JPH1083635A - Hard disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hard disk device having an automatic retrying function with a function for deciding an error producing rate. SOLUTION: When the count value of the number of seek error producing times stored in a RAM 144 is judged to be >=10, the number of seek times is read from the RAM 144 to calculate a seek error rate by a CPU 140. As a result, when the rate is >=1/100,000, further judgment is performed as to whether this error rate is smaller than 1/1,000 or not. Again as a result, when this error rate is >=1/1,000, an abnormal LED 135 is turned on, and a normal LED is turned off. On the other hand, when the seek error rate is smaller than 1/1,000, a caution LED 134 is turned on.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a hard disk used as an auxiliary storage device of a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some hard disk devices have an automatic retry function of retrying a predetermined number of times when an error occurs. When such a hard disk device is used, for example, even if a read error occurs,
Since the correct data is read out and sent to the CPU side without notification to the CPU of the computer, the CPU connected to the hard disk device does not need to instruct the retry every time, and the load on the CPU is reduced. .

[0003]

However, if the hard disk device automatically performs a retry, the C
The PU cannot recognize that a retry has occurred.
If there is no automatic retry function, the CPU can know how much error has occurred. On the other hand, the CPU has no automatic retry function, so the CPU has no idea how much error has occurred. The disadvantage is that it cannot be done.

[0004] Specifically, for example, even if the error occurrence rate of a certain hard disk device is slightly increased and it is better to be careful, a hard disk device having an automatic retry function can be used. Then, the automatic retry function is activated, and the CPU side looks as if no error has occurred. However, in fact, it must have been retried several times and completed normally, losing a certain amount of time. In a system that requires high speed, such a hard disk drive should be replaced immediately. However, since it is recognized from the CPU that no error has occurred, there is no means for checking these in the processing on the CPU side. Therefore, the hard disk device having the increased error rate is continuously used, which causes a reduction in the speed of the system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. In a hard disk device having an automatic retry function, the state of the hard disk device (for example, whether the error rate is at a normal level or slightly higher, It is intended to determine whether the state is obviously abnormal.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a hard disk drive, comprising: an error detecting means for detecting an error; and a retry within a predetermined number of times when an error is detected. An error counting means for counting the number of errors, an execution number counting means for counting the number of executions of the processing, and an error rate based on the counted number of errors and the number of executions. An error rate calculating means for calculating, and a judging means for judging the state of the hard disk device based on the calculated error rate and a preset judgment criterion are provided.

The functions of the error detecting means, the retry means, the error rate calculating means, and the judging means can be performed by the controller (strictly, the CPU) of the hard disk device. Further, a functional component functioning as these means may be provided separately from the CPU of the controller. The error counting means and the execution number counting means are simple if a counter is used, for example, but may be configured to write the error number or the execution number in a part of the memory.

In this hard disk device, when the error detecting means detects an error, the retry means executes retries within a predetermined number of times. This is similar to a known hard disk device with a retry function. Further, in this hard disk device, the error counting means counts the number of errors, and the execution number counting means counts the number of times the hard disk device has executed processing. Then, the error rate calculating means calculates the error rate from the counted number of errors and the number of executions, and the determining means determines the state of the hard disk device based on the calculated error rate and a predetermined criterion.

As a criterion, an error rate published by a hard disk drive manufacturer or the like can be used, or the error rate may be set independently by referring to such an error rate. The state is determined to be normal if the error rate calculated by the error rate calculating means does not exceed the error rate published by the manufacturer, for example, to be abnormal if the error rate is exceeded, or to be normal, caution, or need replacement depending on the error rate. Alternatively, the determination may be made stepwise. In addition, these are illustrations to the last and are not limited to these. In short, it is only necessary to be able to judge whether the hard disk device can be used at least with ease.

[0010] If the result of this judgment is visually or audibly displayed by the judgment display means, for example, the state of the hard disk drive can be directly informed to the user. Further, the determination result can be notified to the CPU of the computer and displayed on a display or the like, or the notification can be made by voice output from the computer.

