JP4990178B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing apparatus control method, control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus control method, a control program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to control of an image processing apparatus to which a disk-type storage device can be connected.

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to digitize information, and image processing apparatuses such as printers and facsimiles used for outputting digitized information and scanners used for digitizing documents have become indispensable devices. Such an image processing apparatus is often configured as a multifunction machine that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, or a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like.

  In recent years, it has been known that such an image processing apparatus has an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and accumulates output images and captured images, thereby improving convenience. The storage area of the HDD is also used as a spool area for image information generated by image processing when executing printout.

In such an image processing apparatus having an HDD, a method has been proposed in which the influence of vibration applied to the HDD is measured and the processing is changed in accordance with the measurement result (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, in an MFP equipped with an HDD, the HDD data transfer rate at the time of occurrence of vibration and at the time of no vibration is measured to determine the abnormal level of the HDD, A method for controlling a multifunction peripheral according to the determination result is disclosed.
JP 2007-18602 A

  However, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, no consideration is given to handling when an abnormality occurs in the HDD. In the case of a multifunction machine that uses an HDD in operations such as image processing, if the HDD becomes unusable, the apparatus itself cannot be used. Here, in the case of an apparatus configured for a predetermined purpose such as an image processing apparatus, a general-purpose user interface is not provided. For this reason, even if the failure of the HDD is a recoverable failure, it is difficult to recover when it is connected to the device, and it is necessary to stop the device and take out the HDD to deal with the failure. It was time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent an information processing apparatus equipped with a disk storage device from becoming unusable due to a failure of the disk storage device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a diagnostic process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the connected disk type storage device when the disk type storage device is connected and being started up. In an executable image processing apparatus, a control unit that controls a startup process of the image processing apparatus, a read information storage unit that stores information read from the disk-type storage device, and a startup process of the image processing apparatus An information transfer unit that reads storage information stored in the disk-type storage device connected to the image processing apparatus and transfers it to the read-out information storage unit; and the read information from the disk-type storage device by the information transfer unit A transfer rate information acquisition unit for acquiring transfer rate information related to a transfer rate of the storage information to the storage unit, and the acquired transfer rate information A defect determination unit for determining that a defect has occurred in the disk-type storage device, and repairing a storage area of the disk-type storage device when the defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred. A storage area repairing unit, and an access history information storage unit storing access history information for each area divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the disk-type storage device, and the information transfer The unit is configured to determine an order of reading the storage information of the respective areas in the startup processing of the image processing apparatus based on information stored in the access history information storage unit .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus that can be used with a disk type storage device connected thereto, and that can execute a diagnostic process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the connected disk type storage device at the time of startup. A control unit that controls a startup process of the image processing device, a read information storage unit that stores information read from the disk-type storage device, and a connection to the image processing device in the startup process of the image processing device An information transfer unit that reads the stored information stored in the disc type storage device and transfers it to the read information storage unit, and the storage from the disc type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit A transfer rate information acquisition unit for acquiring transfer rate information relating to a transfer rate of information, and the disk based on the acquired transfer rate information A defect determination unit that determines that a defect has occurred in the storage device, and a storage area repair unit that repairs the storage area of the disk-type storage device when the defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred The transfer rate information acquisition unit acquires the transfer rate information for each of the areas divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the disk type storage device, and the defect determination unit It is determined that a problem has occurred in the area related to the acquisition of speed information, and the storage area repair unit repairs all storage areas of the disk type storage device.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus capable of executing a diagnostic process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the connected disk type storage device at the time of start-up. A control unit that controls a startup process of the image processing device, a read information storage unit that stores information read from the disk-type storage device, and a connection to the image processing device in the startup process of the image processing device An information transfer unit that reads the stored information stored in the disc type storage device and transfers it to the read information storage unit, and the storage from the disc type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit A transfer rate information acquisition unit for acquiring transfer rate information relating to a transfer rate of information, and the disk based on the acquired transfer rate information A defect determination unit that determines that a defect has occurred in the storage device, and a storage area repair unit that repairs the storage area of the disk-type storage device when the defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred And the information transfer unit transfers the storage information stored in the storage area repaired by the storage area repair unit to the read information storage unit again, and the defect determination unit transfers the second transfer again. It is determined that a defect has occurred in the disk type storage device based on transfer rate information relating to the speed of the disk.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the transfer rate information acquisition unit is divided into a plurality of areas in a storage area of the disk type storage device. The transfer rate information is acquired for each of the areas that have been generated, and the control unit has a problem with the transfer rate information acquired for one of the divided areas by the defect determination unit. If it is determined, the diagnosis process is terminated after the repair process of the area where the defect is determined to have occurred by the defect determination unit.

