Patent ID: 7526580

Claim:
A peripheral device capable of being connected to a data processing device, the peripheral device comprising: a memory receiving portion that is configured so as to be capable of receiving a plurality of memories; a mode setting portion that executes a mode setting operation that sets either one of an automatic switching mode and a multi-drive mode; a memory-state setting portion that sets, during the automatic switching mode, a single memory among the plurality of memories presently received in the memory receiving portion into a state accessible by the data processing device, the memory-state setting portion setting, during the multi-drive mode, two or more memories among the plurality of memories received in the memory receiving portion into states individually accessible by the data processing device; and a command receiving portion receiving a command indicating that the data processing device supports the multi-drive mode, the mode setting portion being configured so as to be capable of setting the multi-drive mode in response to the command received by the command receiving portion.