Normally, there are three types of errors in a hard disk drive: seek errors, read errors, and write errors. Therefore, if the state of the hard disk device is determined for each of these types of errors, a detailed determination can be made. For this purpose, the configuration described in claim 2 may be adopted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the hard disk drive of the first aspect, the error counting means counts the number of errors for each type of seek error, read error, and write error, and the execution number counting means , The number of executions is counted for each of the seek, read, and write processing types, and the error rate calculation means calculates the error rate for each of the three types of errors,
The determining means determines the status of the hard disk drive based on the error rates for the three types of errors and determination criteria set for the three types of errors. Therefore, the hard disk device according to the second aspect can determine the state of the hard disk device finely by determining the state of the hard disk device for each of three types of errors, that is, a seek error, a read error, and a write error.

Usually, it is said that a hard disk device does not cause an error at all, but some error is unavoidable. In other words, for example, the state of the hard disk drive is not determined every time one error is detected. Also, judging the state of the hard disk device based on one or two errors is dangerous in one aspect.

Therefore, the hard disk device according to claim 3 is the hard disk device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the error rate calculating means calculates the error rate every time the error counting means counts a predetermined number of errors. And a judgment instruction means for instructing the judgment means to judge the hard disk is provided.

With this configuration, for example, it is possible to execute the process for determination once each time an error occurs ten times, so that the state can be determined more accurately. In addition, the load on the controller of the hard disk drive is extremely light. Although the CPU of the controller can be used as this determination instruction means, a dedicated functional component may be provided.

If the user knows the state of the hard disk drive, appropriate processing can be performed, for example, by replacing the hard disk drive early. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the hard disk drive according to any one of the first to third aspects, a determination display unit for displaying a determination result by the determination unit is provided. You can let them know.

As the judgment display means, a visual display means such as an indicator lamp such as an LED or a liquid crystal display panel, or a voice display means using a buzzer or a speaker can be used. 6. The hard disk drive according to claim 5, further comprising: an error detection unit that detects an error; and a retry unit that executes a retry within a predetermined number range when an error is detected. And an error rate calculating means for calculating an error rate from the above, and a judging means for judging a state of the hard disk device based on the calculated error rate and a predetermined judgment criterion.

In this hard disk device, the error rate is calculated based on the number of errors and the number of retries. The state of the hard disk device can be determined based on the calculated error rate. One or more of the error detection unit, the retry unit, the error rate calculation unit, and the determination unit may be provided outside the main body of the hard disk device, for example, in a computer to which the hard disk device is connected.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings to describe the embodiment of the present invention.

[0020]

FIG. 1 shows a hard disk drive 13 according to this embodiment.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an example of a personal computer system in which is included. As shown in FIG. 1, the personal computer system mainly includes a personal computer main body (hereinafter, also simply referred to as main body) 10. The personal computer main body 10 includes a SCSI type hard disk drive 13, a CRT 14 as display means, and a keyboard 1 as input means.
5 etc. are connected.

In the present embodiment, the hard disk drive 13 is an external type of a separate unit from the main body 10. In general, a personal computer main body often does not have a SCSI interface function. To connect a SCSI device to such a personal computer main body, a SCSI interface board (SCSI-I / F board) must be provided in an expansion slot of the main body. ) Must be installed. The example of FIG. 1 also has such a configuration.
A SCSI-I / F board 11 is mounted in an expansion slot 0, and the SCSI-I / F board 11 and the hard disk device 13 are connected by a SCSI cable 12.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of the hard disk drive 13, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of its internal structure. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the hard disk device 13 of the present embodiment includes a power LED 131 and an access LED 132 similar to a known hard disk device.
The third feature is that the caution LED 134 and the abnormal LED 135 are not provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the hard disk drive 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a hard disk drive 137 having a magnetic disk (hard disk) as a storage medium, a motor for rotating the hard disk, a head as a means for reading and writing to the magnetic disk (all not shown), and control of the operation of the hard disk drive 137 , Data transmission / reception with the personal computer body 10, a power LED 131, an access LED 132, a normal LED 133, a caution LED 134
And a hard disk control board (hereinafter, simply referred to as a board) that controls flashing of the abnormal LED 135 and the like.
138, a power supply unit 139 for supplying power to the hard disk drive 137 and the substrate 138, and the like. Further, a power switch 136 for turning on / off the power is provided to be exposed to the outside.

The SCSI cable 12 is connected to a hard disk control board 138. The board 138 has a CPU 140, a ROM 142, and a RAM 144 mounted thereon, and the board 138 itself constitutes one microcomputer. The board 138 can communicate with the personal computer main body 10 according to a SCSI standard protocol.