The invention according to claim 5 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an access frequency information storage unit storing access frequency information for each area. The unit is configured to determine an order of reading the storage information of each area in the startup processing of the image processing apparatus based on information stored in the access frequency information storage unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing device according to the first , third, fourth, and fifth aspects, the transfer rate information acquisition unit is divided into a plurality of areas in a storage area of the disk type storage device. The transfer rate information is acquired for each of the areas that have been determined, the defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred in the area related to the acquisition of the transfer rate information, the storage area repair unit, The area determined to have the defect is repaired.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect , the storage area restoration unit transfers the read area from the area where the defect is determined to have occurred. The stored information is then written into the area to repair the area.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, preliminary information similar to the information stored in the area where the defect has been determined is stored. And the storage area repairing section restores the area by writing the spare information stored in the spare information storage section into the area.

The invention of claim 9 is a control method of a disk-type storage device connected to available image processing apparatus, and starts power supply to the image processing apparatus, the pre-Symbol image processing apparatus and it controls the activation process, and stores the information which the read from the image processing apparatus connected to said disk-type storage device said disk-type storage device reads the storage information stored in the startup process of the image processing apparatus reading Transfer to the information storage unit, obtain transfer rate information regarding the transfer rate of the storage information from the disk-type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit, and based on the acquired transfer rate information It is determined that a problem has occurred in the disk type storage device, and if it is determined that the problem has occurred, the storage area of the disk type storage device Repaired, based on the information the disk-type storage stores the information of access history in the storage medium for each area of each divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the device, stored in the access history information storage unit, It is characterized in that the order of reading out the stored information of the respective areas is determined in the starting process of the image processing apparatus .

The invention according to claim 1 0 is a control program, characterized in that to be executed by the information processing apparatus control method according to claim 9.

The invention of claim 1 1, a recording medium, wherein the information processing apparatus control program according to claim 1 0 recorded in a form readable.

  According to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus equipped with a disk storage device, it becomes possible to prevent the device from becoming unusable due to a failure of the disk storage device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, as an example of an information processing apparatus equipped with a disk storage device, an image processing apparatus equipped with an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) will be described as an example. The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment executes a diagnosis process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the mounted HDD in the startup process after the power is turned on.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 101, a scanner unit 102, a paper discharge tray 103, a network I / F 104, and a display panel. 105, a paper feed table 106, a print engine 107, a paper discharge tray 108, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) unit 109, and an NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) 110. The controller 100 includes a main control unit 111, an engine control unit 112, an input / output control unit 113, an image processing unit 114, and a storage controller 115. In FIG. 1, the electrical connection is indicated by a solid arrow, and the flow of a sheet or a document bundle is indicated by a broken arrow.

  The network I / F 104 is an interface used when the image processing apparatus 1 communicates with other devices such as a host device. The print job transmitted from the host device is input to the controller 100 via the network I / F 104, and image forming processing based on the print job is executed under the control of the controller 100. The display panel 105 is an output interface that visually displays the state of the image processing apparatus 1, and is also an input interface when the user directly operates the image processing apparatus 1 as a touch panel.

  The NVRAM 110 is a nonvolatile semiconductor storage medium. The NVRAM 110 stores a control program for configuring the controller 100 in the image processing apparatus 1, parameter information for program operation, and the like. In the present embodiment, a control program for configuring the controller 100 stored in the NVRAM 110 is downloaded to the HDD 109. When the controller 100 is configured in actual operation of the image processing apparatus 1, the controller 100 is configured by a control program downloaded to the HDD 109. The control program information stored in the NVRAM 110 is used as preliminary information for restoring the control program downloaded to the HDD 109. That is, the NVRAM 110 functions as a preliminary information storage unit.

  The controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. Specifically, a control program such as firmware stored in a nonvolatile storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a nonvolatile memory, the HDD 109, an optical disk, or an NVRAM 110 is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The controller 100 is configured by a software control unit that is loaded into a memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) and is configured according to the control of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and hardware such as an integrated circuit. The controller 100 functions as a control unit that controls the entire image processing apparatus 1.

