JP2002041437A - Hard disk drive switching system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a safe and highly reliable hard disk drive(HDD) switching system, capable of preventing generation of abnormalities and eliminating the need for attachment/detachment of the HDD at switching of the HDD. SOLUTION: When an HDD number, whose start is required by a user, is inputted from a user interface 19 and stored in a non-volatile memory 18, a data bus switching command part 17 reads out the HDD number from the memory 18 at the turning on of a power supply on the time, next and outputs a corresponding switching signal to a data bus switching circuit 20. Thereby a data bus corresponding to the HDD number is connected, the required HDD is started and a required OS can be started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a hard disk drive switching device, and more particularly to a device capable of switching an operating system (OS) of a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to use one of a plurality of OSs such as Windows (registered trademark) and Linux on a single personal computer, software (for example,
System commander, etc.), or by removing and inserting a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) in which the OS is stored, replacing it, rebooting, and restarting the OS.
Are used.

For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-113413 discloses an apparatus for switching a plurality of HDDs while the power is on. Further, regarding a switching device of each HDD in a system having a hard disk array, for example,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-13663 discloses an apparatus for attaching and detaching a hard disk while the system is running. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-46524 discloses a device for connecting a main bus line without using a bus switching circuit. A device for connecting bus lines of each HDD is shown. Also, JP-A-10-12
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4981 discloses a device for switching a plurality of disk devices by a switch.

[0004]

However, in the method in which the OS is switched by software, the master boot area is rewritten, and the OS cannot be switched after the power is turned on. Was troublesome. Further, in the method of replacing the hard disk, there is a problem that the pin is damaged by inserting and removing the hard disk each time.

Further, a plurality of HDDs with power on
If you change the mode, an error may occur and the system may run away, or the data on the hard disk may be damaged. Further, if the OS switching is used to deal with the switching of the HDD, there is a problem that the device becomes complicated and the processing speed becomes slow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a safe and reliable hard disk drive switching device which has a simple structure, does not cause an abnormality at the time of hard disk switching, and does not need to attach or detach a hard disk. The purpose is to:

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an HDD switching apparatus for selectively switching a plurality of HDDs connected by a CPU and a data bus of a personal computer. A user interface for inputting an HDD number desired to be started by a user at next power-on, a memory means for storing the HDD number, and a CP
A data bus switching means for switching the data bus so as to selectively enable connection of a data bus connecting the U and the plurality of HDDs;
Signal control means for reading the D number and outputting a switching signal corresponding to the HDD number to the data bus switching means.

In the above configuration, the user selects a desired HDD number in advance by using the user interface and stores it in the memory means, so that the next time the power is turned on, the desired HDD number is stored in the memory means. Is read, the corresponding data bus is connected, and the desired HDD is started.

The invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
In the invention, the plurality of HDDs are different OSs from each other.
Is stored, and the OS stored in the HDD corresponding to the HDD number stored in the memory means is started up at the next power-on. In this configuration, since the desired OS is stored in the started hard disk, the next time the power is turned on,
An OS desired by the user can be started.

[0010] Further, the invention according to claim 3 is based on claim 1.
Alternatively, in the HDD switching device according to claim 2, the user interface is a tact switch, and the CPU and the HD switch.
The data bus connecting D is an IDE bus, and the memory means is a non-volatile memory. In this configuration, the user selects the HDD number desired to be activated by the tact switch and stores the selected HDD number in the non-volatile memory, so that the HDD can be turned on at the next power-on.
The number is read, the corresponding IDE bus is connected, and the desired HDD is started.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A hard disk drive switching device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a personal computer equipped with the device and capable of switching OSs. In FIG. 1, a personal computer 10 includes a system bus 1 formed on a motherboard 11.
4 is connected to a CPU 12 and the like.
A plurality of hard disk drive devices (HDDs) 30a, 30b, 30
c and 30d (generally 30) are connected. CPU
In the middle of the IDE bus 15 connecting the HDD 12 and the HDD 30, an HDD switching unit 16 for selectively switching a desired HDD according to a user's request is provided.

