Abstract:
A method of setting up a pre-amplifier for a hard disk drive and a hard disk drive incorporating the method. A serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier is checked by writing and reading data to/from the pre-amplifier. A chip ID of the pre-amplifier is checked and a vendor of the pre-amplifier is identified using the chip ID. Default values of the pre-amplifier stored in a ROM and adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier are automatically downloaded to a register of a hard-disk controller, simplifying the pre-amplifier installation and reducing errors which may occur during manual installation of the pre-amplifier.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-13578, filed on Feb. 27, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a method of setting-up a pre-amplifier for a hard disk drive, and more particularly, to a method of setting up a pre-amplifier to enable a communication between the pre-amplifier and a hard disk controller by checking serial interfacing of the pre-amplifier when the pre-amplifier is installed in the hard disk drive.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     A hard disk drive is a data storage unit for storing a large amount of data. The hard disk drive records or reproduces data on/from a disk using magnetic fields. As a capacity of the hard disk drive increases, the hard disk drive is widely used as a storage medium for an Audio/Video device of a multimedia system.  
         [0006]     A hard disk drive includes a pre-amplifier for amplifying data to be read or written from/on a disk, respectively. Various vendors have supplied various pre-amplifiers which perform same basic functions; however operations for performing the basic functions vary among the pre-amplifiers provided. For this reason, when installing a pre-amplifier in a hard disk drive, a user must check a specification of the pre-amplifier and search for setting values adapted to the specification.  
         [0007]     A specification of a pre-amplifier includes an interface setting, a default value of the pre-amplifier, basic setting values required for operating the pre-amplifier (such as for example, head information, a magnitude of a writing current, a MR (Magneto-Resistive) bias, various gain values, and mode information), additional functions or modules related to the pre-amplifier, etc.  
         [0008]     Therefore, conventionally, since a user should check a specification of the pre-amplifier and search for suitable setting values according to the specification whenever installing the pre-amplifier, much time is required for setting-up the pre-amplifier.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The present invention provides a method of setting up a pre-amplifier in a hard disk drive using software.  
         [0010]     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of automatically setting up a pre-amplifier when the pre-amplifier is installed in a hard disk drive. The method includes: checking a serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier by performing a process of writing and reading data to/from the pre-amplifier; checking a chip ID of the pre-amplifier; selecting a vendor of the pre-amplifier using the chip ID of the pre-amplifier; downloading default values of the pre-amplifier stored in a ROM to a register of a hard-disk controller; and downloading adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier stored in a disk to the register.  
         [0011]     The checking of the serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier includes writing a specific value in the register through the pre-amplifier using a hard disk controller; reading a value stored in the register from the register through the pre-amplifier using the hard disk controller; comparing the read value with the specific value; and repeating the writing of the specific value, the reading of the stored value and the comparing of the read value with the specific value until the read value is equal to the specific value.  
         [0012]     The writing of the specific value, the reading of the stored value, the comparing of the read value with the specific value and the repeating of the writing of the specific value, the reading of the stored value, and the comparing of the read value with the specific value are performed at least twice.  
         [0013]     The register may be installed in the hard disk controller.  
         [0014]     The method of setting up the pre-amplifier may further include storing the default values of the pre-amplifier in the ROM and storing the adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier in a maintenance cylinder of the disk, before the checking of the serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier.  
         [0015]     In the checking of the chip ID of the pre-amplifier, the hard disk controller reads a chip ID of the pre-amplifier stored in the pre-amplifier.  
         [0016]     A plurality of vendor codes each indicating a vendor of the pre-amplifier may be stored in the ROM.  
         [0017]     The default values of the pre-amplifier include a drive default value of the pre-amplifier and represent basic functions of the pre-amplifier.  
         [0018]     The adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier include a zone/head default value of the pre-amplifier and a default value of the register. The method of setting up the pre-amplifier may further include: determining whether data reading and data writing from/to the hard disk drive are correctly performed, after repeating the writing of the specific value, the reading of the stored value and the comparing of the read value with the specific value until the read value is equal to the specific value.  
         [0019]     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a hard disk drive according to the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting up a pre-amplifier for a hard disk drive, according to the present invention; and  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a process for checking serial interfacing of the pre-amplifier. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
         [0025]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a hard disk drive according to the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a hard disk drive  105  includes a disk  111 , a converter  121 , a spindle motor  131 , a voice coil motor (VCM)  141 , a spindle/VCM driver  151 , a pre-amplifier  161 , a hard disk controller  171 , and a ROM  181 .  
         [0026]     The disk  111  is a magnetic disk for storing data. The disk  111  has a plurality of circular tracks for storing data. The disk  111  is sectioned into a plurality of sectors, each including a data field, an identification field and a maintenance cylinder. The data field stores data, the identification field stores gray codes for identifying a sector and a track, and the maintenance cylinder stores information required for operating a hard disk, for example, information (pre-amplifier interface, register default values, zone/head parameters, etc.) required for communication between the hard disk controller  171  and the pre-amplifier  161 .  
