Maxtor MAXLINE PLUS II 250GB at Product Manual

MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

Product Manual

October 30, 2003

Part Number: 1905

©

October 30, 2003 Maxtor Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

This publication could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically

made to the information herein – which will be incorporated in revised editions of the publication. Maxtor

may make changes or improvements in the product(s) described in this publication at any time and without

notice.

UL/CSA/VDE/TUV

UL standard 1954 recognition granted under File No. E78016

CSA standard C22.2-950 certification granted under File No. LR49896

TUV Rheinland EN 60 950

Tested to FCC Rules for Radiated and Conducted Emissions, Part 15, Sub Part J, for Class-B Equipment.

PATENTS

These products are covered by or licensed under one or more of the following U.S. Patents:

4,419,701; 4, 538,193 4,625,109; 4,639,798; 4,647,769; 4,647,997; 4,661,696; 4,669,004; 4,675,652;

4,703,176; 4,730,321; 4,772,974; 4,783,705; 4,819,153; 4,882,671; 4,920,442; 4,920,434; 4,982,296;

5,005,089; 5,027,241; 5,031,061; 5,084,791; 5,119,254; 5,160,865; 5,170,229; 5,177,771; Other U.S. and

Foreign Patents Pending.

Maxtor

®

, MaxFax® are registered trademarks of Maxtor Corporation, registered in the U.S.A. and other

countries. Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT, AutoTransfer, AutoRead, AutoWrite, DisCache, Dis-

kWare, Defect Free Interface, and WriteCache are trademarks of Maxtor Corporation. All other brand

names or trademarks are the property of their manufacturers.

Maxtor reserves the right to make changes and improvements to its products, without incurring any obliga-

tion to incorporate such changes or improvements into units previously sold or shipped.

This product or document is protected by copyright and distributed under licences restricting its use, copy-

ing, distributing, and decompilation. No part of this product or document may be reproduced in any form

by any means without prior written authorization of Maxtor and its licensors, if any.

RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the government is subject to restric-

tions as set forth in subparagraphs (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause

at DFARS 252.227-7013 and FAR 52.227-19.

THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER

EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF

MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTIULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

You can request Maxtor publications from your Maxtor Sales Representative or order them directly from

Maxtor.

Part Number: 1905

Corporate Headquarters:

500 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, California 95035
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Before You Begin

Thank you for your interest in Maxtor hard disk drives. This manual provides technical information for

OEM engineers and systems integrators regarding the installation and use of Maxtor hard drives. Drive

repair should be performed only at an authorized repair center. For repair information, contact the Maxtor

Product Support Center at 1-800-2MAXTOR.

CAUTION: Maxtor hard drives are precision products. Failure to follow these precautions and guidelines out-

lined here may lead to product failure, damage and invali

1 BEFORE unpacking or handling a drive, take all proper electro-static discharge (ESD) precau-

tions, including personnel and equipment grounding. Stand-alone drives are sensitive to ESD

damage.

2 BEFORE removing drives from their packing material, allow them to reach room tempera-

ture.

3 During handling, NEVER drop, jar, or bump a drive.

4 Once a drive is removed from the Maxtor shipping container, IMMEDIATELY secure the

drive through its mounting holes within a chassis. Otherwise, store the drive on a padded,

dation of all warranties.

grounded, antistatic surface.

5 NEVER switch DC power onto the drive by plugging an electrically live DC source cable into

the drive's connector. NEVER connect a live bus to the drive's interface connector.

6 ELECTRICAL GROUNDING - For proper operation, the drive must be securely fastened to a

device bay that provides a suitable electrical ground to the drive baseplate.

Please do not remove or cover up Maxtor factory-installed drive labels. They contain information required
should the drive ever need repair. Thank you for your interest in Maxtor hard disk drives. This

manual provides technical information for OEM engineers and systems integrators regarding
the installation and use of Maxtor hard drives. Drive repair should be performed only at an
authorized repair center. For repair information, contact the Maxtor Customer Service Cen­ter at 800-2MAXTOR or 1-303-678-2015.

Corporate Headquarters:

500 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, California 95035
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Table of Content

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 AUDIENCE ................................................................................................................... 1-1

1.2 MANUAL ORGANIZATION ...................................................................................... 1-1

1.3 TERMINOLOGY AND CONVENTIONS ................................................................... 1-2

1.4 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 1-3

Chapter 2
GENERAL DESCRIPTION

2.1 PRODUCT OVERVIEW .............................................................................................. 2-1

2.2 KEY FEATURES .......................................................................................................... 2-2

2.3 REGULATORY COMPLIANCE STANDARDS ........................................................ 2-3

2.4 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................ 2-4

Chapter 3
INSTALLATION

3.1 SPACE REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................... 3-1

3.2 UNPACKING INSTRUCTIONS .................................................................................. 3-2

3.3 HARDWARE OPTIONS .............................................................................................. 3-5

3.3.1 ATA Interface Connector .....................................................................................3-5

3.3.2 ATA BUS ADAPTER ..........................................................................................3-9

3.4 COMBINATION CONNECTOR (J1) .......................................................................... 3-9

3.4.1 DC Power (J1, Section A) ..................................................................................3-11

3.4.2 External Drive Activity LED ..............................................................................3-11

3.4.3 ATA Bus Interface Connector (J1, Section C) ...................................................3-11

3.4.4 SATA (Serial ATA) Interface Connector ...........................................................3-12

3.4.5 SATA BUS ADAPTER ......................................................................................3-12

3.5 COMBINATION CONNECTOR (J1) ........................................................................ 3-13

3.5.1 DC Power (J1, Section A) ..................................................................................3-14

3.5.2 ATA Bus Interface Connector (J1, Section C) ...................................................3-16

3.6 MOUNTING................................................................................................................ 3-17

