Method for mapping around defective sectors in a disc drive
First Claim
1. In a microprocessor controlled disc drive including at least one constantly rotating disc having a plurality of concentric tracks where data is written and read, and means for positioning a transducer relative to a specified track on said disc for reading and writing data thereon, said positioning means being responsive to user-initiated commands to position said transducer head on user-accessible tracks on said disc and read or write data, the improvement comprising means for storing multiple copies of controlling operating data relative to said user-initiated commands on non-user accessible tracks of said disc, means for accessing said controlling operating data and for modifying said user-initiated commands in accordance with said controlling operating data for controlling said seek to position said transducer over a selected track.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The defect list, as supplied by the manufacturer, is stored on the outer tracks of the disk. It is merged with the user supplied media defect list during formatting and used to flag defective sectors. During initialization the merged defect list is loaded into a section of dynamic memory so that it is accessible during seeking of a particular address.
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Citations
22 Claims
- 1. In a microprocessor controlled disc drive including at least one constantly rotating disc having a plurality of concentric tracks where data is written and read, and means for positioning a transducer relative to a specified track on said disc for reading and writing data thereon, said positioning means being responsive to user-initiated commands to position said transducer head on user-accessible tracks on said disc and read or write data, the improvement comprising means for storing multiple copies of controlling operating data relative to said user-initiated commands on non-user accessible tracks of said disc, means for accessing said controlling operating data and for modifying said user-initiated commands in accordance with said controlling operating data for controlling said seek to position said transducer over a selected track.
- 5. In a disc drive with at least one disc, at least one transducer for reading and writing data on said disc, an external interface connecting said disc drive to other elements within a computer system, a microprocessor including associated read-only memory and rapidly accessible read-write memory, said microprocessor executing a program suitable for interpreting commands received at said interface and in control of elements internal to said disc drive to execute said commands and provide appropriate information at said interface in response to said commands, said internal elements including means for positioning said transducer relative to said disc, said positioning means being responsive to said microprocessor-interpreted commands to position said transducer relative to said disc, the improvement comprising means for storing a list of media defects on tracks of said disc accessible only by said microprocessor and not directly addressable via said interface, means for said microprocessor to access said list to enable said microprocessor to prevent data transfers initiated by said commands at said interface to or from locations on said disc containing said media defects.
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9. In a disc drive with at least one disc, at least one transducer for reading and writing data on said disc, an external interface connecting said disc drive to other elements within a computer system, a microprocessor including associated read-only memory and rapidly accessible read-write memory, said microprocessor executing a program suitable for interpreting commands received at said interface and in control of elements internal to said disc drive to execute said commands and provide appropriate information at said interface in response to said commands, said internal elements including means for positioning said transducer relative to said disc, said positioning means being responsive to said microprocessor-interpreted commands to position said transducer relative to said disc, a method of storing a list of media defects found during the manufacturing process and making said list available to said microprocessor for the use of said microprocessor in preventing data transfers to or from locations on said discs containing such defects, comprising the steps of
identifying such found defects to said microprocessor during the manufacturing process, causing said microprocessor to control said positioning means in a manner to cause said positioning means to move said transducer to a track not directly accessible by said commands at said interface, writing said list of media defects on said track in a recoverable format recognizable and usable by said microprocessor, executing a certain set of instructions in said microprocessor program while said drive is installed in said computer system to cause said positioning means to move said transducer over said track containing said media defect list, reading said media defect list from said track on said disc into said rapidly-accessible read-write memory or other storage area within said disc drive internal elements, executing a second set of instructions in said microprocessor program to utilize said defect information to prevent data transfers initiated by said commands received at said interface from occurring at locations on said disc containing said media defects.
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13. A method of accessing rotating storage media in a disc drive having an external interface connecting said disc drive to other elements within a computer system, a microprocessor including associated read-only memory and rapidly accessible read-write memory, said disc drive including means for positioning a transducer relative to said rotating storage media, the improvement comprising
storing a list of media defects on tracks of said disc, said list of defects being accessible only by said microprocessor and not directly addressable via said interface, causing said microprocessor to access said list to enable said microprocessor to prevent data transfers initiated by commands at said interface to or from locations on said disc containing said media defects.
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17. A method of avoiding accessing of defective locations on rotating storage media in a disc drive, the rotating media having addressable locations on user-accessible tracks and a list of media defects on non-user accessible tracks of said disc accessible only by a microprocessor incorporated in said disc drive and not via an external interface connecting said disc drive to other elements within a computer system, said list being made available to said microprocessor to prevent data transfers to or from said disc locations containing said defects, said microprocessor including the steps of causing said microprocessor to interpret commands from said computer to position a transducer over one of said non-user accessible tracks,
reading said media defect list from said track into a storage area within said disc drive, utilizing said defect list to prevent data transfers initiated by commands received at said interface from occurring at said defective locations.
Specification