         [0027]     The spindle motor  131  receives a signal from the spindle/VCM driver  151  to rotate the disk  111 .  
         [0028]     The voice coil motor  141  receives a signal from the spindle/VCM driver  151  to move the converter  121  across a surface of the disk  111 .  
         [0029]     The converter  121  is located near the surface of the disk  111 . If data is written on both surfaces of the disk  111 , two converters  121  are mounted near opposite surfaces of the disk  111 . The converter  121  senses a magnetic field of the disk  111  to read data stored in the disk  111 , or magnetizes the disk  111  to store data in the disk  111 . The converter  121  includes a converter for magnetizing the disk  111 , to record data on the disk  111 , and a converter for sensing a magnetic field of the disk  111 , to read data from the disk  111 . The converter  121  is generally called a ‘Head’.  
         [0030]     The converter  121  reads a signal from the disk  111  and transfers the read signal to the pre-amplifier  161 . The pre-amplifier  161  receives the signal from the converter  121 , amplifies the received signal, and then transfers the amplified signal to the hard disk controller  171 . Or, the pre-amplifier  161  amplifies a signal received from the hard disk controller  171  and transfers the amplified signal to the converter  121 .  
         [0031]     The ROM  181  stores various programs and data for controlling the hard disk drive  105 .  
         [0032]     The hard disk controller  171  controls operations of the pre-amplifier  161  and the spindle/VCM driver  151  while communicating with the ROM  181 . The hard disk controller  171  includes a register  171 A for storing information required for setting up the pre-amplifier  161  therein. Alternatively the hard disk controller may be connected to an external buffer (not shown) for storing the information required for setting up the pre-amplifier  161 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting up a pre-amplifier for a hard disk drive, according to the present invention. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the method of setting up a pre-amplifier, according to the present invention, is described as follows.  
         [0034]     In operation  211 , default values of the pre-amplifier  161  are stored in the ROM  181  and adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier  161  are stored in the maintenance cylinder of the disk  111 . The default values of the pre-amplifier  161  represent basic functions of the pre-amplifier  161  and the adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier  161  includes a zone/head default value of the pre-amplifier  161  and a default value of the register  171 A of the hard disk controller  171 .  
         [0035]     In operation  221 , a serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161  is checked while the hard disk controller  171  writes and reads data to/from the register  171 A of the hard disk controller  171  via the pre-amplifier  161 . To communicate the hard disk controller  171  with the pre-amplifier  161 , an interface of the pre-amplifier  161  should be set correctly. To correctly set the interface of the pre-amplifier  161 , it is necessary to check the serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161  and install a specification for the serial interfacing mode in the register  171 A of the hard disk controller  171 . Operation  221  will be described in more detail later with reference to  FIG. 3 .  
         [0036]     In operation  231 , a chip ID of the pre-amplifier  161  is checked. That is, the hard disk controller  171  reads a chip ID of the pre-amplifier  161  stored in the pre-amplifier  161 . The pre-amplifier  161  may be an integrated-circuit chip with an ID.  
         [0037]     In operation  241 , a vendor of the pre-amplifier  161  is selected using the chip ID of the pre-amplifier  161 . Since pre-amplifiers may be provided by various vendors, the chip IDs of the various pre-amplifiers are different according to vendor. Accordingly, a vendor of the pre-amplifier may be determined by identifying the chip ID of the pre-amplifier  161 . That is, a plurality of vendor codes each indicating a pre-amplifier vendor are stored in the ROM  181  and the hard disk controller  171  selects a vendor code corresponding to the pre-amplifier  161  among the plurality of vendor codes.  
         [0038]     In operation  251 , default values of the pre-amplifier  161  stored in the ROM  181  are downloaded to the register  171 A of the hard disk controller  171 . The default values of the pre-amplifier  161  include a drive default value of the pre-amplifier  161  and represent basic functions of the pre-amplifier  161 . Here, a buffer (not shown) that is connected to the hard disk controller  171  may be substituted for the register  171 A of the hard disk controller.  
         [0039]     In operation  261 , the hard disk controller  171  determines whether data reading and data writing from/to the hard disk drive  105  are correctly performed. By performing a process of writing data in the disk  111  and reading pre-stored data from the disk  111  via the pre-amplifier  161 , the hard disk controller  171  checks whether data reading and data writing from/to the hard disk drive  101  are correctly performed. If the data reading and data writing from/to the hard disk drive  101  are not correctly performed, the process is returned to operation  221 .  
         [0040]     If the data reading and data writing from/to the hard disk drive  101  are correctly performed, adaptive codes of the pre-amplifier  161  stored in the disk  111  are downloaded to the register  171 A of the hard disk drive  171 .  