The HDD switching unit 16 is built on a board, and is connected to the CPU 12 based on a user's request.
S for selectively connecting the HDD 30 storing the HDD number, a user interface 19 for selecting and inputting a user-desired HDD number using an input device such as a tact switch 19a, and a non-volatile memory for storing the HDD number. 18
(Memory means); and a data bus switching command section 17 (signal control means) comprising a CPU for issuing a command to switch the IDE bus 15 corresponding to the HDD number to be valid at the next power-on of the power switch 22; The data bus switching circuit 20 switches the IDE bus to any one of the IDE buses 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d that are branched corresponding to the HDD 30 via a changeover switch.

The operation of the personal computer having the above configuration, in particular, the operation of the HDD switching unit 16 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, during the operation of the personal computer 10, the HDD registration process of the next startup will be described with reference to FIG. When the user's desired HDD number for the next start is input by the tact switch 19a of the user interface 19, the data bus switching command unit 17 fetches the HDD number (S1) and stores it in the nonvolatile memory 18. (S2). Thus, the registration process of the HDD number of the next start is completed.

Next, the initialization processing at the next power-on will be described with reference to FIG. 2B.
Is input from the power switch 22 to the HDD switching unit 16 (S5), the data bus switching instruction unit 17
The HDD number is read from the nonvolatile memory 18 (S
6) In the data bus switching circuit 20, the IDS bus 15 connected to the CPU 12 and the HDD having the desired HDD number
Of the data buses 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d, the corresponding IDS bus is alternatively selected (S7). The data bus switching circuit 20 may switch the bus by port control. Thus, when the power is turned on next time, the initialization process is performed, so that the OS desired by the user can be started.

In the HDD switching section 16 of the present embodiment, since the HDD is not switched while the power is on, no abnormality occurs at the time of switching the HDD. Thus, it is possible to switch the HDD safely and reliably without the need for the HDD.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, a dip switch may be used instead of the tact switch 19a of the user interface 19. Since the DIP switch itself can hold input data, the nonvolatile memory 18 can be omitted. The memory means described in the claims includes such a dip switch.

[0017]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the user selects in advance the HDD number desired to be activated by the user interface and stores the number in the memory means. The next time the power is turned on, the number is read from the memory means, and the connection between the CPU and the data bus corresponding to the desired HDD number is made valid alternatively.
The user can start a desired HDD. Therefore, no abnormality occurs at the time of HDD switching, and there is no need to attach / detach the HDD, thereby enabling safe and highly reliable HDD switching.

The plurality of HDDs are different from each other.
By storing S, the OS desired by the user can be started at the next power-on, and the same effect as above can be obtained.

The user interface is a tact switch, the data bus connecting the CPU and the HDD is an IDE bus, and the memory means is a non-volatile memory. Can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a personal computer including an HDD switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing the operation of the personal computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Personal computer 12 CPU 15 IDE bus 16 HDD switching part 17 Data bus switching instruction part 18 Nonvolatile memory 19 User interface 19a Tact switch 20 Data bus switching circuit 22 Power switch 30 Hard disk drive (HDD)

Claims (3)

[Claims] A plurality of hard disk drives (hereinafter referred to as H) connected to a CPU of a personal computer by a data bus.
A hard disk drive switching device for selectively switching the HDD number when the power is turned on next time, a user interface for inputting an HDD number desired to be started, a memory means for storing the HDD number, and the CPU. A data bus switching means for switching the data bus so as to selectively enable connection of the data bus connecting the plurality of HDDs; reading the HDD number from the memory means at power-on; And a signal control means for outputting a switching signal corresponding to the data bus switching means to the data bus switching means. 2. An operating system (OS) different from each other is stored in the plurality of HDDs.
2. The hard disk drive switching device according to claim 1, wherein the OS stored in the HDD corresponding to the HDD number stored in the memory means is started up at the next power-on. 3. The data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said user interface is a tact switch, a data bus connecting said CPU and said HDD is an IDE bus, and said memory means is a nonvolatile memory. The hard disk drive switching device according to claim 2.