JP2005352781A - Electronic device, and firmware update method for electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate implementation of large scale modification of firmware followed by modification of mapping. <P>SOLUTION: In the electronic device controlled by the firmware, a program for downloading is executed to store a program for rewriting firmware, a program for updating mapping, and new firmware sent from a host apparatus via a communication means in a volatile memory (S502), the program for updating mapping is executed to modify mapping of a nonvolatile memory and modify information relevant to mapping (S507), and the program for rewriting firmware is executed to write the new firmware in an area storing the firmware (S508). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and an electronic device firmware update method, and more particularly, to an electronic device firmware update controlled by the firmware.

  Personal computers (PCs) are commonly used in offices and homes, and various electronic devices including peripheral devices connected to the PCs have been used accordingly.

  Electronic devices operate in accordance with a control program such as firmware. Conventionally, firmware is stored in a storage medium such as a ROM (including one-time ROM and EPROM) that cannot be rewritten once the program is written. Generally, when the firmware is rewritten by version upgrade or the like, it is necessary to replace the storage medium.

  In recent years, with the development of networks such as the Internet, an electronic device that can rewrite a control program such as firmware via a PC connected to the network or directly connected to the network has increased. In such an electronic device, firmware is stored in a storage medium such as a ROM (flash ROM or the like) that can rewrite a program in software.

  For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-273143 (Patent Document 1) describes that firmware is rewritten while a storage medium is mounted at the time of version upgrade.

When upgrading the firmware with such a configuration, firmware downloaded via a network or the like is temporarily stored in a volatile memory (RAM), and then the firmware of the rewritable ROM is stored so far. Overwrite the new firmware in the part.
JP 2001-273143 A

  However, the above configuration has the following problems to be solved.

  Normally, electronic devices have a small capacity non-volatile memory for storing various control information necessary for controlling the device and log information necessary for maintenance in addition to the non-volatile memory storing the control program. It is often equipped with.

  Naturally, the control program includes a program that refers to this information, so when the firmware is changed, it is impossible to change the mapping of the memory area that has been used in the past. Can only be used as a new area.

  When the mapping is changed in the conventional download sequence, it cannot be correctly read from the nonvolatile memory due to a checksum error or the like, and there is only a means for initialization. If initialization is performed, control data set at the time of shipment in the factory where the device is manufactured, information set at the user's site, user log information used by the service person, and the like will be deleted. Therefore, it is necessary to temporarily save the information in the nonvolatile memory by another means, download the firmware, and then write it again.

  For this reason, it is virtually impossible to change the firmware that changes the mapping of the non-volatile memory for products on the market (the sales have started), and the firmware can be changed after the sales start. The range of wear will be greatly limited.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to make it possible to easily implement a large-scale firmware change accompanied by a mapping change.

An electronic device as one aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object is an electronic device controlled by firmware,
A non-volatile first storage means for storing the firmware and a firmware download program;
Information relating to mapping, information relating to control of the electronic device and log information, and electrically rewritable nonvolatile second storage means;
A volatile third storage means;
A communication means for communicating with the connected host device;
In the download mode in which the firmware is updated, the download program is executed, and the firmware rewriting program, the mapping update program, and new firmware transmitted from the host device via the communication unit are updated. 3, the mapping update program is executed, the mapping of the second storage unit is changed, the information about the mapping is changed, the firmware rewriting program is executed, Control means for controlling the new firmware to be written in an area of the first storage means in which the firmware is stored.

  That is, according to the present invention, the electronic device is controlled by firmware, stores firmware and a firmware download program, and is electrically rewritable non-volatile first storage means, and mapping information , Communication that stores information related to control of electronic equipment and log information, and communicates with electrically connected non-volatile second storage means, volatile third storage means, and connected host equipment In a third storage means, a download program, a firmware rewriting program, a mapping update program, and new firmware transmitted from the host device via the communication means are executed in an electronic device comprising: Storing and executing the mapping update program to map the second storage means To change information about the mapping with changing the, by executing the firmware rewriting program, and writes the new firmware to the area where the firmware of the first storage means is stored.

  In this way, when updating the firmware, the mapping update program downloaded from the host device is executed to change the mapping of the second storage means for storing information related to control of the electronic device and log information. This makes it easy to update large-scale firmware with mapping changes.

  Therefore, a large-scale firmware change accompanying a mapping change can be easily performed without using a special apparatus (tool) or following a special procedure.

