TWI387962B - System and method for removable mass storage device and computer readable medium for storing information - Google Patents

Description

System and method for removable large-capacity storage device and computer readable medium for storing information

The present invention relates to a removable mass storage device and a computer readable product for storing information.

This application claims to be based on US Provisional Patent Application No. 60/940,419, filed on May 28, 2007, No. 11/769,889, filed on June 28, 2007, and No. 11 of June 28, 2007. The priority of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. s.

The use of high-density optical data disks as a means of storing digital data is well known in the field of computer engineering. Relevant publication standards include: ECMA-130 Second Edition - June 1996, "Reading the Data Exchange on a 120 mm Optical Data Disk (CD-ROM)"; and ECMA-168 Second Edition - December 1994, "Disk and file structure for read-only and write-once disc media for information exchange".

The CD-ROM is characterized by the ability to launch a program stored on a CD-ROM as soon as the CD is mounted on the host. This capability is typically provided by one of the operating systems on the host with an "auto-execute" feature. In addition, the CD-ROM is a read-only medium and the operating system prevents the application from writing data to the CD-ROM.

Characterized in that the two developer causes flash drive (e.g. available from Israel Kefar-Sava of the available M-systems ^m DiskOnKey ^TM) simulation example of the CD-ROM may be a removable storage device.

These two features are important in such devices for two reasons: (i) the ability of the flash drive to include an application that is launched immediately upon installation is convenient and familiar to the user and facilitates Any necessary installation software is provided on the device itself, (ii) lacks a "write" command to protect programs and materials that are not intended to be changed from being erased during normal operation of the device.

1 shows a prior art removable mass storage device 19' having a storage area 20", the storage area including a read-only partition (CD-ROM partition) 22 and a read-write partition (available Write partition) 24. The storage area 20" can be formed by flash technology.

In general, the division is performed during the manufacturing process of the removable mass storage device. It is convenient to present the partitions to an operating system by means of a standard interface.

The storage area 20" is divided into a read-only partition 22 and a read/write partition 24. A controller 28" provides the host 34 and applications executing on the host with the standard interface described below. Access to partitions: a CD-ROM interface 30 (as described in ECMA-168) and a large capacity storage interface 32. The physical interface to the host is via link 26. Controller 28" is responsible for translating the standard interface presented to the host into commands suitable for understanding by the underlying flash memory.

However, there is an additional requirement to be able to update the content stored on the analog CD-ROM. This content is updated using a separate API.

Updating the entire analog CD-ROM is risky because the data may be corrupted during the update. For example, the user may be in progress The device was unintentionally removed during the time. In this case, the contents of the analog CD-ROM may be damaged. Therefore, the CD partition may not be available, making the device completely unusable. One of the updates to the second question is the amount of potential long time required to replace the entire contents of the CD partition.

These two deficiencies do not apply to CDs because the CD cannot be rewritten.

2 illustrates a prior art update process for the CD-ROM partition 22 within the one-to-one removable mass storage device 19'. This update is usually done after the manufacturing process is complete. A CD-ROM partition image 42 precedes a writable partition 44 which together form the total capacity of the storage device. When the CD-ROM partition has to be updated (in a recent version or with new content), an application (not shown) creates an updated version of one of the CD-ROM partitions 40 and replaces the old partition with the new partition 40A. 42A. Typically, the new partition 40A is larger than the old partition 42, so the writable partition 48 must be smaller than the original writable partition 44. The result is a CD-ROM with an updated partition.

It would be very useful to have a storage device that includes a CD partition that can be updated incrementally and securely multiple times.

A removable mass storage device comprising: a non-optical rewritable storage area adapted to store a recordable magnetic disk (CDR) magnetic segment representation; and a controller Applicable to participate in one of the CDR simulations.

A removable mass storage device comprising: a non-optical rewritable storage area adapted to store representations of a plurality of magnetic segments; and a A controller adapted to generate metadata indicative of a plurality of representations of the magnetic segments stored on the non-optical rewritable storage area.

A computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for authorizing access to a network, the computer readable code comprising instructions for performing the following operations: receiving is to be stored in a Information on the removable mass storage device; and storing a recordable magnetic disk (DCR) magnetic segment representation on one of the non-optical rewritable storage areas of the removable mass storage device; The CDR magnetic segment representation item contains the received information.

A computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for authorizing access to a network, the computer readable code comprising instructions for performing the following operations: receiving is to be stored in a Information on the removable mass storage device; storing a magnetic segment representation item on one of the non-optical rewritable storage areas of the removable mass storage device, wherein the magnetic segment representation item comprises Receiving information; and generating metadata representing representations of a plurality of magnetic segments stored on the non-optical rewritable storage area.

The term "burnable optical disc" (also referred to as CDR) can be interpreted in the conventional sense and refers to the CDR of the International Electrotechnical Commission (CEI-IEC) 908 ISO/EEC 10140, which is organized according to International Standards. The term "magnetic section" can be interpreted in the conventional sense and refers to one of the CD-ROMs or CDRs defined in the standard ECAM 163/3 of the European Computer Manufacturers Association.

The term "CDR partition" can be interpreted in the conventional sense and refers to a non-volatile presentation to a common host application in the form of a CD-ROM. One part of the memory. A CDR partition may include representations of one or more CDR magnetic segments.

The term "removable bulk storage device" is used in the conventional sense and refers to a non-optical storage device that is designed to be mounted on and removed from the host as part of normal operation.

The term "CDR magnetic segment" is to be interpreted in a conventional sense and refers to a magnetic segment of a CDR as defined in Standard 130 of the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA).

Conveniently, a removable mass storage device is provided. It includes a CDR interface that is used to replace a CD-ROM interface.

Accordingly, the representation of the one or more CDR magnetic segments is stored on a non-optical rewritable storage area of one of the removable mass storage devices. A controller of the removable mass storage device can participate in one of a CD-R device or a CD-ROM device.

A CDR interface can be generated by, for example, updating a CD-ROM interface by extending its ability to update and attach content, for example, as defined in Annex C of the ECMA 163/3 standard. According to another embodiment of the invention, updating the CDR magnetic segment representation entries may be implemented via a dedicated API.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, systems and methods for storing information do not allow updating (rewriting) CDR magnetic segment representations but merely adding representations of other CDR magnetic segments.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the CDR magnetic segment representation item is allowed to be updated.

Conveniently, a CDR magnetic segment representation item includes the next CDR magnetic segment indicator. This indicator can point to another CDR magnetic segment representation. The next CDR magnetic segment indicator also points to an area where the CDR magnetic segment representation is not stored. In the latter case, the controller or a host interacting with the controller can determine that the next CDR magnetic segment indicator belongs to the most recent CDR magnetic segment representation.

By writing information to the magnetic segment, an error occurring during the writing process to a CDR magnetic segment indicates that the other CDR magnetic segment representations are not compromised.

However, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a new CDR magnetic segment representation is updated to indicate that the new CDR magnetic segment representation is written (and optionally checked) to a removable form upon successful completion. The mass storage device then points to the new CDR magnetic segment representation. This so-called recent update mechanism causes data corruption when writing the new CDR magnetic segment representation to minimize the risk of an irreversible error in data integrity - if the new CDR magnetic segment representation is written If it fails, the next CDR magnetic segment indicator (also called "indicator") is not updated, and the update fails, so that the previous version is in a complete state.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, a non-optical rewritable storage area acts as a double buffer - one area is configured for a "current" CDR magnetic segment representation from which information can be read and another area The configuration is configured to receive the "next" CDR magnetic segment representation item. The method and system can perform a two-state switch between the two regions. Replacing a CDR magnetic segment representation with another CDR magnetic segment representation includes changing the indicator, such as not pointing to an area to be reused. According to an embodiment of the invention, the change may involve more A new shadow directory.

In still another embodiment of the invention, the new CDR magnetic segment representation is written on top of an earlier CDR magnetic segment representation.

Conveniently, a plurality of magnetic segment representations can be stored in a non-optical rewritable storage area that is modeled as a multi-magnetic segment CD-R. In order for a host system to access CDR magnetic segment representations other than the first CDR magnetic segment representation, the controller must support additional multi-magnetic segment related commands to enable the system to determine the last CDR magnetic segment. Indicates the location of the item. Such commands may be part of the SCSI multimedia commands set forth in Annex I of the recently mentioned MMC-3 document 1.

