus. Process,
The power mode control means, when there is a request to transition to the suspended state, to start transition to the suspended state;
A step of causing the head-use recording apparatus to temporarily retract the head before the closing operation of the monitor-side housing is completed when the instruction means is instructed to retract the head;
Permitting the power mode control unit to access the head-use recording apparatus when the determination unit completes the closing operation of the monitor-side housing; and
When the power mode control means is permitted to access, the head-use recording apparatus performs access necessary for the transition to the suspended state, and completes the transition to the suspended state;
A computer-executable program characterized by causing a computer to execute.

Images