  The control means may control not to execute the mapping update program when the information related to the mapping included in the mapping update program is the same as the information related to the mapping stored in the second storage means. .

  When specific control information is received from the host device, the download mode may be set.

  As a specific example of the electronic device, there is a peripheral device of a computer device including a recording device for recording on a recording medium.

  Further, the above object is to provide a firmware update method for an electronic device that includes a process corresponding to the electronic device described above, a computer program that implements the method by a computer device, a storage medium that stores the program, and the electronic device described above. It is also achieved by a computer system that includes it.

  According to the present invention, when updating the firmware, the mapping update program downloaded from the host device is executed, so that the mapping of the second storage means for storing the information related to the control of the electronic device and the log information is performed. It can be changed, and updating of large-scale firmware accompanying a change of mapping is facilitated.

  Therefore, a large-scale firmware change accompanying a mapping change can be easily performed without using a special apparatus (tool) or following a special procedure.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the components described in the following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU unit that performs calculations and the like to control the entire apparatus. A firmware unit 102 stores a control program executed by the CPU unit 101 and a downloader program for downloading firmware via an interface. Specifically, it is formed of a flash ROM or the like which is a non-volatile and electrically rewritable storage medium.

  Reference numeral 103 denotes a non-volatile memory unit. As information that should not be erased even when the power is turned off, it stores settings information stored at the time of manufacture of electronic devices, information necessary for firmware control, log information necessary for maintenance, etc. Keep it. Specifically, it is formed of a storage medium such as a flash ROM, an EEPROM, or an SRAM backed up by a lithium battery.

  A volatile memory unit 104 is normally used as a work area during firmware control. In the download mode, it is used for temporarily storing firmware such as firmware to be upgraded or firmware to be rewritten, mapping update information of the nonvolatile memory 103, and the like. Specifically, it is a storage medium such as a large capacity DRAM.

  Reference numeral 105 denotes an interface unit that controls connection of a physical interface with the outside and firmware download. Specifically, it is a device capable of communicating with a host device via a telephone line such as USB 1.1, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, PSTN, ISDN, or a LAN.

  Reference numeral 106 denotes a display / operation unit which provides an interface for the user during display and input operations. It is possible to instruct the firmware version and the like by this input operation.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of mapping of the volatile memory unit 104 in the present embodiment. Each area of the volatile memory unit 104 is assigned to store a program transmitted from the host in the download mode.

  Reference numeral 201 denotes an area for storing a firmware rewrite program in the download mode, and reference numeral 202 denotes an area for storing a nonvolatile memory mapping update program. Similarly, reference numeral 203 denotes an area for storing new firmware for performing main control of the electronic device for upgrading in the download mode.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of mapping of the firmware unit 102 in the present embodiment. The firmware unit 102 is a large-capacity storage medium, for example, an electrically rewritable storage medium such as a flash ROM.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes a reset vector, which is an address at which the program counter is first set when the power is turned on. When a hardware reset occurs, the program always starts from this address.

  Reference numeral 302 denotes a downloader unit, which stores the firmware rewriting program, mapping update program, and new firmware transmitted from the host in the download mode from the volatile memory 104 described above with reference to FIG. This is an area in which programs for performing processing stored in the areas 201 to 203 are stored.

  Reference numeral 303 denotes a firmware area, which is an area in which firmware that performs overall control processing for hardware is stored.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of mapping of the nonvolatile memory unit 103 in the present embodiment. The nonvolatile memory unit 103 is specifically an EEPROM, an SRAM backed up by a lithium battery, or the like, and is an electrically rewritable storage medium.

  Reference numeral 401 denotes an area in which mapping information of the nonvolatile memory unit 103 is stored. The version information (number, update date, etc.) is mainly stored, and the purpose is to manage the mapping change by changing this information when the mapping changes such that the structure changes.

  Reference numeral 402 denotes an area for storing values set by calibration or the like at the time of shipment from the factory in order to suppress variations in electronic parts and the like of devices controlled by the firmware. The device is controlled.

  Reference numeral 403 denotes an area for storing firmware control information. After the electronic device is shipped, information set by the user when the user uses it is stored.

  Reference numeral 404 denotes an area for storing maintenance information. Stores log information indicating user usage history.

  Reference numeral 405 denotes an area in which checksum information is stored. The checksum value of the entire nonvolatile memory unit 103 is stored here.

  The ranges of the areas described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 are managed by, for example, the addresses at both ends of the start address and the end address.