Conveniently, a PVD (primary volume descriptor) and associated directory are presented in each CDR magnetic segment representation (which may begin with a magnetic fan associated with the beginning of the CDR magnetic segment representation) In the sector address). The operating system can follow the PVD of the indicator to the last magnetic segment.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the representation items of the plurality of CDR magnetic segments are stored in a non-optical rewritable storage area, and the additional information in the form of a shadow directory is stored in the non-optical rewritable storage area. Or dynamically calculated by the controller). With the shadow directory, the stored multi-magnetic segment CDRs are presented to the host in the form of a single magnetic segment CD-ROM. This eliminates the need for the controller to support multi-magnetic segment commands.

Conveniently, the controller follows the indicator (also referred to as (the next CDR indicator) and when the operating system requests the PVD of the first magnetic segment, the controller returns a shadow PVD referring to the shadow structure. The system never knows that it is positive Processing multiple magnetic sections.

Conveniently, each CDR magnetic segment represents the original PVD and directory of the item in an intact state. This may be useful in situations where it is necessary to reverse to a previous magnetic segment (e.g., in the case of a severe error in one of the updated CDR magnetic segment representations).

The shadow PVD is generated by adjusting its directory index to point to the directory in the last CDR magnetic segment representation (rather than pointing to the first CDR magnetic segment representation). In addition, the extent size in the shadow PVD is increased to include the last magnetic sector in the last CDR magnetic segment representation instead of the last magnetic sector in the first CDR magnetic segment representation.

3A is a simplified block diagram of a removable mass storage device 19 configured with a simulated CDR partition 23 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The removable mass storage device 19 includes a non-optical rewritable storage area ("storage area") 20', the non-optical rewritable storage area including a multi-magnetic section partitioning area 21 and a read-write partitioning area ( Writable partition)24. The non-optical rewritable storage area 20' can be constructed by flash technology. The multi-magnetic section 21 can include an initial CDR magnetic section representation that is written to the storage area 20' during the manufacturing process of the removable mass storage device 19.

The controller 28' provides access to the partition for a host computing device 34 and an application executing on the host by means of a standard interface: a CDR interface 31 (which can comply with the ECMA-130 standard) and a large capacity Storage device interface 32. The physical interface to the host is via link 26. The controller 28' is responsible for translating the standard interface presented to the host into a suitable flash memory Understand the order. As will be further explained below, the multi-magnetic segment partition 21 can store one or more CDR magnetic segment representations.

3B is a simplified block diagram of a removable mass storage device 19' configured with a CDR partition 23 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The device 19' differs from the device 19 in that (i) includes a CD-ROM interface 30 instead of having a CDR interface 31; (ii) includes a CDR partition 23 instead of including a multi-magnetic segment partition 21 (iii) includes a controller 28" that may have a different functionality than the functionality of the controller 28'; (iv) includes a shadow directory 21.

A single magnetic sector CD-ROM has a single magnetic section starting at a magnetic sector starting with a PVD (Main Disk Region Descriptor). The PVD points to the directory of the magnetic segment. The directory area includes a directory including the name of the file and/or directory and its sector offset relative to the beginning of the magnetic segment.

When reading the CD-ROM, the operating system goes to the PVD from which it knows exactly how to find all the directories/files on the CD-ROM.

In a multi-magnetic section CD (e.g., CD-R), each magnetic section has its own PVD and a directory area including the names and displacements of the files/directories visible in the magnetic section.

The controller 28" can follow the indicator from one magnetic segment representation item to another magnetic segment representation item (eg, indicators 53 and 55 of Figure 4, indicators 72, 74, 76 and 78 of Figure 5, and indicator 92 of Figure 6). Until the nearest magnetic segment representation item PVD and directory area is obtained, the controller 28" may generate a shadow directory after obtaining all of the PVDs and directories of the valid magnetic segment representation.

If the operating system wishes to access information stored on the multi-magnetic segment partition 23 ' , the controller will send it a shadow PVD that will point to the shadow directory, if the shadow PVD is located in a magnetic sector of a CD-ROM. Generally. The operating system will observe a single magnetic segment CD-ROM and the multi-magnetic segment partition 23 ' will store representations of multiple magnetic segments.

The controller 28" can generate the shadow directory by calculating the amount of magnetic sector shift (all of which are associated with a virtual magnetic sector). Once a new magnetic segment representation is added or once an old one is deleted The magnetic segment represents an item and the shadow directory can be updated immediately.

