JPH03123929A - Disk identification control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To support several kinds of drives without burdening a user by providing a means comparing prescribed parameters, a means requesting resetting, a means urging the user to select a value and a means for updating information. CONSTITUTION:The parameter for identifying the type of a hard disk, information on the name of a model, the number of heads, the number of tracks, and the number of sectors, for example, are given to a built-in memory 106, and the identification parameters in the memories 103 and 106 on a system-side and a drive-side are compared in an initial test by CPU 101 immediately after power is supplied. When they differ, an error is generated and the resetting of setup is requested. At the time of setting setup, the system-side indicates (displays) only an appropriate set point which the drive supports from the identification parameter of the connected drive and the user decides from among choices. Thus, the types of various hard disk drives connected to a system are identified by the system-side and the appropriate setting of the drives in setting up is attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a disk identification control system particularly suitable for use in personal computers.

(Prior Art) As hard disk drives have become smaller and more dense, not only desktop type computers but also relatively high-performance laptop type personal computers have come to be equipped with hard disk drives as standard equipment. Personal computers of this type tend to come in several types, even if they are the same model, depending on the capacity of the disk drive.

Furthermore, drives of the same capacity may be made by different vendors. In this case, the various different drives are
The setting values will be different. The setting values here include, for example, the number of heads and the number of tracks.

There are number of sectors, etc.

When supporting several types of drives on the same personal computer, it is necessary to manually enter appropriate setting values during environment setup (setup) and notify the system.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Conventionally, during setup, the user has been required to accurately identify the type of drive connected to the system and input setting values. However, the user has no way to know even if different drive settings are set, and if the user sets different drive settings, the drives will not operate normally. in this way,
It is difficult to support several types of drives without burdening users.

This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a disk identification control method in which the system side automatically identifies the types of various hard disk drives connected to a personal computer and allows appropriate settings for the disk drives during setup. The purpose is to

[Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems)] The present invention provides a means for reading out one parameter from a connected disk drive and comparing it with a setup parameter at the time of system initialization, and a means for Based on the means to request a setup reconfiguration and the identification parameters of the disk drives connected to the system.
This system is characterized by having a means for displaying the setting range of disk drives supported by the system and prompting the user to select it, and a means for updating the setup information by instructing the user to select it. The system side identifies the types of the various hard disk drives connected, allowing appropriate settings for the drives during setup.

(Function) In the above configuration, parameters for identifying the type of hard disk, such as model name, number of heads, number of tracks, etc.
Information such as the number of sectors is stored in the built-in memory of the hard disk drive. Immediately after the power is turned on, during an initial test, the identification parameters in the memory on the system side and the drive side are compared, and if they are different, an error occurs and the setup Request reconfiguration. When configuring the setup, the system presents only appropriate settings supported by the drive based on the identification parameters of the connected drive, and the user makes a selection from among these. This makes it possible for the system to identify the type of the connected drive after power is turned on, and to present a setup reconfiguration request to the user if the setup drive settings are inappropriate. Furthermore, during setup settings, the system can present to the user options only with setting values supported by the connected drive.

This allows the system to support several types of drives without burdening the user.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 101 is a CPU, which serves as the control center of the system. Reference numeral 102 is a ROM, in which programs such as initial test and setup of the system are stored, and the CPU
It is read and executed by I. A memory 103 stores various setting values 104 including drive identification parameters for system setup.
It is read/written by the UI, and its contents are retained by battery backup even after the power is turned off.

A hard disk controller (HDC) 105 is provided in the hard disk device and performs interface processing between the system side and the drive. Reference numeral 106 is a built-in memory of the hard disk device, which stores various setting values 1 including hard disk drive identification parameters.
07 is stored and can be read from the system side via the HDC 105. A hard disk drive (HDD) 108 is controlled by the HDC 104 to read/write data.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, symbol A is an IRT routine that tests the initial system.
Booted from 2, memory.

Floppy disk drive (FDD), HDD.

Execute tests on each input/output port, etc. in sequence. Reference numeral B is a routine for performing an initial test of the hard disk drive, which compares the memory 106 in the hard disk drive with the drive identification parameters for setup on the system side, and requests setup if they do not match. code C
is a routine that configures the hard disk drive within Setup. Here, the user selects one of the setting values supported by the drive and writes its contents to the setup memory.

Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail. After the power is turned on, CPU10I stores the B data stored in ROM102.
l RT (lni) in IOS (M personal identification system)
tlal Reliabilty Te5t) program and execute it. First, the initial system test routine A is started and various tests such as a memory test, a broken disk drive test, and a floppy disk drive test are executed. Among these, in the initial test of the hard disk (routine B in Figure 2), HDC1
A read command for drive identification parameters is issued to 05 and compared with the parameters in the setup. If they do not match, an error message is displayed and a request is made to reconfigure the setup. When the setup program is started from the ROM 102, the hard disk drive setting routine C therein reads out and displays setting value selections supported by the system in advance from the ROM 102, based on the identification parameters of the connected drive. . The user determines the setting value from the selection, and the contents of the setup memory 103 on the system side, that is,
Rewrite drive identification parameters, etc.

This makes it possible for the system to identify the type of the connected drive immediately after power is turned on, and to present a setup resetting request to the user if the setup drive settings are inappropriate.

Furthermore, during setup settings, the system can present to the user only the settings that are supported by the connected drive.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) If the drive setting values during setup are incorrect, the user can be informed of this by the occurrence of an error on the system side.

(2) The user can always set the settings supported by the drive during setup settings.

(3) The system can support several types of drives without placing a burden on the user.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. 101...CPU, 102...ROM, 103...
・Memory, 105...Hard disk controller (
IDC), 106...Built-in memory, 108...Hard disk drive (HDD).

Claims (1)

[Claims] means for reading an identification parameter from a disk drive connected to the system and comparing it with a setup parameter when the system is initialized; means for selectively requesting reconfiguration of the setup according to the comparison result of the means; and a disk drive connected to the system. A disk characterized by comprising means for displaying a setting range of disk drives supported by the system and prompting the user to select based on identification parameters of the drive, and means for updating setup information in accordance with the selection instruction according to the means. Discrimination control method.