System and method to display information on a hard disk drive assembly

• US 8,856,412 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2008
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Haustein, Nils, Klein, Craig Anthony, Winarski, Daniel James
• Primary Examiner(s): TSENG, CHENG YUAN
• Application Number:
  US12/059,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20080218892A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,381 Days
• Field of Search: 710/15
• US Class Current: 710/74
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3208 organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/36 using liquid crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/122 Arrangements for providing electrical connections, e.g. connectors, cables, switches

Abstract

A method and a system are provided for displaying information on a hard disk drive assembly. The hard disk drive assembly includes a hard disk drive which further comprises a driver circuit coupled to a display and a display memory. The driver circuit activates the display mounted on the hard disk drive assembly. In response to the activation of the display the driver circuit obtains information from the display memory of the hard disk drive. The driver circuit displays at least a portion of the information obtained from the display memory on the display mounted on the hard disk drive assembly.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

activating a display mounted on a hard disk drive assembly, said activating comprising detecting that a control is engaged at a first time;

obtaining information from a display memory within a hard disk drive of said hard disk drive assembly in response to said activation of said display mounted on said hard disk drive assembly, wherein said information is usage context of said hard disk drive comprises a rank status in a RAID configuration, the rank status including an indication of whether the rank is in one of a plurality of modes the plurality of modes comprising a normal mode, a failed mode, a degraded mode, and a rebuilding mode;

displaying on said display mounted on said hard drive assembly at least a portion of said information obtained from said display memory;

determining, at a second time, if said control is engaged; and

in response to determining that said control is not engaged, powering off said display, wherein said second time is greater than a predetermined time threshold time after said first time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said control is one of a switch, a button, a toggle, a knob, or a lever.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said control is a button and said button is a four-way button.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising powering on said display.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said display is an OLED display.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined threshold time is determined by said user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining information further comprises reading data from said display memory.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that said display memory does not contain said data, displaying a message indicating that said data is not available.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said information further comprises data content of said hard disk drive.

10. A hard disk drive assembly comprising:

a hard disk drive comprising;

a display;

a display memory;

a driver circuit coupled to said display and said display memory, wherein said driver circuit is configured to;

activate said display mounted on said hard disk drive assembly,

obtain information from said display memory of said hard disk drive in response to said activation of said display mounted on said hard disk drive assembly, wherein said information is usage context of said hard disk drive comprises a rank status in a RAID configuration, the rank status including an indication of whether the rank is in one of a plurality of modes, the plurality of modes comprising a normal mode, a failed mode, a degraded mode, and a rebuilding mode, and

display at least a portion of said information obtained from said display memory on said display mounted on said hard disk drive assembly; and

a control coupled to said driver circuit, wherein said driver circuit is further configured to;

perform said activation by detecting said control has been engaged at a first time,

determine if said control is engaged at a second time, and

in response to determining said control is not engaged, power off said display, wherein said second time is greater than a predetermined time threshold time after said first time.

11. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said control is one of a switch, a button, a toggle, a knob, or a lever.

12. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 11, wherein said control is a button and said button is a four-way button.

13. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said driver circuit is further configured to power on said display.

14. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said display is an OLED display.

15. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said predetermined threshold time is determined by said user.

16. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said driver circuit is configured to obtain information by reading data from said display memory.

17. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 16, wherein said driver circuit is configured to display information comprising a message indicating said data is not available in response to determining that said display memory does not contain said data.

18. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said information further comprises data content of said hard disk drive.

19. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, further comprising a battery.

20. The hard disk drive assembly of claim 10, wherein said hard disk drive assembly further comprises a carrier.