Note that the controller 28" can also dynamically calculate the amount of displacement.

4 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which a third magnetic segment indicates that a CDR magnetic segment index 57 under item 56 (the most recent CDR magnetic segment representation) is first directed to the non-optical rewritable storage region 20'. The location of the CDR representation is not stored (in an actual CDR, this indicator will point to an invalid address). The CDR magnetic segment representation item 50 includes the next CDR indicator 53 that points to the second CDR representation item 52.

A third CDR magnetic segment 56 can be added and the second CDR magnetic segment representation item 52 next CDR indicator 55 can be updated to point to the third CDR magnetic segment representation item 56. The next CDR indicator 57 of the third CDR magnetic section 56 can be directed to a region that does not store the CDR magnetic segment representation.

In addition or in another alternative, the entire CDR partition 23 can be replaced.

Conveniently, the next CDR indicator 55 of the second CDR magnetic segment representation item 52 is updated to verify that the third CDR magnetic segment representation item 56 has been received and correctly written at the controller 28' (eg, by Passing a pair of hashes implemented from the new magnetic segment and receiving it separately from the update application The hash value is compared to the third CDR magnetic segment representation item 56.

Figure 5 shows five CDR magnetic segment representations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The five CDR magnetic segment representations 60-68 are arranged in a sequential manner, and one CDR magnetic segment representation is directed to the next CDR magnetic segment representation. Each CDR magnetic segment representation includes a next CDR magnetic segment indicator that points to the next CDR magnetic segment representation, if it exists. The CDR magnetic segment representation item 60 can be an initial CDR magnetic segment representation item written during the manufacturing process of the removable mass storage device 19'. Whenever an additional CDR magnetic segment representation is added, the previous CDR magnetic segment representation always points to the additional CDR magnetic segment representation (eg, the CDR magnetic segment representation entry 66 points to the CDR magnetic segment representation entry 68). .

When the controller 28" accesses the CDR magnetic segment representations, it searches for the most recent CDR magnetic segment representation, that is, its next CDR indicator points to an CDR magnetic segment representation of an invalid location. Once found, It produces a shadow directory 29.

6 shows an analog multi-magnetic segment CDR partition having direct connections in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

During the manufacturing process, the non-optical rewritable storage area 20' may be partitioned during the manufacturing process to include, for example, an initial CDR magnetic segment representation (also referred to as a base image) 90, one for storage. The additional area 94 of the additional content updated during the life of the device and the reserved area 96 left unused to serve as a reserve for future use.

The non-optical rewritable storage area 20' further includes an unaffected by the CDR update The rewritable portion 98.

First, as shown on the right side of FIG. 6, the next CDR magnetic segment indicates that the item indicator 92 (which belongs to the CDR magnetic segment representation item 90) points to the additional area 94.

As shown on the left side of FIG. 6, after an updated CDR magnetic sector representation entry is written to the reserved area 96, the next CDR magnetic sector representation item can point to the updated reserved area, thereby allowing the additional area 94 to be reused. .

It should be noted that when the discarded area is reused as a new magnetic section, a disk recombination situation may occur, and repeated use of the discarded area may cause a cumulative disk reorganization problem. Accordingly, as part of the present invention, a mechanism for disk reorganization (as is well known in the art of personal computing) will be included in the removable mass storage device. The mechanism will be periodically applied to reorganize the removable mass storage device.

This method prevents data corruption in the event of power interruption while writing to the additional data area, since the CDR magnetic sector indicator is not updated until the data is confirmed.

7 is a flow diagram of a method 200 for storing information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The method 200 begins with a phase 210 for configuring an area for storing one or more CDR magnetic segment representations. Various configuration schemes are shown in the previous figures. The configuration can include configuring a reserved area, configuring an area that can store one or more CDR magnetic section representations, and the like. This configuration may be performed during the manufacturing process of the removable mass storage device or during the remountable mass storage device update, configuration magnetic segment, and the like.

After phase 210 is used for receiving to be stored in a removable large-capacity storage Stage 220 of information on the device.

Stage 220 is followed by stage 240 for storing information representative of a recordable optical disc (CDR) magnetic segment on a non-optical rewritable storage area of one of the removable mass storage devices. The CDR magnetic segment representation item includes the received information.