  The main control unit 111 plays a role of controlling each unit included in the controller 100, and gives a command to each unit of the controller 100. In the present embodiment, the main control unit 111 functions as a control unit that controls the startup process of the apparatus after the image processing apparatus 1 is powered on. The engine control unit 112 serves as a driving unit that controls or drives the print engine 107, the scanner unit 102, and the like. The input / output control unit 113 inputs a print job input via the network I / F 104 and operation information input by the user from the display panel 105 to the main control unit 111, and displays the display panel according to an instruction from the main control unit 111. Information is displayed on 105 or the information is transmitted to the host device via the network I / F 104.

  The image processing unit 114 generates drawing information based on information included in the print job, an accumulated document stored in the HDD 109, and the like, under the control of the main control unit 111. This drawing information is information for drawing an image to be formed by the print engine 107 in the image forming operation. The image processing unit 114 processes image data input from the scanner unit 102 and generates image data. This image data is information stored in the HDD 109 as a result of the scanner operation or transmitted to the host device via the network I / F 104. The image processing unit 114 sequentially transmits the generated drawing information or image information to the storage controller 115. The drawing information transmitted to the storage controller 115 is spooled in the HDD 109.

  The storage controller 115 controls the storage of information in the HDD 109 and the reading of information from the HDD 109 according to the control of the main control unit 111. It also controls the storage of information in the NVRAM 110 and the reading of information. That is, in this embodiment, the storage controller 115 functions as a read information storage unit that temporarily stores information read from the HDD 109 and also functions as an information transfer unit that transfers information read from the HDD 109 to the read information storage unit. To do. In the HDD 109, reference is made in various operations of the image processing apparatus 1 and address book of network address information of the host apparatus connected via the network I / F 104, transmission destination information when the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a facsimile. The set value to be stored is stored.

  As described above, each unit included in the controller 100 is realized by software and hardware. However, the storage controller 115 performs a check process of the HDD 109 when the image processing apparatus 1 is activated, which is the gist of the present embodiment. Execute. Therefore, it is preferable that the storage controller 115 is configured by a program stored only in hardware or in a nonvolatile storage medium other than the HDD 109. In the present embodiment, a program constituting the storage controller 115 is stored in a non-volatile memory provided in the image processing apparatus 1.

  When the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a printer, first, the input / output control unit 113 receives a print job via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) or a LAN (Local Area Network) connected to the host I / F 104. As a result, a print job is generated. When a print job occurs, the image processing unit 114 generates drawing information based on information such as a print job or an accumulated document included in the HDD 109 in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 111. The drawing information generated by the image processing unit 114 is sequentially spooled to the HDD 109 by the storage controller 115 as described above. That is, the storage controller 115 operates as an information storage unit that stores drawing information in the HDD 109.

  The engine control unit 112 drives the paper feed table 106 under the control of the main control unit 111 and conveys printing paper to the print engine 107. Further, the engine control unit 112 acquires drawing information spooled in the HDD 109 from the storage controller 115 and inputs the drawing information to the print engine 107. The print engine 107 executes image formation on the paper conveyed from the paper feed table 106 based on the drawing information received from the engine control unit 112. That is, the print engine 107 operates as an image forming unit. As a specific aspect of the print engine 107, an image forming mechanism using an ink jet method, an image forming mechanism using an electrophotographic method, or the like can be used. A document on which image formation has been performed by the print engine 107 is discharged to a discharge tray 108.

  When the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a scanner, the input / output control unit 113 operates as a main control unit in response to a user operation on the display panel 105 or a scan execution instruction input from an external host device via the network I / F 104. A scan execution signal is transmitted to 111. The main control unit 111 controls the engine control unit 112 based on the scan execution signal received from the input / output control unit 113. The engine control unit 112 drives the ADF 101 and conveys the document to be imaged set on the ADF 101 to the scanner unit 102. In addition, the engine control unit 112 drives the scanner unit 102 and images a document conveyed from the ADF 101. If no original is set on the ADF 101 and the original is directly set on the scanner unit 102, the scanner unit 102 images the set original under the control of the engine control unit 112. That is, the scanner unit 102 operates as an imaging unit.