3.6.1 Orientation ..........................................................................................................3-17

3.6.2 Clearance ............................................................................................................3-19

3.6.3 Ventilation ..........................................................................................................3-19

3.7 FOR SYSTEMS WITH A MOTHERBOARD ATA/SATA ADAPTER ................... 3-20

3.8 FOR SYSTEMS WITH AN ATA ADAPTER BOARD............................................. 3-20

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT i

Table of Contents

3.8.1 Adapter Board Installation .................................................................................3-20

3.9 TECHNIQUES IN DRIVE CONFIGURATION........................................................ 3-23

3.9.1 The 528-Megabytes Barrier ...............................................................................3-23

3.9.2 The 8.4-Gigabytes Barrier ..................................................................................3-23

3.9.3 Operating system limitations .............................................................................. 3-24

3.10 SYSTEM STARTUP AND OPERATION ................................................................. 3-24

Chapter 4
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

4.1 Models and Capacities................................................................................................... 4-1

4.2 Drive Configuration ...................................................................................................... 4-1

4.3 Performance Specifications ........................................................................................... 4-2

4.4 Physical Dimensions ..................................................................................................... 4-3

4.5 Power Requirements...................................................................................................... 4-3

4.6 Power Mode Definitions ............................................................................................... 4-4

4.7 EPA Energy Star Compliance ....................................................................................... 4-4

4.8 Environmental Limits.................................................................................................... 4-5

4.9 Shock and Vibration ...................................................................................................... 4-6

4.10 Reliability Specifications .............................................................................................. 4-7

4.11 EMC/EMI ...................................................................................................................... 4-8

4.11.1 Radiated Electromagnetic Field Emissions - EMC Compliance ......................... 4-8

4.11.2 Canadian Emissions Statement ............................................................................ 4-8

4.12 Safety Regulatory Compliance...................................................................................... 4-8

Chapter 5
ATA BUS INTERFACE AND ATA COMMANDS

5.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 5-1

5.2 MECHANICAL INTERFACE ..................................................................................... 5-1

5.2.1 Signal Cable and Connector ................................................................................. 5-1

5.3 ELECTRICAL INTERFACE........................................................................................ 5-1

5.3.1 ATA Bus Interface ...............................................................................................5-1

5.4 REGISTER ADDRESS DECODING........................................................................... 5-2

5.5 COMMAND INTERFACE........................................................................................... 5-2

5.5.1 General Feature Set .............................................................................................. 5-2

5.5.2 Supported Commands ..........................................................................................5-2

Chapter 6
SERVICE AND SUPPORT

6.1 Product Support/Technical Assistance/Customer Service ............................................ 6-1

ii Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Table of Contents

Appendix A
BREAKING THE 137 GIGABYTE STORAGE BARRIER

A.1 Breaking the 137 Gigabyte Storage Barrier.................................................................. A-1

A.1.1 History .................................................................................................................A-1

A.1.2 Solving the 137 Gigabyte Capacity Barrier .........................................................A-3

A.1.3 How is the Extension Implemented? ...................................................................A-3

A.1.4 What Do the Drives Need to Meet the Spec? ......................................................A-3

A.1.5 What Else is Involved? ........................................................................................A-3

A.1.6 What is the Next Barrier? ....................................................................................A-4

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT iii

List of Figures

Figure 3-1 Mechanical Dimensions of Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 Hard Disk Drive .... 3-1

Figure 3-2 Single-Pack Shipping Container ................................................................... 3-3

Figure 3-3 20-Pack Shipping Container ......................................................................... 3-4

Figure 3-4 Jumper Locations on the ATA Interface Connector ...................................... 3-5

Figure 3-5 AT Connector and Jumper Location ............................................................ 3-8

Figure 3-6 J1 DC Power and ATA Bus Combination Connector ................................ 3-10

Figure 3-7 The SATA Interface Connector ................................................................. 3-12

Figure 3-8 Serial ATA PCB ......................................................................................... 3-13

Figure 3-9 Mounting Dimensions for the Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9

Hard Disk Drives ........................................................................................ 3-17

Figure 3-10 Mounting Screw Clearance for the Maxtor Hard Disk Drives ..................... 3-18

Figure 3-11 Drive Power Supply and ATA Bus Interface Cables .................................... 3-21

Figure 3-12 Completing the Drive Installation ............................................................... 3-22

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT iv

List of Tables

Table 3-1 AT Jumper Options .................................................................................................. 3-6

Table 3-2 J1 Power Connector, Section A ............................................................................. 3-11

Table 3-3 J1 Power Connector, Section A ............................................................................. 3-14

Table 3-4 Device plug connector pin definition..................................................................... 3-15

Table 3-5 Logical Addressing Format.................................................................................... 3-25

Table 5-1 Supported Commands .............................................................................................. 5-2

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters....................................................................... 5-5

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT v

This chapter gives an overview of the contents of this manual, including
the intended audience, how the manual is organized, terminology and
conventions, and references.