Power LED 131, access LED 13
2, normal LED 133, caution LED 134, abnormal LED
135 is connected to the board 138 and is turned on and off by the CPU 140 on the board 138. The hard disk drive 137 is connected to the board 138 and controlled by the CPU 140 on the board 138. Note that the CPU 140 is an error detection unit of the present invention,
It functions as a retry unit, an error rate calculation unit, a determination unit, and a determination instruction unit, and also functions as an error count unit and an execution count unit in cooperation with the RAM 144, the details of which will be described later.

ROM 142 as program storage means
Stores an operation program of the CPU 140 and the like.
The CPU 140 executes various processes according to the operation program. RAM 144 as storage means is a CP
The RAM 144 is provided with a counter table 150 and an error sector map 160 having the structure shown in FIG. The counter table 150 includes a seek counter, a seek error counter, a read counter, a read error counter,
There are a write number counter and a write error counter. These count values are cleared or updated according to an instruction from the CPU 140. The error sector map 160 is a map for storing a sector in which a write error has occurred, and is cleared or updated according to an instruction from the CPU 140.

Next, the operation of the hard disk device 13 for determining its own state will be described. First,
Prior to the description of a specific operation, a criterion will be described.
FIG. 5 shows values published by the Quantum (registered trademark) 2 Gbyte hard disk device as actual error rates. Naturally, the error rate differs depending on the manufacturer and model, but it is thought that it is not so different. Therefore, in this embodiment, this value is
Assume an error rate of 37.

In the example of FIG. 5, the error rate of the seek error is 10 6 times, that is, 1 in 1 million times. However, since it is a little dangerous to make a determination based on one or two seek errors, the present embodiment employs a configuration in which the state is determined every time ten seek errors occur.

According to the ratio shown in FIG. 5, the number of seek errors is 10 out of 10 million times. Therefore, if the number of seeks reaches 10 million times when 10 seek errors occur, it is within the specification range. Yes, it is normal. On the other hand, if the number has not reached 10 million times, it is determined to be abnormal. However, even if an error occurs about 10 out of 1 million times after one digit drop, there is not much problem in practical use. If a seek error occurs at a rate of 10 out of 10,000 times, that is, one out of 1,000 times after a three-digit drop, this is obviously abnormal, and it can be said that the operation of the computer system is hindered.

That is, in the case of a seek error, when an error has occurred 10 times, “normal” is performed when 1 million or more seeks are performed, and “attention” is performed when 10,000 or more seeks are performed. If only less than 10,000 seeks have been performed, it is almost appropriate to judge it as "abnormal". In the present embodiment, regarding the seek error, the state of the hard disk drive 137, that is, the hard disk drive 1
3 is determined.

Similarly, in the case of a read error and a write error, the judgment is made every ten errors. If the error rate shown in FIG. If it is within the range, it is determined to be "Caution", and if it drops by 3 digits or more, it is determined to be "Abnormal".

In this case, in the calculation of the error rate, the criteria for judging “normal”, “caution”, and “abnormal” differ depending on the respective operation characteristics of a seek error, a read error, and a write error. Next, a specific operation of the hard disk device 13 relating to the state determination will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hard disk drive 1
When the power supply of the power supply 3 is turned on, the CPU 140 of the hard disk control board 138 turns on the normal LED 133 (Step 201, hereinafter, step is abbreviated as S). Immediately after the power is turned on, it cannot be determined whether the LED is normal or abnormal. Therefore, the normal LED 133 is lit for the time being, and this illuminating does not indicate that the LED is actually normal.

Subsequently, the CPU 140 instructs the RAM 144 to clear each count value of the counter table 150 and the contents of the error sector map 160 (S2).
02), and after performing other initialization processing (S20)
3) The system enters the READY state and waits for a read / write request from the personal computer 10.

When there is a read or write request, first, a seek process shown in FIG. 7 is executed. In this seek process, the CPU 140 instructs the RAM 144 to increment the seek count counter (S301),
Instruct the hard disk drive 137 to execute a seek to the sector designated by the main body 10 (S3
02).