  In the imaging operation, an imaging element such as a CCD included in the scanner unit 102 optically scans the document, and imaging information generated based on the optical information is generated. The engine control unit 112 transfers the imaging information generated by the scanner unit 102 to the image processing unit 114. The image processing unit 114 generates image information based on the imaging information received from the engine control unit 112 according to the control of the main control unit 111. The image information generated by the image processing unit 114 is sequentially spooled in the HDD 109. The image information generated by the image processing unit 114 and spooled in the HDD 109 is stored in the HDD 109 or transmitted to an external host device via the input / output control unit 113 and the network I / F 104 according to a user instruction.

  Further, when the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a copying machine, the image processing unit 114 is based on imaging information received from the scanner unit 102 by the engine control unit 112 or image information generated by the image processing unit 114 and stored in the HDD 109. Generates drawing information. Based on the drawing information, the engine control unit 112 drives the print engine 107 as in the case of the printer operation.

  In the HDD 109 according to the present embodiment, the storage area is divided into a plurality of areas, and the areas to be stored are divided according to the type of data to be stored. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the types of data stored for each storage area of the HDD 109. As shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic disk, which is a storage medium included in the HDD 109 according to this embodiment, has an “image area”, “work area”, “program area 1”, “program area 2”, and “Program area 3” is assigned.

  The “image area” is an area used as a local storage as shown in FIG. 2 and stores information accumulated in the image processing apparatus 1 such as information of an image scanned by the user by the image processing apparatus 1. The “work area” is used as a work area when executing the system program or as a work area for creating an image. That is, it is this “work area” that is used in the spool processing described above.

  In the controller 100 of the image processing apparatus 1, as described above, the engine control unit 112, the image processing unit 114, and the like are configured by the operation of the program, and functions such as copying, printers, and facsimiles are realized. Programs that realize these functions are application programs such as a copy application, a printer application, and a facsimile application. The area in the HDD 109 where various application programs are stored is divided for each application, such as “program area 1”, “program area 2”, “program area 3”... Shown in FIG. ing.

  In such an image processing apparatus 1, the gist of the present embodiment is the check operation of the HDD 109 when the power is turned on. Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the operation of the image processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment when the power is turned on will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment when the power is turned on. As shown in FIG. 2, when the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is powered on (S301), the HDD 109 is checked as one of POR (Power On Reset) processing. In the checking process of the HDD 109 of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, first, the storage controller 115 determines an area to be checked among the storage areas of the HDD 109 according to the control of the main control unit 111 (S302).

  In the processing of S302, the storage controller 115 determines the access history information for each storage area in the HDD 109 described in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as access history information) and the access frequency information for each storage area (hereinafter referred to as access frequency). The area to be checked is determined based on the information. Here, the access history information and access frequency information of the HDD 109 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information included in the access history information of the HDD 109 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of information included in the access frequency information of the HDD 109 according to the present embodiment. These pieces of information are accumulated and stored by the storage controller 115. That is, the storage controller 115 functions as an access history information storage unit and an access frequency information storage unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the access history information according to the present embodiment includes access date and time to the HDD 109, an accessed area among the storage areas shown in FIG. 2, and ID information that uniquely identifies each access history. Are stored in association with each other. As shown in FIG. 5, the access frequency information according to the present embodiment stores each storage area shown in FIG. 2 and the rank of the access frequency of each storage area in association with each other. As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the access frequency in the order of “image area”, “work area”, “program area 1”, “program area 2”, “program area 3”,. It has become. The access frequency information shown in FIG. 5 is generated based on the access history information described with reference to FIG. That is, in a broad sense, the access frequency information shown in FIG. 5 can also be referred to as access history information.

  The access history information and the access frequency information described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 are stored in a non-volatile memory provided in the image processing apparatus 1 as information included in the software program constituting the storage controller 115. When the storage controller 115 is configured, the access history information and the access frequency information are held by the storage controller 115 as a part of information constituting the storage controller 115. Thereby, the storage controller 115 can execute the check area selection processing in S302 with reference to the access history information and the access frequency information.

  In the processing of S302 according to the present embodiment, the storage controller 115 refers to the access history information and the access frequency information shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and preferentially checks an area having a recent access history or a high access frequency. Decide as a target. In the process of S302, the order of checking each storage area of the HDD 109 may be determined based on any of the access history information and the access frequency information. Further, the priority in the access history information and the priority in the access frequency information may be digitized and determined based on both information.