1.1 AUDIENCE

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT Product Manual is intended for several
audiences. These audiences include: the end user, installer, developer,
consumer electronics and personal computer original equipment
manufacturer (CE/PC OEM), and distributor. The manual provides
information about installation, principles of operation, interface command
implementation, and maintenance.

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT family of drives provide a high-quality,
low-cost, market leading 80 GB per disk products to serve the consumer
and mainstream commercial markets, as well as the consumer electronics
market.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.2 MANUAL ORGANIZATION

This manual is organized into the following chapters:

• Chapter 1 – Introduction

• Chapter 2 – General Description

• Chapter 3 – Installation

• Chapter 4 – Product Specifications

• Chapter 5 – ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

• Chapter 6 – Service and Support

• Appendix A – Breaking the 137-Gigabyte Storage Barrier

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 1-1

1.3 TERMINOLOGY AND CONVENTIONS

In the Glossary at the back of this manual, you can find definitions for
many of the terms used in this manual. In addition, the following
abbreviations are used in this manual:

• ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

• ATA Advanced Technology Attachment

• bpi bits per inch

• DA Double Amplitude(represents pk-pk shaker
displacement)

• dB decibels

• dBA decibels, A weighted

• DPS Data Protection System

• SPS Shock Protection System

• ECC Error Correcting Code

• Kfci thousands of flux changes per inch

Introduction

•Hz Hertz

• KB Kilobytes

• LSB Least Significant Bit

• mA milliamperes

• MB Megabytes (1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes when referring
to disk transfer rates or storage capacities and
1,048,576 bytes in all other cases)

• Mb/s Megabits per second

• MB/s Megabytes per second

•MHz Megahertz

• ms milliseconds

• MSB Most Significant Bit

• mV millivolts

• ns nanoseconds

• SATA Serial ATA Interface

• tpi tracks per inch

• µs microseconds

•V Volts

1-2 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Introduction

The typographical and naming conventions used in this manual are listed
below. Conventions that are unique to a specific table appear in the notes
that follow that table.

Typographical Conventions:

• Names of Bits: Bit names are presented in initial capitals. An
example is the Host Software Reset bit.

• Commands: Interface commands are listed in all capitals. An
example is WRITE LONG.

• Register Names: Registers are given in this manual with initial
capitals. An example is the Alternate Status Register.

• Parameters: Parameters are given as initial capitals when
spelled out, and are given as all capitals when abbreviated.
Examples are Prefetch Enable (PE), and Cache Enable (CE).

• Hexadecimal Notation: The hexadecimal notation is given in
9-point subscript form. An example is 30

.

H

• Signal Negation: A signal name that is defined as active low
is listed with a minus sign following the signal. An example is
RD–.

• Messages: A message that is sent from the drive to the host
is listed in all capitals. An example is ILLEGAL COMMAND.

Naming Conventions:

• Host: In general, the system in which the drive resides is
referred to as the host.

• Computer Voice: This refers to items you type at the
computer keyboard. These items are listed in 10-point, all
capitals, Courier font. An example is FORMAT C:/S.

1.4 REFERENCES

For additional information about the ATA interface, refer to the latest
revision of the draft standard on the internet at http://www.t13.org/
using the link under “1410D AT Attachment - 6 with Packet Interface
(ATA/ATAPI - 6).”

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 1-3

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

This chapter summarizes the general functions and key features of the MaxLine Plus
II 250GB hard disk drive, as well as the applicable standards and regulations.

2.1 PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Maxtor’s MaxLine Plus II 250GB hard disk drive is part of a family of high
performance, 1-inch-high hard disk drives manufactured to meet the highest product
quality standards.

These hard disk drives use nonremovable, 3 1/2-inch hard disks and are
available with the ATA interface.

The MaxLine Plus II 250GB hard disk drive features an embedded hard disk drive
controller, and use ATA commands to optimize system performance. Because the
drive manages media defects and error recovery internally, these operations are fully
transparent to the user.

Chapter 2

The innovative design of the MaxLine Plus II 250 GB hard disk drive incorporate
leading edge technologies such as Ultra ATA/133, Serial ATA Option with transfer
speeds up to 150 MB/second, Advanced Cache Management, Shock Protection
System™ (SPS), Data Protection System (DPS) and Quiet Drive Technology (QDT).
These enhanced technologies enable Maxtor to produce a family of high­performance, high-reliability drives.

2.2 KEY FEATURES

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive includes the following key features:

General

• Low profile, 1-inch height

• Industry standard 3 1/2-inch form factor

• Emulation of IBM
commands

• Windows NT and 9X Certification

®

PC AT® task file register, and all AT fixed disk

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 2-1

General Description

Performance

• Average seek time of <9.0 ms

• Average rotational latency of 4.17 ms

• New Ultra ATA interface with Maxtor-patented Ultra ATA/133 protocol
supporting burst data transfer rates of 133MB/s

• Serial ATA interface with transfer speeds up to 150MB per second

• 8MB Cache buffer with 1.9MB (approximate) Advance Cache Management
(ACM)

• Look-ahead DisCache feature with continuous prefetch and WriteCache
write-buffering capabilities

• AutoTask Register update, Multi-block AutoRead, and Multi-block
AutoWrite features in a custom ASIC

• Read-on-arrival firmware

• Quadruple-burst ECC, and double burst ECC on-the-fly

• 1:1 interleave on read/write operations

• Support of all standard ATA data transfer modes with PIO mode 4 and
multiword DMA mode 2, and Ultra DMA modes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