Conveniently, stage 240 can include at least one of or a combination of the following: (i) after successfully writing another CDR magnetic segment to the non-optical rewritable storage area, writing a CDR The magnetic segment represents an indicator of the item to the information indicative of the other CDR magnetic segment; (ii) a region configured to store information indicative of a discarded CDR magnetic segment; (iii) a storage representation of a sequence of links (iv) storing information indicative of linked CDR magnetic segments stored in a non-sequential order; (v) generating a next pointing to store a representation different from a CDR magnetic segment (vi) performing a toggle between the regions configured to store information indicative of the CDR magnetic segments; (vii) verifying that the CDR magnetic segment representation has been successfully written to the non- Optical rewritable storage area.

Conveniently, stage 240 is repeated a plurality of times, for example, to store representations of a plurality of CDR magnetic segments on the non-optical rewritable storage area. Stage 240 can be repeated at least three times, but this is not necessarily the case.

Note that stage 240 may include reusing a previously configured area for an item that is now discarded by the CDR magnetic segment. In addition or in another selection, stage 240 can include writing a CDR magnetic segment representation to a previously unused reserved area. This can be done when the reserved area can include a plurality of CDR magnetic segment representations.

The first embodiment (reuse area) can accommodate a large number of updates. The second embodiment (arranging a region large enough to store a plurality of CDR magnetic segment representations) can be used to store information representing a plurality of CDR magnetic segment representations and can be reused (as needed) once the region is full At least some parts of the area.

Conveniently, stage 240 is followed by a stage 260 for disk recombination of at least a portion of the non-optical rewritable storage area. Note that the disk reassembly may be performed in accordance with a predetermined number of repetitions of a pair of stages 240 in accordance with a cycle in response to a state of the removable mass storage device or the like.

After the information storage is completed, the removable mass storage device can be accessed. When accessing the CDR partition, a controller or an operating system can search for the most recent CDR representation. The searching can include searching for a next CDR magnetic segment link to a region that stores information other than a representation of a CDR magnetic segment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method 300 for storing information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The method 300 begins with a stage 305 for configuring an area for storing one or more magnetic segment representations.

Stage 305 is followed by a stage 310 for receiving information to be stored on a removable mass storage device.

Stage 310 is followed by a stage 320 for storing a magnetic segment representation item on a non-optical rewritable storage area of one of the removable mass storage devices; wherein the information indicative of the magnetic segment includes the received News.

Conveniently, stage 320 can include at least one of or a combination of the following: (i) storing a recordable optical disc (CDR) magnetic segment representation; (ii) After writing another magnetic segment representation item to the non-optical rewritable storage area, writing an indicator from the magnetic segment indicating the representation item to the other magnetic segment representation item; (iii) reusing An area configured to store an area of the discarded magnetic segment representation; (iv) storing a sequence of linked magnetic segment representations; (v) storing a linked magnetic segment representation item stored in a non-sequential order (vi) generating a magnetic segment link to a region that stores information different from a magnetic segment representation; (vii) performing a binary state between regions configured to store magnetic segment representations Switching; (viii) verifying that a magnetic segment indicates that the item has been successfully written to the non-optical rewritable storage area.

Note that stage 320 may include reusing a previously configured area for an item that is now discarded by the CDR magnetic segment. In addition or in another selection, stage 320 can include writing a CDR magnetic segment representation to a previously unused reserved area. This can be done when the reserved area can include a plurality of CDR magnetic segment representations.

After generating at least two magnetic segment representations (eg, by repeating stages 310 and 320), method 300 proceeds to generating elements representing a plurality of magnetic segment representations stored on the non-optical rewritable storage area Stage 330 of the data. A shadow main volume descriptor can point to the shadow directory. The shadow directory indicates that the plurality of magnetic segments represent the name and location of the file of the item.

Conveniently, stage 330 can be followed by stage 350 for providing the shadow directory and the shadow main volume descriptor via a CD-ROM interface.

Conveniently, stage 330 includes at least one or a combination of the following: (i) updating the shadow directory in response to adding a new CDR representation; (ii) responding to deleting a new CDR representation item Update the shadow directory; and (iii) The shadow directory is generated after the magnetic segment representation of all valid magnetic segment representations is obtained.