  In the actual device operation, when a failure relating to the HDD 109 occurs, such as a write error to the HDD 109, the device itself restarts. In such a case, there is a high possibility that a problem has occurred in the last accessed area in the HDD 109. Therefore, as described above, in the process of S302, by referring to the access history information shown in FIG. 4 and determining the check target area, the storage area having a high possibility of failure is preferentially assigned. Can be checked.

  Also, in the HDD 109, it is considered that the more frequently the storage area is accessed, the higher the possibility that a failure has occurred. Therefore, as described above, in the process of S302, by referring to the access frequency information shown in FIG. 5 and determining the check target area, the storage area having a high possibility of failure is preferentially checked. Can be targeted.

  When the storage area to be checked is determined, the storage controller 115 reads the information stored in the target storage area and measures the information transfer speed, that is, the access speed in the read processing (S303). That is, the storage controller 115 functions as a transfer rate information acquisition unit. The storage controller 115 checks whether there is an abnormality in the storage area to be checked based on the measured transfer rate (S304). That is, the storage controller 115 functions as a failure determination unit. There may be a plurality of factors that cause a failure in the magnetic disk that is the storage medium of the HDD 109, but any factor contributes to the deterioration of the error rate and the number of retries, and finally affects the information reading speed. Therefore, by measuring the transfer speed of the HDD 109, it is possible to determine whether there is an abnormality in the storage medium of the HDD 109.

  Here, the transfer rate of the HDD 109 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the transfer rate from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the magnetic disk when the HDD 109 is normal. As shown in FIG. 6, general HDDs including the HDD 109 according to the present embodiment have the highest transfer rate on the outer peripheral side, and the transfer rate becomes lower as they approach the inner peripheral side. This is due to the difference in angular velocity on the plate surface of the magnetic disk.

  The storage controller 115 according to the present embodiment stores the information shown in FIG. 6, that is, information indicating the normal transfer rate of the HDD 109 (hereinafter referred to as basic transfer rate information), and information on the transfer rate measured in S303. Is compared with the basic transfer rate information to determine whether or not the transfer rate measured in S303 is abnormal (S304). In the determination in S304, for example, if the transfer rate measured in S303 is 10% or less of the transfer rate of the corresponding storage area in the basic transfer rate information, it is determined that there is an abnormality. That is, a threshold value for determining an abnormality in the transfer rate is generated based on the basic transfer rate information. An example of the transfer speed when a part of the storage medium of the HDD 109 is abnormal is shown in FIG.

  If it is determined that the transfer rate is abnormal (S304 / YES), the storage controller 115 determines whether data restoration of the target storage area is possible (S305). Here, the target storage area is an area for which the transfer rate is determined to be abnormal in S304, and is typically determined for each sector, but for each storage area described in FIG. Alternatively, a plurality of sectors may be collectively determined as a block.

  The data restoration possibility determination process in S305 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data restoration availability determination process in S305. As shown in FIG. 8, in determining whether data restoration is possible, the storage controller 115 first determines whether there is spare data for the target storage area (S801). Here, the spare data is the same data stored in the HDD 109 and is stored in a storage medium other than the HDD 109 such as the NVRAM 110 or the ROM provided in the image processing apparatus 1. This spare data is stored for verification of data stored in the HDD 109, restoration of software programs constituting the controller 100, and the like. In this embodiment, spare data is stored only for the programs stored in the program areas 1, 2 and 3 shown in FIG.

  If spare data is stored (S801 / YES), the data can be restored using the spare data, so the storage controller 115 determines that data restoration is possible (S802). On the other hand, when the spare data is not stored (S801 / NO), the storage controller 115 determines whether or not the reading of data from the target storage area is completed in the process of S303 (S803). If the data reading from the target area has been completed even though the transfer speed is abnormal (S803 / YES), the data can be restored using the read data. It is determined that it is possible (S802). If the data reading has not been completed (S803 / NO), the storage controller 115 determines that the data cannot be restored (S804).