• Adaptive cache segmentation

• 100% FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motors)

Reliability

• Exceeds one million hours mean time expected until the first failure (MTTF)

• Automatic retry on read errors

• 320-bit, non-interleaved Reed-Solomon Error Correcting Code (ECC), with
cross checking correction up to fifteen separate bursts of 10 bits each totalling
up to 150 bits in length

• S.M.A.R.T. 4 (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology)

• Transparent media defect mapping

• High performance, in-line defective sector skipping

• Reassignment of defective sectors discovered in the field, without
reformatting

• Shock Protection System to reduce handling induced failures

• Data Protection System to verify drive integrity

• Quiet Drive Technology (QDT)

2-2 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Versatility

• Power saving modes

• Downloadable firmware

• Cable select feature

• Ability to daisy-chain two drives on the interface

2.3 REGULATORY COMPLIANCE STANDARDS

Maxtor Corporation’s disk drive products meet all domestic and international
product safety regulatory compliance requirements. Maxtor’s disk drive products
conform to the following specifically marked Product Safety Standards:

• Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Standard 1950. This certificate is a
category certification pertaining to all 3.5-inch series drives models.

• Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standard C.22.2 No. 1950. This
certificate is a category certification pertaining to all 3.5-inch series
drives models.

• TUV Rheinland Standard EN60 950. This certificate is a category
certification pertaining to all 3.5-inch series drives models.

General Description

Product EMI/EMS Qualifications:

• CE Mark authorization is granted by TUV Rheinland in compliance
with our qualifying under EN 55022:1994 and EN 50082-1:1997.

• C-Tick Mark is an Australian authorization marked noted on Maxtor’s
disk drive products. The mark proves conformity to the regulatory
compliance document AS/NZS 3548: 1995 and BS EN 55022: 1995.

• Maxtor’s disk drives are designed as a separate subassembly that conforms to
the FCC Rules for Radiated and Conducted emissions, Part 15 Subpart J;
Class B when installed in a given computer system.

• Approval from Taiwan BSMI. Number: 3892A638

2.4 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive is compatible with the IBM PC AT,
and other computers that are compatible with the IBM PC AT. It connects to the PC
either by means of a third-party IDE-compatible adapter board, or by plugging a
cable from the drive directly into a PC motherboard that supplies an ATA interface.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 2-3

This chapter explains how to unpack, configure, mount, and connect the Maxtor
MaXLine Plus II 250 GB AT hard disk drive prior to operation. It also explains how
to start up and operate the drive.

3.1 SPACE REQUIREMENTS

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives are shipped without a faceplate.

Chapter 3

INSTALLATION

25 ±0.7 mm

147 mm (max)

(5.75 inches)

Figure 3-1 shows the external dimensions of the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT drives.

101.6 ±0.25 mm
(4.00 inches)

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-1

Installation

Figure 3-1 Mechanical Dimensions of MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT Hard Disk Drive

3.2 UNPACKING INSTRUCTIONS

CAUTION: The maximum limits for physical shock can be exceeded if the

drive is not handled properly. Special care should be
taken not to bump or drop the drive. It is highly recommended
that MaXLine Plus II 250GB at drives are not stacked or placed
on any hard surface after they are unpacked. Such handling could
cause media damage.

1. Open the shipping container and remove the packing assembly that
contains the drive.

2. Remove the drive from the packing assembly.

CAUTION: During shipment and handling, the antistatic electrostatic dis-

charge (ESD) bag prevents electronic component
damage due to electrostatic discharge. To avoid accidental dam­age to the drive, do not use a sharp instrument to open the ESD
bag and do not touch PCB components. Save the packing mate­rials for possible future use.

3. When you are ready to install the drive, remove it from the ESD bag.

3-2 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Installation

Figure 3-2 shows the packing assembly for a single Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT
hard disk drive. A 20-pack shipping container is available for multiple drive
shipments.

Figure 3-2 Single-Pack Shipping Container

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-3

Installation

Figure 3-3 20-Pack Shipping Container

3-4 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

3.3 HARDWARE OPTIONS

3.3.1 ATA Interface Connector

The configuration of a MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive depends on the
host system in which it is to be installed. This section describes the hardware options
that you must take into account prior to installation.

+12VDC return

+5VDC return

Pin 1

ATA Interface Connector

Pin 40

Installation

+12VDC

+5VDC

Power
Connector

Cable Select

Setting (default)

Master Setting

Slave Setting

DS with CS for

slaves not

supporting DASP

DS

DS

DS

DS

CS

CS

CS

CS

CLJ

Note: this setting is identical
for both drive 0 and drive 1

CLJ

CLJ

CLJ

Figure 3-4 Jumper Locations on the ATA Interface Connector

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-5

Installation

The configuration of the following three jumpers controls the drive’s five modes of
operation:

• CS – Cable Select

• DS – Drive Select

• CLJ– Cylinder Limitation Jumper

The AT PCB has two jumper locations provided to configure the drive in a system.
The default configuration for the drive as shipped from the factory is with a jumper
across the CS location, and open positions in the DS and CLJ positions.

Table 3-1 defines the operation of the master/slave jumpers and their function
relative to pin 28 on the interface. 1 indicates that the specified jumper is installed;
0 indicates that the jumper is not installed.