Stage 320 can also be used to stage 360 of disk reorganization of at least a portion of the non-optical rewritable storage area. Note that the disk reassembly may occur in response to a state of one of the removable mass storage devices, etc., for a predetermined number of repetitions per stage 320 per certain period of time.

After the information storage is completed, the removable mass storage device can be accessed. When accessing the CDR partition, a controller or an operating system can search for the latest magnetic segment representation. The searching may include searching for a magnetic segment representation item link pointing to a region that stores information other than a magnetic segment representation item.

Variations, modifications, and other implementations of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited by the foregoing description, but is intended to be defined by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

19'‧‧‧Removable mass storage device

20'‧‧‧ storage area

20"‧‧‧ storage area

21‧‧‧Multiple magnetic segmentation

22‧‧‧CD-ROM partition

23‧‧‧CDR partition

24‧‧‧Writable partitions

28'‧‧‧ Controller

28"‧‧‧ controller

29‧‧‧ Shadow Catalog

30‧‧‧CD-ROM interface

31‧‧‧CDR interface

32‧‧‧ Mass storage interface

34‧‧‧Host

40‧‧‧Updated CD-ROM partition

42‧‧‧CD-ROM partition

44‧‧‧Writable partitions

48‧‧‧Writable partitions

50‧‧‧CDR magnetic segment representation

52‧‧‧Second CDR magnetic segment representation

53‧‧‧ indicators

55‧‧‧ indicators

56‧‧‧third magnetic segment representation

57‧‧‧CDR magnetic segment indicator

58‧‧‧Writable partitions

60‧‧‧CDR magnetic segment representation

62‧‧‧second magnetic segment representation

64‧‧‧third magnetic segment representation

66‧‧‧4th magnetic segment representation

68‧‧‧ fifth magnetic segment representation

70‧‧‧Writable partitions

72‧‧‧ indicators

74‧‧‧ indicators

76‧‧‧ indicators

78‧‧‧ indicators

90‧‧‧Initial CDR magnetic segment representation

92‧‧‧ indicators

94‧‧‧Additional area

96‧‧‧ Reserved area

98‧‧‧Writable partitions

The invention will be more fully understood and understood from the following detailed description of the appended claims, in which: FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a prior art removable storage device configured with a simulated CD-ROM partition; 2 is a flow chart of a prior art method for updating a simulated CD-ROM partition; FIG. 3A is an analog multi-magnetic section configured according to an embodiment of the present invention. A simplified block diagram of a removable storage device of a partition; FIG. 3B is a simplified block diagram of a removable storage device configured with a simulated CDR partition according to another embodiment of the present invention; Illustrating different configurations of a non-optical rewritable storage area of one of the removable mass storage devices according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method for storing information according to an embodiment of the present invention Figure 8 is a flow diagram of a method for storing information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

21‧‧‧Multiple magnetic segmentation

24‧‧‧Writable partitions

28'‧‧‧ Controller

31‧‧‧Can burn CD interface

32‧‧‧ Mass storage interface

34‧‧‧Host

20'‧‧‧ storage area

19'‧‧‧Removable mass storage device

Claims (55)