         [0041]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a process for checking a serial interfacing mode of a pre-amplifier. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , a process for checking the serial interfacing mode of a pre-amplifier is described as follows.  
         [0042]     The serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161  is set into one among four serial interfacing modes of A through D as shown in Table 1.  
                                                             TABLE 1                                   A   B   C   D                                        Address   MSB   MSB   LSB   LSB           Data   MSB   LSB   MSB   LSB                      
 
         [0043]     That is, the serial interfacing modes of the pre-amplifier  161  include: a serial interfacing mode A that reads both an address and data sequentially from MSB; a serial interfacing mode B that reads the address and data sequentially from MSB and LSB, respectively; a serial interfacing mode C that reads the address and data sequentially from LSB and MSB, respectively; and a serial interfacing mode D that read both the address and data sequentially from LSB, when reading a value stored in the register  171 A of the hard disk controller  171  through the pre-amplifier  161 .  
         [0044]     To check whether the setting state of the pre-amplifier  161  corresponds to a particular mode among the four serial interfacing modes, the following operations are performed.  
         [0045]     In operation  311 , the hard disk controller  171  writes specific values in the register  171 A through the pre-amplifier  161 . At this time, the hard disk controller  171  applies a pre-amplifier enable signal, a clock signal, and a data signal to the pre-amplifier  161 . Only while the pre-amplifier enable signal is in an enable state, is data written in the register  171 A or read from the register  171 A.  
         [0046]     The data signal comprises a read/write indication bit, chip selection bits, address bits and data bits.  
         [0047]     The read/write indication bit indicates that data is read from the register  171 A or that data is written to the register  171 A. For example, a read/write indication bit is “ 1 ” indicates that data is written to the register  171 A, and a read/write indication bit is “ 0 ” indicates that data is read from the register  171 A.  
         [0048]     The chip selection bits indicate a selected pre-amplifier among a plurality of pre-amplifiers.  
         [0049]     The address bits, which are generally four bits, comprise addresses of data to be stored in the register or addresses of data stored in the register  171 A.  
         [0050]     The data bits, which are generally 8 bits, comprise data to be written in the register  171 A or data read from the register  171 A.  
         [0051]     In operation  321 , the hard disk controller  171  reads a value stored in the register  171 A through the pre-amplifier  161 .  
         [0052]     For example, after the hard disk controller  171  writes an address ‘1’ (hexadecimal) and data ‘21’ (hexadecimal) in the register  171 A through the pre-amplifier  161 , the hard disk controller  171  reads the values stored in the register  171 A through the pre-amplifier  161 . Since the written values are converted into binary numbers and stored, the address is stored as ‘0001’ and the data is stored as ‘0010 0001.’ At this time, if the serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161  is set to the serial interfacing mode A of Table 1, the read address is ‘0001’ and the read data is ‘0010 0001’. However, if the serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161  is set to the serial interfacing mode D of Table 1, the read address is ‘1000’ and the read data is ‘1000 0100’.  
         [0053]     As such, when the hard disk controller  171  reads values stored in the register  171 A through the pre-amplifier  161 , the read values are different according to the serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161 .  
         [0054]     In operation  331 , the values read through the pre-amplifier  161  are compared with the specific values.  
         [0055]     If the values read through the pre-amplifier  161  are not equal to the specific values, the process is returned to operation  311 .  
         [0056]     If the values read through the pre-amplifier  161  are equal to the specific values, the operations  311  through  331  are repeated in operations  311 - 1 ,  321 - 1 ,  331 - 1 , and  335 - 1 . This is because a case may exist where the specific values are equal to the values read through the pre-amplifier  161  regardless of the set serial interfacing mode of the pre-amplifier  161 .  
         [0057]     For example, if the data is ‘81’ (hexadecimal), the data ‘81’ is converted into a binary number ‘1000 0001’. Although the data ‘1000 0001’ is written in the register  171 A through the pre-amplifier  161  using the serial interfacing mode B of Table 1, resultant read data becomes ‘1000 0001’ regardless of the interfacing mode. That is, numbers which convert to binary numbers having a same sequence of bits from an LSB to an MSB and from the MSB to the LSB are not good candidate numbers for testing the serial interfacing mode, e.g., Hex 00 (0000000), Hex 18 (00011000), and Hex A5 (101001 01).  
         [0058]     Accordingly, to prevent such an error, the operations  311  through  335  may be repeated two or more times.  
         [0059]     As described above, according to the present invention, operations that install a pre-amplifier  161  in a hard disk drive  101  and set up the pre-amplifier  161  may be performed using software.  
         [0060]     Accordingly, temporal loss and operational load, caused by using an individual code programmed to be adapted to a specification of the pre-amplifier whenever operating a pre-amplifier mounted in a hard disk drive, may be reduced. Also, an error, generated in the pre-amplifier due to using an unsuitable pre-amplifier code, may be prevented.  
         [0061]     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.