Method for saving self-test output to both flash and media

• US 20050154950A1
• Filed: 07/15/2004
• Published: 07/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Zayas, Fernando A., Paul, Stephen G., Budiman, Mine, Clint, Helen
• Application Number:
  US10/891,841
• Publication Number:
  US 20050154950A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/733
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2005/001 Controlling recording characteristics of record carriers or transducing characteristics of transducers by means not being part of their structure
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/012 Recording on, or reproducing or erasing from, magnetic disks G11B17/00, G11B19/00 take precedence

Abstract

A hard disk drive includes a flash memory and a rotatable disk. During self-test, self-test data is written first to flash and then later written to the rotatable disk. Since the self-test data is stored in the flash, if there is a power failure the hard disk drive can recover without repeating the test.

Claims

1. A method of operating a hard disk drive comprising:

during self-test, storing self-test data into a non-volatile memory of the hard disk drive; and

optionally transferring the self-test data from the flash memory to a rotatable disk of the hard drive.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein self-test engine software is used to control the writing of the self-test data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the self-test engine executes a self-test script.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein lines of the self-test script are associated with self-test code.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the self-test code includes “

print”

statements to record the results of testing, and wherein the self-test engine determines where to store the self-test data.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the script includes checkpoint instructions.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the checkpoint instructions indicate to the self-test engine to transfer self-test data from the flash memory to the rotatable disk.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the checkpoint instructions also erases data after writing to rotating media.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-test data is compressed before being stored in the non-volatile memory.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the self-test data is decompressed before being written to the rotatable disk.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein a self-test engine compresses the self-test data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-test data is written into a RAM when there is not enough space in the flash memory.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile memory is a flash memory.

14. A method of operating a hard disk drive comprising:

during self-test, running a self-test script, the self-test script indicating tests and checkpoints;

when a test is indicated by the self-test script, running test code indicated by the script to do a test in self-test, the test code including statements indicating when to store self-test data;

when the statements in the test code indicate storing the self-test data, storing the self-test data into a non-volatile memory of the hard disk drive; and

when the script indicates a checkpoint, transferring the self-test data from the non-volatile memory to a rotatable disk of the hard disk drive.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein self-test engine software is used to control the writing of the self-test data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the statements are print statements that are interpreted by the self-test engine.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the self-test data is compressed before being stored in the non-volatile memory.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the self-test data is decompressed before being written to the rotatable disk.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a self-test engine compresses the self-test data.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the self-test data is written into a RAM when there is not enough space in the non-volatile memory.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein after checkpoint writes data to media, it erases it from non-volatile memory.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the non-volatile memory is flash memory.