JPH04151737A - Hard disk controlling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constitute a system whose flexibility and extendability are further improved by automatically recognizing the number of error correcting code(ECC) bites suited to a hard disk (HDD) to be used, and supporting plural HDD having the different number of the ECC bites. CONSTITUTION:The information of the ECC bites corresponding to each of plural HDD types capable of being supported by a personal computer 1, is preliminarily stored in a memory 2, and the number of the ECC bites suited to the HDD to be used is recognized from the information, so that the plural HDD having the different number of ECC can be controlled by one BIOS. The number of the ECC bites suited to the HDD to be used is automatically recognized, so that the plural HDD having the different ECC bites can be supported. Thus, the number of the ECC bites of the HDD can be recognized. and the plural HDD having the different number of the ECC bites can be controlled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides support for multiple types of hard disk drives (HDDs) that have ECC (Error Correcting Code) bytes to perform error correction. The present invention relates to a hard disk control method suitable for use in personal computers capable of controlling.

(Prior Art) Disk memories, which have traditionally been used as large-capacity external storage in medium to large-sized computers, have come to be supported as standard hard disks (referred to as HDDs) in the field of personal computers as well. By the way, conventional personal computers did not support HDDL with an ECC (error correcting code) of 4 bytes. In this system BIOS
(Basic Human Output Control System) reads/writes several dozen ECC bytes (fixed at 4 bytes) when reading/writing sectors with ECC.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) If this B2O2 is used in a personal computer that supports an HDD with an ECC byte count other than 4 bytes, reading/writing will be performed with the ECC byte count set to 4 bytes, resulting in incorrect data processing. Therefore, there were inconveniences such as not only not being able to realize the functions that ECC originally had, but also causing the system to go out of control.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and in a personal computer system, the ECC of the HDD is
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hard disk control method capable of recognizing the number of bytes and controlling a plurality of HDDs having different numbers of ECC bytes.

[Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention provides a system for a personal computer system that supports multiple types of hard disks (HDDs) having FCC (Error Correcting Code) bytes for error correction. A means for setting the environment to set the type of HDD to be used according to a request from the user, and an initialization method for retrieving the start address of the parameter table in which control information suitable for the HDD is stored according to the contents set here. The present invention is characterized by comprising means for obtaining corresponding ECC byte information from the program area stored at the address and referring to an ECC-equipped sector for recognizing the ECC byte of the HDD in use.

(Function) In the above configuration, the present invention stores in advance ECC byte information corresponding to each of a plurality of HDD types that can be supported by a personal computer in memory, and recognizes the number of ECC bytes suitable for the HDD to be used from that information. By doing so, it is possible to control a plurality of HDDs having different numbers of ECCs with one BIO3.

Many recent personal computers support multiple HDDs with different numbers of ECC bytes, but the present invention automatically recognizes the number of ECC bytes suitable for the HDD being used, thereby supporting multiple HDDs with different numbers of ECC bytes. Enables HDD support.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail using the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a CPU, which controls the entire system. Code 2 is battery backed CMO
This is an S memory, and information indicating the HDD type to be used (here, type 1 or type 2) is stored. Reference numeral 3 is RAM, and HDD type 1. HDD type 2
The starting address of each HDD parameter table is stored. Code 4 is ROM, HDD type 1.
The HDD parameter table, setup program, and initialization program for each HDD type 2 are stored.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a hard disk controller (HDC) specific to the type of HDD used (type 1/type 2), which performs format control and read/write control of the HDD independently of the CPUI. Code 6 is the HDD to be used, type 1 with a different number of ECC bytes.
or type 2 HDD is connected.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a set-up routine, (b) is an initialization routine, and (c) is a read/write routine for sectors with ECC. be. In the figure, numeral 21 indicates HD
The step of storing the DO type in the CMOS memory 2, and the step of reading the fDD type (22) stored in the CMOS memory 2, read the HDD type from the CMOS memory 2. Reference numeral 23 is a step for setting the parameter table address, and the CMOS memory 2
The start address of the HDD parameter table of the HDD type read from is stored in the RAM3. Reference numeral 24 is a step of reading the number of ECC bytes of the corresponding HDD type from the ROM 4, and the ECC is read from the address indicated by the head address of the HDD parameter table stored in the RAM 3.
Read the number of bytes.

Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail. First, let's explain the setup. The setup setup is as shown in FIG. 2(a). That is, when the setup program is started, the setup program sets the HDD type to be used in the CMOS memory 2 (step 21). When the setup program is finished, the system boots again and moves to the initialization routine (step 22). Next, the operation of the initialization routine will be explained. The initialization routine is as shown in FIG. 2(b). That is, when you turn on your personal computer,
The CPUI reads the HDD type from the CMOS memory 2 (step 22).

According to the HDD type read here, the initialization program sets the start address of the HDD parameter table to R.
The data is stored in AM3 (step 23).

Finally, the operation of the read/write routine for the sector with ECC shown in FIG. 2(C) will be explained. EC
In the read/write routine for the sector with C, the ECC byte of the HDD is read by referring to the start address of the HDD parameter table set in the initialization program and reading the contents of the ECC byte number storage area from ROM4 (step 24). The HDD data read/write operation is performed by recognizing the number.

Many recent personal computers support multiple HDDs with different numbers of ECC bytes, but as described above, the present invention automatically recognizes the number of ECC bytes suitable for the HDD being used. It becomes possible to support multiple HDDs. This contributes to flexibility and expandability in system construction.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically recognize the number of ECC bytes suitable for the HDD being used, and to support multiple HDDs with different numbers of ECC bytes. A highly flexible and scalable system can be constructed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. ] P.U. 2... CMO Memory 3... RAM. ... ROM. Hard disk/troller (HDC) 6...Hard disk (HDD).

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a personal computer system that supports multiple types of hard disks having ECC bytes for error correction, a storage means for storing a parameter table for each hard disk usable in the system, and an environment setting means for setting the type of hard disk to be used. and means for obtaining the start address of the parameter table stored in the storage means according to the contents set by the environment setting means, and reading the parameter table from the storage means according to this address and recognizing the ECC byte of the hard disk to be used. 1. A hard disk control method comprising: means for controlling a hard disk;