If a correct sector is sought (S30)
3: NO), the CPU 140 normally ends the seek processing. However, if the correct sector has not been sought, that is, if a seek error has occurred (S303: YES), C
The PU 140 instructs the RAM 144 to increment the seek error counter (S304), and executes a seek error process (S305). After that, the CPU 140
Determines whether the number of retries has reached a predetermined number (S306), and if the number of retries is not over (S30).
6: NO) The process returns to S301, and if the retry is over (S306: YES), a process such as terminating the seek process with an error and notifying the main body 10 is performed.

As shown in FIG. 8, when a seek error process as a subroutine of the seek process is started, the CPU 1
40 judges whether the count value of the seek error counter (the number of seek errors) is 10 or more (S35).
1). If this count value is less than 10 (S351:
NO), CPU 140 ends this subroutine and returns to the seek processing.

If the number of seek errors is 10 or more (S
351: YES), the CPU 140 reads the count value (seek number) of the seek number counter from the RAM 144, calculates a seek error rate (seek error number / seek number), and if it is smaller than 10 ^-5 (S35).
2: YES), the RAM 144 is instructed to clear the count values of the seek error counter and the number of seeks counter (S357), and the subroutine ends to return to the seek processing.

If the seek error rate is 10 ^-5 or more (S
352: NO), the CPU 140 determines that the seek error rate is 10
^It is determined whether it is smaller than ^-3 (S353). If the seek error rate is 10 ^-3 or more (S353: NO), C
PU 140 turns on abnormal LED 135 and turns on normal LED 1
After turning off the light 33 (S354), the RAM 144 is instructed to clear the count values of the seek error counter and the number of seeks counter (S357), and this subroutine is terminated to return to the seek processing.

If the seek error rate is smaller than 10 ^-3 (S353: YES), the CPU 140 returns to the abnormal L level.
It is determined whether or not the ED 135 is already turned on (S
355). If the abnormal LED 135 has already been turned on (S355: YES), the CPU 140 executes S357, ends this subroutine, and returns to the seek processing. If the abnormal LED 135 is not turned on (S355: N
O) The CPU 140 turns on the caution LED 134 and turns off the normal LED 133 (S356), and then returns to S35.
7 is executed, this subroutine ends, and the process returns to the seek process.

As described above, if the seek error rate is less than 10 ^-5 , the caution LED 134 or the abnormal LED 135 is not turned on. However, right after power on, normal LED
133 is turned on, so the hard disk drive 13
Can be displayed as normal. If the seek error rate is 10 ⁻⁵ or more and less than 10 ⁻³ , the caution LED 134 is turned on. Therefore, the hard disk drive 13 is in a state where it does not hinder the operation of the computer system but is not completely normal. (Attention) can be displayed. If the seek error rate is 10 ^-3 or more, the abnormal LED 135 is turned on.
3 can be displayed as a state (abnormality) that hinders the operation of the computer system.

The process of S355 is performed if the abnormal LED 135 is already lit (S35).
5: YES), the caution LED 134 is not lit because the caution LED 134 does not need to be lit and the state of the hard disk drive 13 is not correctly displayed.

Next, the write processing will be described with reference to FIG. If the request from the personal computer 10 is a write request, the CPU 140 executes the write process following the seek process described above. As shown in FIG. 9, in the write process, the CPU 140 instructs the RAM 144 to increment the write number counter (S4
01), and instructs the hard disk drive 137 to execute writing to the sector designated by the main body 10 (S
402), the write processing ends.

In the write process, unlike the seek process described above, no error process is performed. The reason is that whether or not the data has been written correctly cannot be known unless read, and the write error itself cannot be determined at the time of writing. Also, if an error occurs during reading, if an error occurs during reading even though the contents written on the magnetic disk are correct, it is a read error, and if the data itself written on the magnetic disk is abnormal. Is a write error. That is, both the read error and the write error appear as the same read error. Therefore, when an error occurs during reading, it is necessary to determine whether the error is a read error or a write error.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the processing relating to the write error is performed by the read processing described below. Although a write error can be detected by performing read-after-write, the hard disk device 13 of this embodiment is
This format does not execute read-after-write.