  With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the firmware download operation in the present embodiment will be described. This operation is started when a user or a service person explicitly requests download via the display / operation unit 106 and is controlled by the CPU unit 101.

  When the download is requested, first, in step S501, the download program stored in the area 302 of the firmware unit 102 is executed, waits for the transmission of the firmware update program from the host device to start, and the transmission starts. Then, the process proceeds to step S502, and the received firmware rewriting program, mapping update program, and new transfer firmware are written from the determined addresses in the areas 201 to 203 of the volatile memory 104.

  If it is determined in step S503 that all programs transmitted from the host device have been received and written, for example, by receiving information indicating that the program transmission has been completed from the host device, the volatile property is determined in step S504. A program counter is set at the head address of the firmware rewriting program and mapping update program stored in the areas 201 and 202 of the memory 104.

  In step S 505, the mapping update program is first executed, and the mapping information of the nonvolatile memory unit 103 is read from the area 401. In step S506, it is determined whether the read mapping information is different from the mapping information downloaded this time. This determination is made based on, for example, whether the version information included in the mapping information is the same. If the two mapping information is different, the process proceeds to step S507, and after reading the mapping information currently written in the area 401 of the nonvolatile memory unit 103, after changing the mapping of the entire nonvolatile memory unit 103, New mapping information is written in area 401. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S506 that the two mapping information is the same, step S507 is skipped.

  In step S508, the firmware rewriting program stored in the area 201 of the volatile memory 104 is executed, and the new firmware stored in the area 203 of the volatile memory 104 is overwritten on the firmware area 303 of the firmware section 102. To do. If it is determined in step S509 that the writing of the new firmware has been completed, the program counter is set to the reset vector in the area 301 of the firmware unit 102 and jumped to start execution of the rewritten new firmware. The device will be controlled.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a large-scale firmware change accompanying a non-volatile memory mapping change, which has been difficult in the past, can be performed without executing a special device or procedure. This can be easily done by downloading predetermined information and a program. For this reason, a large-scale firmware change that has conventionally been difficult for a service person having specialized knowledge can be easily performed by a user without requiring a special tool or procedure.

<Modification>
In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the mode is shifted to the download mode when the user gives an instruction via the display / operation unit 106. , The electronic device may be configured to shift to the download mode.

  In this way, since the user can update the firmware of the electronic device by remote control from the host device without directly operating the electronic device, the firmware of the plurality of electronic devices having the same configuration is updated. The convenience is greatly improved.

<Specific examples of electronic devices>
As a specific example of the electronic device according to the present invention as described in the above embodiment, a peripheral device of a personal computer such as a printer can be considered. Hereinafter, a configuration example of a printer to which the present invention can be applied will be described.

  FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of a printer (ink jet recording apparatus) to which the present invention can be applied.

  As shown in FIG. 7, an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a recording apparatus) transmits a driving force generated by a carriage motor M1 to a carriage 2 on which a recording head 3 that performs recording by discharging ink in accordance with an ink jet system is mounted. 4, the carriage 2 is reciprocated in the direction of arrow A, and for example, a recording medium P such as recording paper is fed through the paper feeding mechanism 5 and conveyed to the recording position. Recording is performed by ejecting ink onto the recording medium P.

  Further, in order to maintain the state of the recording head 3 satisfactorily, the carriage 2 is moved to the position of the recovery device 10 and the ejection recovery process of the recording head 3 is intermittently performed.

  In addition to mounting the recording head 3 on the carriage 2 of the recording apparatus 1, an ink cartridge 6 for storing ink to be supplied to the recording head 3 is mounted. The ink cartridge 6 is detachable from the carriage 2.

  The recording apparatus shown in FIG. 7 is capable of color recording. For this purpose, the carriage 2 contains four inks containing magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K) inks, respectively. A cartridge is installed. These four ink cartridges are detachable independently.