Table 3-1 AT Jumper Options

CS DS PIN 28 DESCRIPTION

0 0 X Drive is configured as a slave

1 0 Gnd Drive is configured as Master (Device 0) when

attached to the end of a 80 conductor Ultra ATA
cable

0 1 X Drive is configured as a Master

1 0 Open Drive is configured as a Slave (Device 1) when

attached to the middle of a 80 conductor Ultra ATA
cable

1 1 X Drive is configured as a Master with an attached slave

that does not support DASP

Note: In Table 3-1, a 0 indicates that the jumper is removed, a 1 indi-

cates that the jumper is installed, and an X indicates that the
jumper setting does not matter.

3.3.1.1 Cable Select (CS) Jumper

When a MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive and another ATA hard disk
drive are daisy-chained together, they can be configured as Master or Slave either by
the CS or DS jumpers. To configure the drive as a Master or Slave with the CS
feature, the CS jumper is installed (1). The drive's position on the 80 conductor Ultra
ATA data cable then determines whether the drive is a Master (Device 0) or a Slave
(Device 1). If the drive is connected to the end of the Ultra (cable Select) data cable
the drive is a Master. If the drive is connected to the middle connection it is set as a
Slave.

3-6 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Once you install the CS jumper, the drive is configured as a Master or Slave by the
state of the Cable Select signal: pin 28 of the ATA bus connector. Please note that
pin 28 is a vendor-specific pin that Maxtor is using for a specific purpose. More than
one function is allocated to CS, according to the ATA CAM specification (see
reference to this specification in Chapter 1). If pin 28 is a 0 (grounded), the drive is
configured as a Master. If it is a 1 (high), the drive is configured as a Slave. In order
to configure two drives in a Master/Slave relationship using the CS jumper, you
need to use a cable that provides the proper signal level at pin 28 of the ATA bus
connector. This allows two drives to operate in a Master/Slave relationship
according to the drive cable placement.

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives are shipped from the factory as a
Master (Device 0 - CS jumper installed). To configure a drive as a Slave (Device 1­DS scheme), the CS jumper must be removed. In this configuration, the spare
jumper removed from the CS position may be stored on the PK jumper pins.

3.3.1.2 Drive Select (DS) Jumper

You can also daisy-chain two drives on the ATA bus interface by using their Drive
Select (DS) jumpers. To use the DS feature, the CS jumper must not be installed.

To configure a drive as the Master (Device 0), a jumper must be installed on the DS
pins.

Installation

Note: The order in which drives are connected in a daisy chain has no

significance.

3.3.1.3 Master Jumper Configuration

In combination with the current DS or CS jumper settings, the Slave Present (SP)
jumper can be implemented if necessary as follows:

Note: The CS position doubles as the Slave present on this drive.

When the drive is configured as a Master (DS jumper installed or CS jumper
installed, and the Cable Select signal is set to (0), adding an additional jumper (both
jumpers DS and CS now installed) will indicate to the drive that a Slave drive is
present. This Master with Slave Present jumper configuration should be installed on
the Master drive only if the Slave drive does not use the Drive Active/Slave Present
(DASP–) signal to indicate its presence.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-7

Installation

3.3.1.4 Cylinder Limitation Jumper (CLJ)

For user capacities below 66,055,248 sectors (32GB), inserting the CLJ jumper limits
the Number of Cylinders field 1 to a value of 16,383, as reported in IDENTIFY
DEVICE data word. This allows software drivers to determine that the actual
capacity is larger than indicated by the maximum CHS, requiring LBA addressing to
use the full capacity.

Pin 1

A summary of these effects for the
in the following table:

C=16,383

250GB

7.22±0.50
(to pin center)

H=16
S=63
LB A =490,234,752

29.78±0.50
(to pin center)

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT drives is shown

CLJ JUMPER OUT

Pin 1 of AT Connector

Connector Side

C

L

4.55±0.50

Figure 3-5 AT Connector and Jumper Location

3-8 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

3.3.2 ATA BUS ADAPTER

There are two ways you can configure a system to allow the MaXLine Plus II 250GB
AT hard disk drives to communicate over the ATA bus of an IBM or IBM­compatible PC:

1. Connect the drive to a 40-pin ATA bus connector (if available) on the
motherboard of the PC.

2. Install an IDE-compatible adapter board in the PC, and connect the drive
to the adapter board.

This board is available at Maxtor (p/n: K01PCAT133.

3.3.2.1 40-Pin ATA Bus Connector

Most PC motherboards have a built-in 40-pin ATA bus connector that is compatible
with the 40-pin ATA interface of the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives.
If the motherboard has an ATA connector, simply connect a 40-pin ribbon cable
between the drive and the motherboard.

You should also refer to the motherboard instruction manual to ensure signal
compatibility.

Installation

3.3.2.2 Adapter Board

If your PC motherboard does not contain a built-in 40-pin ATA bus interface
connector, you must install an ATA bus adapter board and connecting cable to allow
the drive to interface with the motherboard. Maxtor does supply such an adapter
board.

Please carefully read the instruction manual that comes with your adapter board, as
well as Chapter 6 of this manual to ensure signal compatibility between the adapter
board and the drive. Also, make sure that the adapter board jumper settings are
appropriate.