  As a result of the processing shown in FIG. 8, when data restoration is possible (S305 / YES), the storage controller 115 overwrites the data in the target storage area (S306), and ends the processing. Here, overwriting data is a process of rewriting data stored in a target storage area. When data restoration is possible, either the preliminary data described in FIG. 8 or the data that has been read is held. By rewriting the data stored in the storage area in which the transfer speed is determined to be abnormal in S304, it is possible to eliminate the problem caused by incomplete information writing. That is, the storage controller 115 functions as a storage area restoration unit.

  On the other hand, when data restoration is impossible (S305 / NO), the storage controller 115 functions as a storage area restoration unit, and formats the target storage area (S307). The formatting process in S307 is a process for initializing the target storage area, and includes a process for rewriting the format information of the target storage area, a process for replacing an unrecoverable sector with a replacement sector, and the like. Thereby, although the data stored in the target storage area is lost, the problem of the area can be solved and the data can be used as a normal storage area.

  If the transfer speed is normal as a result of the measurement of the transfer speed in S303 (S304 / NO), the process is repeated until the process of S303 is completed for all the storage areas included in the storage medium of the HDD 109 (S308 / NO). If the process of S303 is completed for all the areas (S308 / YES), the process ends.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the storage controller 115 executes the HDD 109 check process when the apparatus is activated. Then, the device itself of the HDD 109, that is, a hardware failure does not occur, and a software failure such as a write error to the storage medium is repaired. As a result, in the information processing apparatus equipped with the disk storage device, it becomes possible to prevent the device from becoming unusable due to a failure of the disk storage device.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the presence / absence of a failure of the HDD 109 is determined based on the transfer rate in reading information. This is because the above-mentioned software defects mainly cause deterioration in error rate and increase in the number of retries, and consequently affect the transfer speed. That is, it is possible to efficiently detect a software defect that does not require the HDD itself to be taken out and repaired by determining whether or not the HDD 109 has failed based on the transfer rate in reading information.

  In the above description, as described with reference to FIG. 3, an example has been described in which the repair process is executed at the stage where an abnormality in the transfer speed is found in the storage medium of the HDD 109 and the process ends as it is. This is because the frequency of errors occurring in the HDD 109 is generally not so high, and the possibility of errors occurring simultaneously in a plurality of storage areas is low. That is, if the repair process is executed only in the area where the error is found when the error is found, it is considered that the possibility that the error has occurred in the other area is low.

  In contrast, the entire area of the storage medium of the HDD 109 may be checked regardless of whether an error is found. Such an embodiment is shown in FIG. The processes in S901 to S908 shown in FIG. 9 are the same as the processes in S301 to S308 described in FIG. In the aspect shown in FIG. 9, is the check completed for all areas of the storage medium of the HDD 109 after the restoration processing in S906 or S907 is completed, or when the transfer rate measured in S903 is normal? Is determined (S908). By such processing, even if a problem occurs in a plurality of areas at once in the storage medium of the HDD 109, it is possible to cope with it.

  In the above description, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the example in which the storage area repair process is executed in S <b> 306 or S <b> 307 and then the process is ended as it is. In addition, the area where the repair process has been executed may be checked again. Such an embodiment is shown in FIG. The processes in S1001 to S1008 shown in FIG. 10 are the same as the processes in S301 to S308 described in FIG. In the aspect shown in FIG. 10, after the repair process in S1006 or S1007 is completed, the target area is checked again (S1009).

  In the check process of the target area in S1009, when the data overwriting process in S1006 is performed, the overwritten data is read again and the transfer speed is measured. On the other hand, when the format process of S1007 is performed, test data is written, the data is read, and the transfer speed is measured. If the transfer rate is abnormal as a result of the measurement of the transfer rate in S1009 (S1010 / YES), the storage controller 115 determines that the failure in the target area is a failure that cannot be repaired. In this case, the main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113 to display an error screen on the display panel 105 (S1011), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the transfer rate is normal (S1010 / NO), the process ends.

  As described above, after executing the repair process, the target area is checked again to confirm that the repair of the data is completed, or when a failure that cannot be repaired has occurred in the HDD 109. This can be detected and notified to the user.

  In the above description, as described with reference to FIG. 3, an example has been described in which the repair process is executed when an abnormality, that is, an area with a low transfer rate, is found in a part of each storage area in the HDD 109. In addition, after the transfer speed of the entire area of the storage medium included in the HDD 109 is measured, the repair process may be performed on the area determined to be abnormal. Such an embodiment is shown in FIG. The processes in S1101 to S1103 shown in FIG. 11 are the same as the processes in S301 to S303 described in FIG.