If the request from the personal computer main body 10 is a read request, the CPU 140 executes a read process following the seek process described above. As shown in FIG. 10, when the read process starts, the CPU 140
After instructing M144 to increment the read number counter (S501), the hard disk drive 1
Instructs 37 to execute reading from the sector designated by the main body 10 (S502). If this reading is normally performed (no error, S503: NO), the CP
U140 ends the read processing normally. Whether the reading is correct is determined by, for example, a CRC check (cyclic redundancy check, Cy
clic RedundancyChecking).

If there is an error in reading (S50)
3: YES), the CPU 140 determines whether the sector in which the error has occurred is registered in the error sector map 160 of the RAM 144 (whether the sector has a write error in the past) (S504).

If this sector is not registered in the error sector map 160 (S504: NO), the CPU 14
0 reads the sector in which the error has occurred ten times (S50).
5). Note that these ten reads are not counted as the number of reads, and even if an error occurs, they are not counted as the number of errors.

Next, the CPU 140 determines whether there is a read error or a write error based on whether or not no error has occurred in these ten reads (S).
506). Even if the content written on the magnetic disk is abnormal, it may happen to be read normally. Therefore,
If even one error occurs in these 10 reads,
The CPU 140 determines that the content written on the magnetic disk is abnormal, that is, a write error. On the other hand, if no error has occurred once, the CPU 140 determines that the content written on the magnetic disk is normal, that is, a read error.

If it is determined that a read error has occurred (S50)
6: YES), the CPU 140 instructs the RAM 144 to increment the count value of the read error counter (S507), and executes a read error processing subroutine (S508). As shown in FIG. 11, when the read error process is started, the CPU 140 determines whether or not the count value (the number of read errors) of the read error counter is 10 or more (S551). If this count value is less than 10 (S551: NO), the CPU 140
Ends this subroutine and returns to the read processing.

If the number of read errors is 10 or more (S
551: YES), the CPU 140 reads the count value (read count) of the read count counter from the RAM 144, calculates the read error rate (read error count / read count), and if it is smaller than 10 ^-9 (S55).
2: YES), the RAM 144 is instructed to clear the count values of the read error counter and the read number counter (S557), and this subroutine ends to return to the read processing.

If the read error rate is 10 ^-9 or more (S
552: NO), the CPU 140 determines that the read error rate is 10
^It is determined whether it is smaller than ^-7 (S553). If the read error rate is 10 ^-7 or more (S553: NO), C
PU 140 turns on abnormal LED 135 and turns on normal LED 1
After turning off 33 (S554), the RAM 144 is instructed to clear the count values of the read error counter and the read number counter (S557), and this subroutine ends to return to the read processing.

If the read error rate is smaller than 10 ^-7 (S553: YES), the CPU 140 returns to the abnormal L level.
It is determined whether or not the ED 135 is already turned on (S
555). If the abnormal LED 135 has already been turned on (S555: YES), the CPU 140 executes S557, ends this subroutine, and returns to the read processing. If the abnormal LED 135 is not turned on (S555: N
O) The CPU 140 turns on the caution LED 134 and turns off the normal LED 133 (S556), and then returns to S55.
7 is executed, the subroutine ends, and the process returns to the read processing.

As described above, if the read error rate is less than 10 ^-9 , the caution LED 134 or the abnormal LED 135 is not turned on. However, right after power on, normal LED
133 is turned on, so the hard disk drive 13
Can be displayed as normal. If the read error rate is 10 ⁻⁹ or more and less than 10 ⁻⁷ , the caution LED 134 is turned on. Therefore, the hard disk drive 13 is in a state where it does not hinder the operation of the computer system but is not completely normal. (Attention) can be displayed. If the read error rate is 10 ^-7 or more, the abnormal LED 135 is turned on.
3 can be displayed as a state (abnormality) that hinders the operation of the computer system.

The processing in S555 is performed if the abnormal LED 135 is already lit (S55).
5: YES), the caution LED 134 is not lit because the caution LED 134 does not need to be lit and the state of the hard disk drive 13 is not correctly displayed.