3.4 COMBINATION CONNECTOR (J1)

J1 is a three-in-one combination connector. The drive’s DC power can be applied
to section A. The ATA bus interface (40-pin) uses section C. The connector is
mounted on the back edge of the printed-circuit board (PCB), as shown in Figure
3-6.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-9

Installation

Center
Key Slot

Pin 1

J1 IDE (40-Pin)/DC (4-Pin)

Combination Connector

40-Pin IDE

(J1 Section C)

Pin 1

4-Pin DC Power

(J1 Section A)

4321

Figure 3-6 J1 DC Power and ATA Bus Combination Connector

3-10 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

3.4.1 DC Power (J1, Section A)

The recommended mating connectors for the +5 VDC and +12 VDC input power
are listed in Table 3-2.

Table 3-2 J1 Power Connector, Section A

Installation

PIN

NUMBER

J1 Section A (4-Pin):

1 +12 VDC 4-Pin Connector:

2 Ground

3 Ground

4+5 VDC

VOLTAGE

LEVEL

Return for
+12 VDC

Return for
+5 VDC

MATING CONNECTOR TYPE AND PART NUMBER

AMP P/N 1-480424-0
Loose piece contacts:
AMP P/N VS 60619-4
Strip contacts:
AMP P/N VS 61117-4

Note: Labels indicate the pin numbers on the connector. Pins 2 and 3 of

section A are the +5 and +12 volt returns and are connected together
on the drive.

3.4.2 External Drive Activity LED

An external drive activity LED may be connected to the DASP-I/O pin 39 on J1.
For more details, see the pin description in Table 6-1.

(OR EQUIVALENT)

3.4.3 ATA Bus Interface Connector (J1, Section C)

On the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives, the ATA bus interface cable
connector (J1, section C) is a 40-pin Universal Header, as shown in Figure 3-6.

To prevent the possibility of incorrect installation, the connector has been keyed by
removing Pin 20. This ensures that a connector cannot be installed upside down.

See Chapter 5, “ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands,” for more detailed
information about the required signals. Refer to Table 5-1 for the pin assignments
of the ATA bus connector (J1, section C).

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-11

Installation

3.4.4 SATA (Serial ATA) Interface Connector

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives also offer an optional Serial ATA
interface. SATA has no user changeable configuration jumpers. All configurations
are controlled in the SATA interface by the host.

Figure 3-7 The SATA Interface Connector

3.4.5 SATA BUS ADAPTER

There are two ways you can configure a system to allow the MaXLine Plus II 250GB
AT hard disk drives to communicate over the SATA bus of an IBM or IBM­compatible PC:

1. Connect the drive to a SATA bus connector (if available) on the motherboard of the
PC.

2. Install an IDE-compatible adapter board in the PC, and connect the drive
to the adapter board.

3-12 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

3.4.5.1 SATA Bus Connector

M

Some PC motherboards have a built in SATA bus connector. These SATA bus
connectors are compatible with Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk
drives. If the motherboard has a SATA connector, simply connect a 7 pin SATA
cable between the drive and the motherboard.

3.4.5.2 Adapter Board

If your PC motherboard does not contain a built-in SATA bus interface connector,
you must install an SATA bus adapter board and connecting cable to allow the drive
to interface with the motherboard. Maxtor does not supply such an adapter board,
but they are available from several third-party vendors.

Please carefully read the instruction manual that comes with your adapter board to
ensure signal compatibility between the adapter board and the drive. Also, make sure
that the adapter board jumper settings are appropriate.

3.5 COMBINATION CONNECTOR (J1)

J1 is a three-in-one combination connector. The drive’s DC power can be applied
to section A or B. Do not connect both a and b to power at the same time. The
SATA interface (7-pin) uses section C. The connector is mounted on the back edge
of the printed-circuit board (PCB), as shown in Figure 3-6.

Installation

CAUTION: Do not connect both a and b to power at the same time

02

Figure 3-8 Serial ATA PCB

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-13

1

Installation

There are total of 7 pins in the signal segment and 15 pins in the power segment.
The pin definitions are shown in Table 3-3. Note that the pin is numbered from the
pin furthest from the power segment.

Table 3-3 Device plug connector pin definition

Signal
segment

S1 Ground 2

S2 A+

nd

Mate

Differential signal pair A from Phy

S3 A-

S4 Ground 2

nd

Mate

S5 B-

Differential signal pair B from Phy

S6 B+

S7 Ground 2

nd

Mate

Key and spacing separate signal and power segments

Power
segment

P1 V

P2 V

P3 V

33

33

33

P4 Ground 1

P5 Ground 2

P6 Ground 2

P7 V

P8 V

P9 V

5

5

5

P10 Ground 2

3.3V power

3.3V power

3.3V power, pre-charge, 2nd mate

st

mate

nd

mate

nd

mate

5V power, pre-charge, 2nd mate

5V power

5V power

nd

mate

P11 Reserved 1. The pin corresponding to P11 in the

backplane receptacle connector is also
reserved

2. The corresponding pin to be mated with
P11 in the power cable receptacle connec­tor will always be grounded.

P12 Ground 1

P13 V

P14 V

P15 V

12

12

12

st

mate

12V power, pre-charge, 2nd mate

12V power

12V power

3-14 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

The following points should be noted:

All pins are in a single row, with a 1.27 mm (.050”) pitch.

• The comments on the mating sequence in Table 3-3 apply to the case of
backplane blindmate connector only. In this case, the mating sequences
are: (1) the ground pins P4 and P12; (2) the pre-charge power pins and
the other ground pins; and (3) the signal pins and the rest of the power
pins.