  In the mode shown in FIG. 11, the process is repeated for all areas of the storage medium included in HDD 109 until the measurement of the transfer rate is completed (S1104 / NO). When the transfer speed measurement is completed for all areas (S1104 / YES), the storage controller 115 determines whether there is a storage area with an abnormal transfer speed as a result of the measurement (S1105), and there is no area with an abnormal transfer speed. If (S1105 / NO), the process is terminated as it is. When there is an area where the transfer rate is abnormal (S1105 / YES), the storage controller 115 calculates the ratio of the area where the transfer speed is determined to be abnormal (hereinafter referred to as an abnormal area) to the total storage area.

  When the ratio of the abnormal area to the entire storage area of the HDD 109 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (S1106 / YES), the storage controller 115 determines that the failure occurring in the HDD 109 cannot be repaired. In this case, the main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113 to display an error screen on the display panel 105 (S1107), and the process ends. An example of the transfer rate in such a case will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the transfer rate from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the magnetic disk, as in FIGS. 6 and 7.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when a transfer speed abnormality occurs from the outer periphery to the entire inner periphery of a magnetic disk that is a storage medium included in the HDD 109, this is not a malfunction of the storage medium, but a magnetic head that reads information, etc. There is a high possibility that it is a malfunction of the other parts of. In such a case, even if data rewriting or storage area formatting is executed, the problem is not solved, and it can be determined that the data cannot be repaired. Note that the threshold value can be, for example, 50% of the entire storage area of the HDD 109. In addition, to increase the error detection frequency, set a low value such as 40% or 30%, and to decrease the error right frequency, set a high value such as 60% or 70%. Can do.

  If the ratio of the abnormal area to the entire storage area of the HDD 109 is less than the predetermined threshold (S1106 / NO), it is determined whether or not the restoration is possible as in the process of S305 in FIG. 3 (S1108). Thereafter, S1108, S1109, and S1110 are processed in the same manner as S305, S306, and S307 in FIG. As described above, when the entire storage area of the storage medium included in the HDD 109 is checked and the repair process is executed, an abnormality in the transfer speed is observed over the entire storage area. It is possible to determine whether or not the defect can be repaired without checking again later.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the division | segmentation aspect of the storage area of the storage medium contained in HDD which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of HDD diagnosis processing in the startup processing of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the access history information of HDD which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the access frequency information of HDD which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the general transfer rate for every position of the storage medium contained in HDD which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example when it is the transfer rate for every position of the storage medium contained in HDD which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and the failure has generate | occur | produced. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of determining whether or not information can be restored in the HDD diagnosis process according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the diagnostic process of HDD in the starting process of the image processing apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the diagnostic process of HDD in the starting process of the image processing apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the diagnostic process of HDD in the starting process of the image processing apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example when it is the transfer rate for every position of the storage medium contained in HDD which concerns on other embodiment of this invention, and the failure has generate | occur | produced.

Explanation of symbols

1 image processing apparatus 100 controller 101 ADF
102 Scanner unit 103 Output tray 104 Network I / F
105 Display Panel 106 Paper Feed Table 107 Print Engine 108 Paper Discharge Tray 109 HDD
110 NVRAM
111 Main Control Unit 112 Engine Control Unit 113 Input / Output Control Unit 114 Image Processing Unit 115 Storage Controller

Claims (11)