  Now, the carriage 2 and the recording head 3 can achieve and maintain a required electrical connection by properly contacting the joint surfaces of both members. The recording head 3 applies energy according to a recording signal to selectively eject ink from a plurality of ejection ports for recording. In particular, the recording head 3 of this embodiment employs an ink jet system that ejects ink using thermal energy, and includes an electrothermal transducer to generate thermal energy, which is applied to the electrothermal transducer. Electric energy is converted into thermal energy, and ink is ejected from the ejection port by utilizing pressure changes caused by bubble growth and contraction caused by film boiling caused by applying the thermal energy to the ink. The electrothermal transducer is provided corresponding to each of the ejection ports, and ink is ejected from the corresponding ejection port by applying a pulse voltage to the corresponding electrothermal transducer in accordance with the recording signal.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the carriage 2 is connected to a part of the driving belt 7 of the transmission mechanism 4 that transmits the driving force of the carriage motor M <b> 1, and slides in the direction of arrow A along the guide shaft 13. It is guided and supported freely. Accordingly, the carriage 2 reciprocates along the guide shaft 13 by forward and reverse rotations of the carriage motor M1. A scale 8 is provided for indicating the absolute position of the carriage 2 along the moving direction of the carriage 2 (the direction of arrow A). In this embodiment, the scale 8 uses a transparent PET film with black bars printed at a necessary pitch, one of which is fixed to the chassis 9 and the other is supported by a leaf spring (not shown). Yes.

  Further, the recording apparatus 1 is provided with a platen (not shown) facing the discharge port surface where the discharge port (not shown) of the recording head 3 is formed, and the recording head 3 is driven by the driving force of the carriage motor M1. At the same time as the carriage 2 loaded with is reciprocated, recording is performed over the entire width of the recording medium P conveyed on the platen by giving a recording signal to the recording head 3 and discharging ink.

  Further, in FIG. 7, 14 is a transport roller driven by a transport motor M2 to transport the recording medium P, 15 is a pinch roller that abuts the recording medium P against the transport roller 14 by a spring (not shown), and 16 is a pinch. A pinch roller holder 17 that rotatably supports the roller 15 is a conveyance roller gear fixed to one end of the conveyance roller 14. Then, the transport roller 14 is driven by the rotation of the transport motor M2 transmitted to the transport roller gear 17 through an intermediate gear (not shown).

  Further, reference numeral 20 denotes a discharge roller for discharging the recording medium P on which an image is formed by the recording head 3 to the outside of the recording apparatus, and is driven by transmitting the rotation of the transport motor M2. . The discharge roller 20 abuts on a spur roller (not shown) that presses the recording medium P by a spring (not shown). Reference numeral 22 denotes a spur holder that rotatably supports the spur roller.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the recording apparatus includes a desired position (for example, a home position) outside the range of reciprocating motion (outside the recording area) for the recording operation of the carriage 2 on which the recording head 3 is mounted. A recovery device 10 for recovering the ejection failure of the recording head 3 is disposed at a position corresponding to (1).

  The recovery device 10 includes a capping mechanism 11 for capping the ejection port surface of the recording head 3 and a wiping mechanism 12 for cleaning the ejection port surface of the recording head 3, and interlocks with the capping of the ejection port surface by the capping mechanism 11. Ink recovery such as forcibly discharging ink from the discharge port by suction means (suction pump or the like) in the recovery device, thereby removing ink or bubbles having increased viscosity in the ink flow path of the recording head 3 Process.

  Further, when the recording head 3 is not in operation or the like, the ejection port surface of the recording head 3 is capped by the capping mechanism 11 to protect the recording head 3 and to prevent ink evaporation and drying. On the other hand, the wiping mechanism 12 is disposed in the vicinity of the capping mechanism 11 and wipes ink droplets adhering to the ejection port surface of the recording head 3.

  The capping mechanism 11 and the wiping mechanism 12 can keep the ink ejection state of the recording head 3 normal.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the controller 600 includes a CPU 601, a ROM 602 storing a program corresponding to a control sequence to be described later, a required table, and other fixed data, control of the carriage motor M <b> 1, control of the transport motor M <b> 2, and recording. A special purpose integrated circuit (ASIC) 603 that generates a control signal for controlling the head 3, a RAM 604 provided with a development area for image data, a work area for executing a program, and the like are connected to each other. A system bus 605 that transmits and receives data includes an A / D converter 606 that inputs analog signals from a sensor group described below, performs A / D conversion, and supplies digital signals to the CPU 601.

  In FIG. 6, reference numeral 610 denotes a computer (or a reader for image reading, a digital camera, etc.) serving as a supply source of image data, and is collectively referred to as a host device. Image data, commands, status signals, and the like are transmitted and received between the host apparatus 610 and the recording apparatus 1 via an interface (I / F) 611.

