JPH04192159A - Magnetic recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To predict the life of a disk drive by collecting the data of generated errors at a disk drive controller and thereby discriminating the life of a disk. CONSTITUTION:Based on a command from a CPU 11, by the controller 12, the disk drive 13 is controlled, a head is moved to a subject track, the data of an objective sector is read, and whether the data is normal or not is checked. If an error exists, a negative pulse signal is outputted and the number of times is counted by a counter 14. Then, when the number of continuous errors reaches a fixed value, it is displayed on a indicater 15, discriminated as the measure of the life of a disk, and thereby time to replace the disk is predicted. Also, by changing the composition of the counter 14, the stipulations for the number of continuously generated errors may be changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to a magnetic recording device that can easily detect the life of a disk.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, magnetic storage devices include contact types such as flexible disks and non-contact types such as hard disks, and flexible disks include replaceable disk types and fixed types. In a flexible disk type magnetic recording device, the disk surface and the read/write head are constantly in contact with each other, which causes significant wear and tear on the disk, which shortens the life of the disk. In addition, non-contact magnetic storage devices have also been developed in recent years.
As disk densities continue to increase and there is significant contact between the disk and the write/read head, wear cannot be ignored.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) It is necessary to replace the disk drive before the disk surface reaches the end of its service life, but in the past, because the timing was not known, it was often impossible to back up the data on the disk. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic recording device that can notify the user of the time to replace the disk before its life reaches the end.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention stores the number of consecutive errors that occur during disk access in a backed up memory, and detects when this number of consecutive errors has reached a specified value. and an indicator that notifies an external party of the time to replace the disk. It is also possible to determine the total number of errors that occur when accessing the disk, the total amount of time the disk was accessed, and the number of times the power was turned on and off. Furthermore, by saving the above data in the free space of the disk or the free space of another disk, and reading this data, it is possible to determine the lifespan of the disk and know when to replace the device.

(Function) The present invention uses a disk drive controller to know the presence or absence of errors occurring during reading and writing, the number of errors, the number of times the disk has been accessed, the total amount of time the disk has been accessed, or the number of 0N10FF of the disk power supply. By having a means to receive information such as error occurrence, number of times, and time from the disk drive controller and to notify the outside of the occurrence of an error using a display, it is possible to monitor the status of error occurrence and determine the lifespan of the disk. To realize notification of the lifespan of a disk drive.

According to the present invention, it is possible to know when to replace the disk drive before the disk becomes completely unreadable and unreadable, making it possible to back up the data on the disk, which is highly effective.

(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, 11 is a CPU, and 12 is a floppy disk controller (referred to as FCC) having a signal line to which information indicating the presence or absence of an error is transferred. FDC12 is CPUI
1 and the interface of the disk drive (FDD) 1B, which will be described later, and controls the memory interface,
Programmably executes drive interface control and disk format control. 13 is a disk drive (FDD) into which a floppy disk is installed, and data is exchanged with the CPU II.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a counter that monitors the frequency of error occurrence, and is composed of several stages of flip-flops, and the number of stages varies depending on a specified value (number of consecutive errors).

Reference numeral 15 denotes an indicator such as an LED that informs the outside of the time to replace the disk.

Hereinafter, operations according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. When reading data from the disk drive 13, the CPU II first issues a command to the controller 12 to instruct it.

When the controller 12 receives the command, it controls the disk drive 13 to move the head to the corresponding track and read the data in the target sector. The CRC (
Check using cyclic ◆redundancy check), etc. The controller 12 outputs a no-error signal if the check result is correct, and outputs an error signal if the check is correct.

If there is an error during reading, a negative pulse is output to the error signal line.

At this time, the counter 14 counts the number of errors.

Thereafter, if a retry instruction is given from the CPUI 1, the controller 12 reads the data in the same sector again, and if there is no error, outputs a negative pulse to the no-error signal line. Counter 14 is reset by the no error signal. However, if the data that has been read out again is also checked and found to be an error, the counter 14 counts the number of errors again. When the number of consecutive error occurrences reaches a specified value, the display 15 displays this information externally using an LED or the like. This allows you to understand the status of continuous disk errors.

By using this continuous error occurrence status as a guide to the lifespan of the disk, it is easy to know when to replace the disk.

Further, as can be seen from FIG. 1, by changing the configuration of the counter 14, the regulation of the number of consecutive error occurrences can be easily changed. As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to know when to replace a disk drive with a simple circuit configuration.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to know when it is time to replace the disk drive before the disk becomes completely unreadable and unreadable, making it possible to back up the data on the disk. The effect is great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. 11...CPU, 12...Controller (FDC)
, 13... Disk drive (FDD), 14...
・Counter, 15...Display device. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The number of consecutive errors that occur when accessing the disk is stored in a backed up memory, and when the number of consecutive errors reaches a specified value, an external device determines when to replace the disk. A magnetic recording device characterized by comprising means for notifying. (2) Store the cumulative total of errors that occur when accessing the disk in the backed up memory,
A magnetic recording device characterized by comprising means for detecting that the cumulative total of errors has reached a specified value and notifying an external party that it is time to replace the disk. (3) A means is provided to store the cumulative amount of time the disk was accessed in a backed-up memory, detect when the cumulative amount of access time reaches a specified value, and notify an external party that it is time to replace the disk. Features of magnetic recording device. (4) A magnetic device characterized by having means for storing the number of times the power is turned on and off in a backed-up memory, detecting when the cumulative total has reached a specified value, and notifying an external party that it is time to replace the disk. Recording device. (5) Claim (1) characterized in that the detection target data is stored in the free space of the disk or the free space of another disk, and by reading this data, the life span of the disk is determined and the time to replace the device is known. The magnetic recording device according to (2) or (3) or (4).