An image processing apparatus that can be used by connecting a disk type storage device and that can execute a diagnostic process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the connected disk type storage device at startup,
A control unit that controls a startup process of the image processing apparatus;
A read information storage unit for storing information read from the disk-type storage device;
An information transfer unit that reads storage information stored in the disk-type storage device connected to the image processing device in the startup processing of the image processing device and transfers the information to the read information storage unit;
A transfer rate information acquisition unit for acquiring transfer rate information related to a transfer rate of the storage information from the disk type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit;
A failure determination unit that determines that a failure has occurred in the disk-type storage device based on the acquired transfer rate information;
A storage area repair unit that repairs the storage area of the disk-type storage device when it is determined by the defect determination unit that a problem has occurred ;
An access history information storage unit storing access history information for each of the areas divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the disk-type storage device;
The information transfer unit determines an order of reading out the storage information of each area in the startup processing of the image processing device based on information stored in the access history information storage unit. Processing equipment. An image processing apparatus that can be used by connecting a disk type storage device and that can execute a diagnostic process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the connected disk type storage device at startup,
A control unit that controls a startup process of the image processing apparatus;
A read information storage unit for storing information read from the disk-type storage device;
An information transfer unit that reads storage information stored in the disk-type storage device connected to the image processing device in the startup processing of the image processing device and transfers the information to the read information storage unit;
A transfer rate information acquisition unit for acquiring transfer rate information related to a transfer rate of the storage information from the disk type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit;
A failure determination unit that determines that a failure has occurred in the disk-type storage device based on the acquired transfer rate information;
A storage area repair unit that repairs the storage area of the disk-type storage device when it is determined that a problem has occurred by the defect determination unit;
The transfer rate information acquisition unit acquires the transfer rate information for each of the areas divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the disk type storage device,
The defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred in the area related to the acquisition of the transfer rate information,
The image processing apparatus , wherein the storage area repair unit repairs the entire storage area of the disk type storage device. An image processing apparatus that can be used by connecting a disk type storage device and that can execute a diagnostic process for determining whether or not there is a problem in the connected disk type storage device at startup,
A control unit that controls a startup process of the image processing apparatus;
A read information storage unit for storing information read from the disk-type storage device;
An information transfer unit that reads storage information stored in the disk-type storage device connected to the image processing device in the startup processing of the image processing device and transfers the information to the read information storage unit;
A transfer rate information acquisition unit for acquiring transfer rate information related to a transfer rate of the storage information from the disk type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit;
A failure determination unit that determines that a failure has occurred in the disk-type storage device based on the acquired transfer rate information;
A storage area repair unit that repairs the storage area of the disk-type storage device when it is determined that a problem has occurred by the defect determination unit;
The information transfer unit transfers storage information stored in the storage area restored by the storage area restoration unit to the read information storage unit again,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred in the disk-type storage device based on transfer rate information relating to the re-transfer rate . The transfer rate information acquisition unit acquires the transfer rate information for each of the areas divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the disk type storage device,
When the defect determining unit determines that a defect has occurred in the transfer rate information acquired for one of the divided areas, the defect determining unit causes the defect. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diagnosis process is terminated after the repair process of the area determined to be performed is executed . 5. An access frequency information storage unit storing access frequency information for each of the areas;
The information transfer unit, based on information stored in the access frequency information storage unit, determines an order of reading the storage information of the respective areas in the startup processing of the image processing apparatus. the image processing apparatus according to 1. The transfer rate information acquisition unit acquires the transfer rate information for each of the areas divided into a plurality of areas in the storage area of the disk type storage device,
The defect determination unit determines that a defect has occurred in the area related to the acquisition of the transfer rate information,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage area repair unit repairs the area where it is determined that the defect has occurred. The storage area repair unit repairs the area by writing storage information transferred and held from the area where the defect is determined to have occurred to the read information storage unit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6 . A preliminary information storage unit that stores preliminary information similar to the information stored in the area where the defect is determined to have occurred;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the storage area repair unit repairs the area by writing the preliminary information stored in the preliminary information storage unit into the area .   An image processing apparatus control method that can be used by connecting a disk-type storage device,
  Start supplying power to the image processing device,
  Controlling a startup process of the image processing apparatus;
  In the startup processing of the image processing apparatus, the storage information stored in the disk type storage device connected to the image processing apparatus is read and transferred to a read information storage unit that stores the information read from the disk type storage device. ,
  Obtaining transfer rate information relating to the transfer rate of the storage information from the disk type storage device to the read information storage unit by the information transfer unit;
  Determining that a problem has occurred in the disk-type storage device based on the acquired transfer rate information;
  When it is determined that the problem has occurred, the storage area of the disk-type storage device is repaired,
  In the storage area of the disk-type storage device, access history information is stored in a storage medium for each area divided into a plurality of areas,
  A method for controlling an image processing apparatus, comprising: determining an order of reading out the storage information of each of the areas in an activation process of the image processing apparatus based on information stored in the access history information storage unit.   A control program for causing an information processing apparatus to execute the control method according to claim 9.   11. A recording medium in which the control program according to claim 10 is recorded in a format readable by an information processing apparatus.

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