The caution LED 134 is turned on when the read error rate is in the range of 10 ^-9 to 10 ^-7 , and the abnormal LED 135 is turned on when the read error rate is 10 ^-7 or more, based on the setting based on the read error rate shown in FIG. is there. Returning to FIG. 10, if there is at least one error in reading the sector in which the error occurred ten times (S505) (S506: NO), the CPU 140
Instruct the RAM 144 to register the sector where this error has occurred in the error sector map 160 (S50).
9). Then, even if a read error occurs next in the same sector, a positive determination is made in the processing of S504,
In that case, the processing of S505 to S511 is not performed. This means that the same error will always occur the next time the same sector is read. However, if it is counted as an error each time, one defective sector will be counted many times. This is a process for avoiding the inconvenience, because it is determined that the state is not correctly reflected.

Next, the CPU 140 instructs the RAM 144 to increment the count value of the write error counter (S510), and executes a write error processing subroutine (S511). As shown in FIG. 12, when the write error process starts, the CPU 140 determines that the count value of the write error counter (the number of write errors) is 1
It is determined whether it is 0 or more (S571). If this count value is less than 10 (S571: NO), the CPU
140 ends this subroutine and returns to the read processing.

If the number of write errors is 10 or more (S
571: YES), the CPU 140 reads the count value (write count) of the write count counter from the RAM 144, calculates the write error rate (write error count / write count), and if it is smaller than 10 ^-13 (S5).
72: YES), the RAM 144 is instructed to clear the count values of the write error counter and the number-of-writes counter (S577), and this subroutine ends to return to the read processing.

If the read error rate is 10 ^-13 or more (S572: NO), the CPU 140 determines whether the write error rate is smaller than 10 ^-11 (S573).
If the write error rate is 10 ^-11 or more (S573: N
O) The CPU 140 turns on the abnormal LED 135 and turns off the normal LED 133 (S574).
By instructing the subroutine 44 to clear the count values of the write error counter and the number-of-writes counter (S577), the subroutine ends and the process returns to the read process.

If the read error rate is smaller than 10 ^-11 (S573: YES), the CPU 140 determines whether or not the abnormal LED 135 is already lit (S575). If the abnormal LED 135 has already been turned on (S575: YES), the CPU 140 executes S577, ends this subroutine, and returns to the read processing.
If the abnormal LED 135 is not turned on (S575:
NO), the CPU 140 turns on the caution LED 134 and turns off the normal LED 133 (S576), and then returns to S5.
77 is executed, this subroutine is terminated, and the process returns to the read processing.

As described above, if the write error rate is less than 10 ^-13 , the caution LED 134 or the abnormal LED 135 is not turned on. However, immediately after the power is turned on, the normal LE
Since D133 is turned on, the hard disk drive 1
3 can be displayed as normal. If the write error rate is 10 ^-13 or more and less than 10 ^-11 ,
Since the light 34 is turned on, the hard disk device 13 can indicate that it is in a state (attention) that is not enough to hinder the operation of the computer system but is not completely normal. If the write error rate is 10 ^-11 or more, the abnormal LED 135 is turned on, so that it is possible to display that the hard disk device 13 is in a state (abnormal) that hinders the operation of the computer system.

The processing of S575 is performed if the abnormal LED 135 is already lit (S57).
5: YES), the caution LED 134 is not lit because the caution LED 134 does not need to be lit and the state of the hard disk drive 13 is not correctly displayed.

The write error rate is 10 ^-13 to 10
Lighting the caution LED 134 in the range of ^-11 and lighting the abnormal LED 135 in the range of 10 ^-11 or more is a setting based on the write error rate shown in FIG. Returning to FIG. 10 again, the CPU 140 determines that the sector where the reading error has occurred is registered in the error sector map 160 (S5).
04: TES), read error processing (S508), or write error processing (S511), and thereafter, it is determined whether the number of retries has reached a predetermined number (S51).
2) If it is not a retry over (S512: NO)
Returning to S501, if retry is over (S51
2: YES), this read processing ends in an error, and
Processing such as notifying the 0 side is performed.

As described above, the hard disk drive 13 of this embodiment can determine the status of the hard disk drive for each type of seek error, read error, and write error. Since the determination process is performed every time each error occurs 10 times, it is possible to make a more accurate determination than when the status of the hard disk device is determined based on, for example, one or two errors. Also,
Since the judgment process is not performed every time an error occurs,
The load on the controller of the hard disk drive is also very light.