  Further, reference numeral 620 denotes a switch group, which instructs activation of a power switch 621, a print switch 622 for instructing printing start, and a process (recovery process) for maintaining the ink ejection performance of the recording head 3 in a good state. For example, a recovery switch 623 for receiving a command input from the operator. Reference numeral 630 denotes a position sensor 631 such as a photocoupler for detecting the home position h, a temperature sensor 632 provided at an appropriate location of the recording apparatus for detecting the environmental temperature, and the like. It is a sensor group.

  Further, 640 is a carriage motor driver that drives a carriage motor M1 for reciprocating scanning of the carriage 2 in the direction of arrow A, and 642 is a transport motor driver that drives a transport motor M2 for transporting the recording medium P.

  The ASIC 603 transfers drive data (DATA) of the printing element (ejection heater) to the printing head while directly accessing the storage area of the RAM 602 during printing scanning by the printing head 3.

  The correspondence between the configuration shown in FIG. 6 and the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The CPU 101 in FIG. 1 is the CPU 601 in FIG. 6, the firmware unit 102 and the nonvolatile memory unit 103 in FIG. 1 corresponds to the RAM 604 in FIG. 6, the interface unit 105 in FIG. 1 corresponds to the interface 611 in FIG. 6, and the display / operation unit 106 in FIG. 1 corresponds to the switch group 620 in FIG.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, the firmware unit and the nonvolatile memory unit have been described as separate configurations. However, if the configuration is configured such that the inside is separated and can be recognized as an apparently different portion, one electrically rewritable nonvolatile It may be a sex storage medium.

  Further, the connection between the electronic device and the host device may be wired or wireless, and the protocol and communication method are not particularly limited.

  The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  Note that the present invention supplies a software program (in this embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment directly or remotely to the system or device, and the system or device. The computer can read out and execute the supplied program code. In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, the form does not need to be a program.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. That is, the claims of the present invention include the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R).

  As another program supply method, a client computer browser is used to connect to an Internet site, and the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function is downloaded from the site to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Can also be supplied. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different site. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the scope of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from the site via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure regarding the download of the firmware of the electronic device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of mapping of the volatile memory of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of 1st non-volatile memory mapping of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a mapping of the 2nd non-volatile memory of embodiment. It is a flowchart of the firmware download operation | movement of embodiment. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit of the recording apparatus. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applicable.

Claims (6)

Electronic equipment controlled by firmware,
A non-volatile first storage means for storing the firmware and a firmware download program;
Information relating to mapping, information relating to control of the electronic device and log information, and electrically rewritable nonvolatile second storage means;
A volatile third storage means;
A communication means for communicating with the connected host device;
In the download mode for updating the firmware, the download program is executed, and the firmware rewriting program, the mapping update program, and new firmware transmitted from the host device via the communication unit are transmitted to the first firmware. 3, the mapping update program is executed, the mapping of the second storage unit is changed, the information about the mapping is changed, the firmware rewriting program is executed, An electronic device comprising: control means for controlling the firmware to be written in an area of the first storage means in which the firmware is stored.   The control means performs control so that the mapping update program is not executed when the information regarding the mapping included in the mapping update program is the same as the information regarding the mapping stored in the second storage means. The electronic device according to claim 1.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to be in the download mode when specific control information is received from the host device.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic apparatus is a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium. An electronic device controlled by firmware, storing the firmware and a firmware download program, and electrically rewritable nonvolatile first storage means, mapping information, Non-volatile second storage means for storing control-related information and log information, electrically rewritable, volatile third storage means, and communication means for communicating with a connected host device, A method for updating firmware of an electronic device comprising:
A download step of executing the download program and storing the firmware rewriting program, the mapping update program and the new firmware transmitted from the host device via the communication unit in the third storage unit; ,
A mapping update step of executing the mapping update program to change the mapping of the second storage means and to change the information on the mapping;
A firmware updating step of executing the firmware rewriting program and writing the new firmware in an area where the firmware is stored in the first storage means. How to update device firmware. A computer system including an electronic device controlled by firmware and a host device connected to the electronic device,
The electronic device stores the firmware and the firmware download program, and is electrically rewritable nonvolatile first storage means, information on mapping, information on control of the electronic device, and log information. Non-volatile second storage means for storing and electrically rewriting, volatile third storage means, and communication means for communicating with the connected host device,
When the host device executes the download program in the electronic device and requests an update of the firmware, the new firmware is stored in the area of the first storage means in which the firmware is stored. A computer system comprising: a firmware rewriting program for writing data; a mapping update program for changing the mapping of the second storage means and changing information relating to the mapping; and new firmware.

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