A removable mass storage device comprising: a non-optical rewritable storage area; and a controller coupled to the non-optical rewritable storage area, wherein the controller is configured to receive the first And causing a first recordable optical disc CDR magnetic segment representation item based on the first information to be stored in a first portion of the non-optical rewritable storage area, wherein after storing the first CDR magnetic segment representation item The non-optical rewritable storage area is further configured to receive the second information, wherein the controller is further configured to cause a second CDR magnetic segment representation item based on the received second information to be stored in the non-optical Rewriting a second portion of one of the storage areas, and wherein the controller is adapted to write from the first after confirming that the second CDR magnetic segment representation item was successfully written to the non-optical rewritable storage area The CDR magnetic segment represents an indicator of an item to the second CDR magnetic segment representation. A removable mass storage device of claim 1, adapted to store representations of a plurality of CDR magnetic segments. The removable mass storage device of claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to generate information indicative of the linked CDR magnetic segments stored in a non-sequential order. The removable mass storage device of claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to generate a magnetic segment link below an area storing information different from a CDR representation. The removable mass storage device of claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to link to a magnetic segment under an area that stores information different from a representation of an item of a CDR magnetic segment by searching To participate in the search for one of the information representing a new CDR magnetic segment. The removable mass storage device of claim 2, wherein the controller is adapted to generate a shadow directory indicating the name and location of the file of the representation of the plurality of CDR magnetic segments. The removable mass storage device of claim 6, wherein the controller is adapted to update the shadow directory in response to adding another CDR magnetic segment representation item and in response to deleting a new CDR magnetic segment representation item . A removable mass storage device comprising: a non-optical rewritable storage area adapted to store representations of a plurality of magnetic segments; and a controller for controlling The device is adapted to interface with a CD-ROM interface and to generate metadata indicative of representations of a plurality of CDR magnetic segments of the recordable optical disc stored on the non-optical rewritable storage area. The removable mass storage device of claim 8, wherein the controller is adapted to generate a shadow directory indicating the names and locations of the files of the plurality of CDR magnetic segments. The removable mass storage device of claim 9, wherein the controller is adapted to obtain a CDR magnetic segment representation of all valid CDR magnetic segment representations stored in the non-optical rewritable storage region Generate the shadow directory. A computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising instructions for performing the following operations: receiving a first to be stored on a removable mass storage device a first flammable optical disc CDR magnetic segment representation item stored on a non-optical rewritable storage area of the removable mass storage device, wherein the first CDR magnetic segment representation item comprises The first information; receiving second information to be stored on the removable mass storage device; storing a second CDR magnetic on the non-optical rewritable storage area of the removable mass storage device a segment representing an item, the second CDR magnetic segment representing an item corresponding to the second information; and writing after confirming that the second CDR magnetic segment indicates that the item was successfully written to the non-optical rewritable storage area From the first CDR magnetic segment representation item to the second CDR magnetic segment representation item. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer readable code comprises instructions for storing representations of the plurality of CDR magnetic segments. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer readable code comprises instructions for generating information indicative of a linked CDR magnetic segment stored in a non-sequential order. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer readable code comprises instructions for generating a magnetic segment link below an area storing information different from a CDR magnetic segment representation. The computer readable medium as claimed in claim 11, wherein the computer readable code Included is an instruction to search for information indicative of an up-to-date CDR magnetic segment by searching for a magnetic segment link below a region that stores information other than a representation of the CDR magnetic segment. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer readable code includes instructions for generating a shadow directory indicating a name and location of a file of representations of the plurality of CDR magnetic segments. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer readable code comprises updating the shadow directory in response to adding another CDR magnetic segment representation item and in response to deleting a new CDR magnetic segment representation item instruction. A computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising instructions for performing the following operations: receiving a first to be stored on a removable mass storage device a first magnetic segment representation item stored on one of the non-optical rewritable storage areas of the removable mass storage device, wherein the first magnetic segment representation item includes the first information; a second information to be stored on the removable mass storage device; storing a second magnetic segment representation item on the non-optical rewritable storage area of the removable mass storage device, wherein the The two magnetic segment representation item includes the second information; and generating a shadow directory representing one of the representation items of the plurality of magnetic segments stored on the non-optical rewritable storage area, such that each of the plurality of magnetic segments The file can be displayed as a single read-only optical data disk (CD-ROM) magnetic Section file. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first magnetic segment representation item and the second magnetic segment representation item are recordable compact disc (CDR) magnetic segment representation items. The computer readable medium as claimed in claim 18, wherein the shadow directory indicates the name and location of the file of the plurality of magnetic segments. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer readable code comprises instructions for providing the shadow directory and a shadow main extent descriptor via a CD-ROM interface. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer readable code comprises all valid CDR magnetic segment representations on the non-optical rewritable storage area from which the removable mass storage device is obtained The CDR magnetic segment represents an instruction to generate the shadow directory after the entry. A method for storing information, the method comprising: receiving first information to be stored on a removable mass storage device; storing a first recordable optical disk (CDR) magnetic segment representation item in the The non-optical rewritable storage area of one of the removable mass storage devices, wherein the first CDR magnetic segment representation item comprises the first information; and the receiving is to be stored on the removable mass storage device a second information; storing, on the non-optical rewritable storage area of the removable mass storage device, a second CDR magnetic segment representation item, the second CDR magnetic segment representation item corresponding to the second information; and After confirming that the second CDR magnetic segment indicates that the item was successfully written into the non-optical rewritable storage area, writing from the first CDR magnetic segment representation item to the second CDR magnetic segment representation item index. The method of claim 23, further comprising performing disk reassembly on at least a portion of the non-optical rewritable storage area. The method of claim 23, further comprising, after a CDR magnetic segment representation has been discarded, using an area configured to store information indicative of the discarded CDR representation. The method of claim 23, further comprising storing a sequence of linked CDR magnetic segment representations. The method of claim 23, further comprising storing the CDR magnetic segment representations linked in a non-sequential order. The method of claim 23, further comprising generating a magnetic segment link below an area that stores information other than a CDR magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 23, further comprising searching for an up-to-date CDR magnetic segment representation by searching for a magnetic segment link below a region storing information other than a CDR magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 23, further comprising performing a toggling between regions configured to store the CDR magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 23, further comprising: configuring an area for storing another CDR magnetic segment representation item; storing the another CDR magnetic segment representation item on the configured area; A link is made between the second CDR magnetic segment representation term and the other CDR magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 23, further comprising a reserved area configured to store the at least one CDR magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 23, further comprising generating a shadow directory indicating the names and locations of the files of the plurality of CDR magnetic segments. The method of claim 33, further comprising generating a shadow main extent descriptor pointing to the shadow directory. The method of claim 34, further comprising providing the shadow directory and the shadow main volume area descriptor via a CD-ROM interface. The method of claim 33, further comprising updating the shadow directory in response to adding a new CDR magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 33, further comprising updating the shadow directory in response to deleting a CDR magnetic segment representation. A method for storing information, the method comprising: receiving first information to be stored on a removable mass storage device; storing a first magnetic segment representation item in the removable mass storage One of the devices is non-optical rewritable storage area, wherein the first magnetic segment representation item includes the first information; and the second information to be stored on the removable mass storage device is received; Non-optical rewritable storage of the removable mass storage device Storing a second magnetic segment representation item, wherein the second magnetic segment representation item includes the second information; and generating a representation item representing the plurality of magnetic segments stored on the non-optical rewritable storage area A shadow directory such that files from each of the plurality of magnetic segments can be displayed as a file of a single CD-ROM magnetic segment. The method of claim 38, wherein the first magnetic segment representation item and the second magnetic segment representation item are recordable optical disc (CDR) magnetic segment representation items. The method of claim 38, further comprising, after confirming that the second magnetic segment representation item is successfully written to the non-optical rewritable storage area, writing from the first magnetic segment representation item to the first The two magnetic segments represent one of the indicators. The method of claim 38, further comprising performing disk reassembly on at least a portion of the non-optical rewritable storage area. The method of claim 38, further comprising, after a magnetic segment indicates that the item has been discarded, using an area configured to store the discarded magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 38, further comprising storing a sequence of linked magnetic segment representations. The method of claim 38, further comprising storing information indicative of the linked magnetic segment representation stored in a non-sequential order. The method of claim 38, further comprising generating a magnetic segment link below an area that stores information different from a magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 38, further comprising pointing to a store by searching A magnetic segment that is different from a region in which a magnetic segment represents information is linked to search for an up-to-date magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 38, further comprising performing a toggle between the regions configured to store the magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 38, further comprising: configuring an area for storing another magnetic segment representation item; storing the another magnetic segment representation item on the configured area; and in the second magnetic segment The representation item is toggled between the other magnetic segment representations. The method of claim 38, further comprising configuring a reserved area for storing a magnetic segment representation. The method of claim 38, wherein the shadow directory indicates a plurality of magnetic segments representing the name and location of the file of the item. The method of claim 50, further comprising generating a shadow main extent descriptor pointing to the shadow directory. The method of claim 50, further comprising providing the shadow directory and the shadow main volume region descriptor via a CD-ROM interface. The method of claim 50, further comprising updating the shadow directory in response to adding a new CDR representation. The method of claim 50, further comprising updating the shadow directory in response to deleting a CDR representation. The method of claim 50, wherein the shadow directory is generated after obtaining a CDR magnetic segment representation of all valid CDR magnetic segment representations on the non-optical rewritable storage area of the removable mass storage device.