The timing at which the judgment process is performed is not limited to each time when each error occurs ten times, but
Depending on the type of hard disk device, for example, 20 times, 2 times
It may be changed to five times or the like as appropriate. In addition, the judgment result is indicated by the normal LED 133, the caution LED 134, and the abnormal LED.
Since the display is performed by lighting of 135, the user can select which L
Depending on whether or not the ED is lit, for example, it is possible to make a judgment such as "normal", "a little care", "it is better to replace". Therefore, by continuing to use the hard disk device 13 with the increased error rate as it is, it is possible to avoid a problem that lowers the speed of the system.

[0066]

As is clear from the above description, the hard disk device according to the first aspect can determine its own state. If the result of this determination is visually or audibly displayed by, for example, a hard disk drive or a computer connected to the hard disk drive, the state of the hard disk drive can be notified directly to the user.

This makes it possible to take measures such as replacing the hard disk drive with an increased error rate as soon as possible. If the hard disk drive with an increased error rate is used as it is, the speed of the system may be reduced. Problems can be avoided. In the hard disk device according to the second aspect, the status of the hard disk device can be finely determined by determining the status of the hard disk device for each of three types of errors, that is, a seek error, a read error, and a write error.

In the hard disk drive according to the third aspect, it is possible to execute a process for determination once every 10 errors, for example, instead of every time an error occurs. A more accurate determination can be made than the determination of the state of the hard disk device by two errors. In addition, the load on the controller of the hard disk drive is extremely light.

Since the hard disk device according to the fourth aspect is provided with the judgment display means for displaying the judgment result by the judgment means, it is possible to inform the user of its own state. According to the hard disk device of the fifth aspect, it is possible to obtain the effect of determining the state of the hard disk device while having a configuration different from the configurations of the first to fourth aspects.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a personal computer system using a hard disk device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an internal structure of the hard disk device according to the embodiment.

4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of a part of a RAM of the hard disk device of the embodiment, FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram of a counter table, and FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram of an error sector map.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an error rate of a hard disk device used for setting a criterion in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an initialization process executed by a CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a seek process executed by the CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a seek error process executed by a CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a write process executed by a CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a read process executed by a CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a read error process executed by the CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a write error process executed by the CPU of the hard disk device of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Personal computer main body 11 ... SCSI interface board 12 ... SCSI cable 13 ... Hard disk drive 14 ... CRT 15 ... Keyboard 131 ... Power supply LED 132 ... Access LED 133 ... Normal LED (judgment display means) 134 ... Caution LED (judgment display means) 135: abnormal LED (judgment display means) 136: power switch 137: hard disk drive 138: hard disk control board 139: power supply unit 140: CPU (error detection means, retry means, error rate calculation means, judgment means, judgment instruction means, error Counting means, execution count means) 142 ROM 144 RAM (error count means, execution count means) 150 counter table 160 error sector map

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location G11B 5/012 9559-5D G11B 5/012

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A hard disk drive comprising: an error detecting means for detecting an error; and a retry means for executing a retry within a predetermined number of times when an error is detected; an error counting means for counting the number of errors; Execution number counting means for counting the number of times the processing has been executed; error rate calculation means for calculating an error rate from the counted error number and the execution number; and a predetermined determination of the calculated error rate. A hard disk device provided with determination means for determining a state of the hard disk device based on a reference. 2. The hard disk device according to claim 1, wherein the error counting means counts the number of errors for each type of a seek error, a read error, and a write error, and the execution number counting means includes a seek, read, and write operation. The number of executions is counted for each type of processing, the error rate calculation means calculates the error rate for each of the three types of errors, and the determination means determines the error rate for each of the three types of errors and the three types of errors. A hard disk device that determines the status of the hard disk device according to a separately set determination criterion. 3. The hard disk drive according to claim 1, wherein the error count means instructs the error rate calculation means to calculate the error rate every time the error count means counts a predetermined number of errors, and the error count means outputs the error rate to the determination means. A hard disk device comprising a determination instruction means for instructing determination of a hard disk. 4. The hard disk device according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination display unit that displays a result of the determination by the determination unit. 5. A hard disk drive comprising: an error detecting means for detecting an error; and a retry means for executing a retry within a predetermined number of times when an error is detected, wherein an error rate is calculated based on the number of errors and the number of retries. A hard disk device comprising: an error rate calculation unit that calculates the error rate; and a determination unit that determines the state of the hard disk device based on the calculated error rate and a predetermined determination criterion.