• There are three power pins for each voltage. One pin from each voltage
is used for precharge in the backplane blind-mate situation.

Installation

• If a device uses 3.3 V, then all V
it is optional to terminate any of the V

pins must be terminated. Otherwise, it is optional to terminate any

all V

5

of the V

pins.

5

• If a device uses 12.0 V, then all V
it is optional to terminate any of the V

pins must be terminated. Otherwise,

33

pins. If a device uses 5.0 V, then

33

pins must be terminated. Otherwise,

12

pins.

12

3.5.1 ATA Bus Interface Connector (J1, Section C)

On the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives, the SATA bus interface cable
connector (J1, section C) is a standard 7-pin SATA.

To prevent the possibility of incorrect installation, the connector has been keyed.
This ensures that a connector cannot be installed upside down.

3.6 MOUNTING

Drive mounting orientation, clearance, and ventilation requirements are described
in the following subsections.

3.6.1 Orientation

The mounting holes on the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives allow the
drive to be mounted in any orientation. Figure 3-9 and Figure 3-10 show the
location of the three mounting holes on each side of the drive. The drive can also
be mounted using the four mounting hole locations on the PCB side of the drive.

Note: It is highly recommended that the drive is hard mounted on to

the chassis of the system being used for general operation, as well
as for test purposes. Failure to hard mount the drive can result in
erroneous errors during testing.

Drives can be mounted in any orientation. Normal position is

with the PCB facing down.
All dimensions are in millimeters. For mounting, #6-32 UNC screws are
recommended.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-15

Installation

147.0
Max.

6.35 ±0.25

101.60

41.60

±0.25

28.50 ±0.50

±0.25

44.45

±0.25

41.28

±0.50

26.10
Max.

3.18 ±0.25

101.60
±0.25

95.25

±0.25

Figure 3-9 Mounting Dimensions for the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT Hard Disk Drives

3-16 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Installation

5.0 mm Maximum
(0.198 Inches)

Figure 3-10 Mounting Screw Clearance for the Maxtor Hard Disk Drives

CAUTION: The PCB is very close to the mounting holes. Do not exceed

6.35 mm Maximum (0.25 Inches)

Drive

Mounting

Screw

Printed­Circuit
Board

Head/Disk

Assembly

Printed­Circuit
Board

the specified length for the mounting screws. The specified
screw length allows full use of the mounting hole threads,
while avoiding damaging or placing unwanted stress on the
PCB. Figure 3-10 specifies the minimum clearance between
the PCB and the screws in the mounting holes. To avoid
stripping the mounting hole threads, the maximum torque ap­plied to the screws must not exceed 8 inch-pounds. A maxi­mum screw length of 0.25 inches may be used.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-17

Installation

3.6.2 Clearance

Clearance from the drive to any other surface (except mounting surfaces) must be a
minimum of 1.25 mm (0.05 inches).

3.6.3 Ventilation

The MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives operate without a cooling fan,
provided the ambient air temperature does not exceed 131×F (55×C) at any point
along the drive form factor envelope.

FOR SYSTEMS WITH A MOTHERBOARD ATA/SATA ADAPTER

You can install the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives in an AT­compatible system that contains a 40-pin ATA bus connector/SATA on the
motherboard.

To connect the drive to the motherboard, use a 40 conductor ribbon cable (80
conductor ribbon cable if using Ultra ATA/66/100 or /133 drive) 18 inches in
length or shorter. Ensure that pin 1 of the drive is connected to pin 1 of the
motherboard connector. To connect the drive to the motherboard for the MaXLine
Plus II 250GB AT SATA drives, use a SATA cable 1 meter long or shorter. Ensure
that pin 1 of the drive is connected to pin 1 of the motherboard connector.

3.7 FOR SYSTEMS WITH AN ATA ADAPTER BOARD

To install the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive in an AT-compatible
system without a 40-pin ATA bus connector/SATA connector on its motherboard,
you need a third-party IDE-compatible adapter board.

3.7.1 Adapter Board Installation

Carefully read the manual that accompanies your adapter board before installing it.
Make sure that all the jumpers are set properly and that there are no address or signal
conflicts. You must also investigate to see if your AT-compatible system contains a
combination floppy and hard disk controller board. If it does, you must disable the
hard disk drive controller functions on that controller board before proceeding.

Once you have disabled the hard disk drive controller functions on the floppy/hard
drive controller, install the adapter board. Again, make sure that you have set all
jumper straps on the adapter board to avoid addressing and signal conflicts.

Note: For Sections 3.3 and 3.7, power should be turned off on the

computer before installing the drive.

3.7.1.1 Connecting the Adapter Board and the Drive

Use a 40-pin/SATA cable to connect the drive to the board.
See figure 3-11.

3-18 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Installation

To connect the drive to the board:

1. Insert the 40-pin cable/SATA connector into the mating connector of the adapter
board. Make sure that pin 1 of the connector matches with pin 1 on the cable.

2. Insert the other end of the cable into the header on the drive. When
inserting this end of the cable, make sure that pin 1 of the cable connects to
pin 1 of the drive connector.

3. Secure the drive to the system chassis by using the mounting screws, as
shown in Figure 3-12.

Pin 1

ATA-Bus
Interface Cable

Power Supply Cable

ATA-Bus
Interface
Connector

40-Pin Header

(3-Pin or 4-Pin)

Key Slot

DC Power
Connector

Bevel

Figure 3-11 Drive Power Supply and ATA Bus Interface Cables

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-19

Installation

Mounting Screws

ATA-Bus Interface Cable

Mounting Bracket

Figure 3-12 Completing the Drive Installation

3-20 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

3.8 TECHNIQUES IN DRIVE CONFIGURATION

3.8.1 The 528-Megabytes Barrier

Older BIOS that only support Int 13 commands for accessing ATA drives through
DOS based operating systems will be limited to use only 1024 cylinders. This will
reduce the effective capacity of the drive to 528Mbytes.

Whenever possible the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT drive should be used on systems
that support LBA translation to ensure the use of the entire capacity of the disk drive.
If t h at i s no t po ssi bl e th e fo llowing are some techniques that can be used to overcome
this barrier.

• Use a third party software program that translates the hard drive

parameters to an acceptable configuration for MS-DOS.

• Use a hard disk controller that translates the hard drive parameters to an

appropriate setup for both MS-DOS and the computer system’s ROM­BIOS.

• Insert the Cylinder Limitation Jumper (CLJ) on the drive (see Section

3.3.1.4).

Installation

3.8.2 The 8.4-Gigabytes Barrier

Newer BIOS’s allow users to configure disk drives to go beyond the 528MB barrier
by using several BIOS translation schemes. However, while using these translations
the BIOS using Int 13 functions are limited to 24 bits of addressing which results in
another barrier at the 8.4GB capacity.

To overcome this barrier a new set of Int 13 extensions are being implemented by
most BIOS manufacturers. The new Int 13 extension allows for four words of
addressing space (64 bits) resulting in 9.4 Terrabytes of accessible space.

Whenever possible the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT drive should be used on systems
with BIOS that support Int 13 extensions. If that is not possible the following are
some techniques that can be used to overcome this barrier:

• Use a third party software that supplements the BIOS and adds Int 13

extension support.

• Obtain a BIOS upgrade from the system board manufacturer. Many

system board manufacturers allow their BIOS to be upgraded in the field
using special download utilities. Information on BIOS upgrades can be
obtained on the System Board Customer Service respective web sites on
the Internet.

• Insert the Cylinder Limitation Jumper (CLJ) on the drive (see Section

3.3.1.4).

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-21

Installation

3.8.3 Operating system limitations

Most popular operating systems available today have additional limitations which
affect the use of large capacity drives. However, these limitations can not be
corrected on the BIOS and it is up to the operating system manufacturers to release
improved versions to address these problems.

DOS and Windows 95 use a File Allocation Table (FAT) size of 16 bits which will
only support partitions up to 2.1 GB. Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, and
Windows ME use a FAT size of 32 bits, allowing partitions of up to 2.2 terrabytes.
Windows NT, 2000, and XP Use NTFS, which allows partition sizes up to 16
terrabytes.

3.9 SYSTEM STARTUP AND OPERATION

Once you have installed the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive, and
adapter board (if required) in the host system, you are ready to partition and format
the drive for operation. To set up the drive correctly, follow these steps:

1. Power on the system.

2. Run the SETUP program. This is generally on a Diagnostics or Utilities
disk, or within the system’s BIOS. Some system BIOS have an auto­detecting feature making SETUP unnecessary.

3. Enter the appropriate parameters.

The SETUP program allows you to enter the types of optional hardware installed—
such as the hard disk drive type, the floppy disk drive capacity, and the display
adapter type. The system’s BIOS uses this information to initialize the system when
the power is switched on. For instructions on how to use the SETUP program, refer
to the system manual for your PC.

During the AT system CMOS setup, you must enter the drive type for the MaXLine
Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives. The drive supports the translation of its physical
drive geometry parameters such as cylinders, heads, and sectors per track to a logical
addressing mode. The drive can work with different BIOS drive-type tables of the
various host systems.

You can choose any drive type that does not exceed the capacity of the drive. Table
3-3 gives the logical parameters that provide the maximum capacity on the MaXLine
Plus II 250GB AT family of hard disk drives.

3-22 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Installation

Table 3-4 Logical Addressing Format

MODELS INTERFACE CYL HD SPT MAX LBA CAPACITY

7Y250M0

7Y250P0

SATA 150
8 MB Buffer

PATA/133
8 MB Buffer

486,344 16 63 490,234,752 250GB

486,344 16 63 490,234,752 250GB

Note: *Capacity may be restricted to 8.4GB (or less) due to system

BIOS limitations. Check with your system manufacturer to de­termine if your BIOS supports LBA Mode for hard drives greater
than 8.4GB. Default logical cylinders is limited to 16,383 as per
the ATA-4 specifications.To match the logical specifications of
the drive to the drive type of a particular BIOS, consult the sys­tem’s drive-type table. This table specifies the number of cylin­ders, heads, and sectors for a particular drive type.

You must choose a drive type that meets the following requirements:

For the MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT: Logical Cylinders x Logical Heads x Logical

Sectors/Track x 512 = 8,455,200,768

4. Boot the system using the operating system installation disk—for example,
MS-DOS—then follow the installation instructions in the operating system
manual.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 3-23

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

4.1 Models and Capacities

MODELS 7Y250PO/7Y250MO

Chapter 4

Formatted Capacity
(GB LBA Mode)

GB means 1 billion bytes.
Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

250GB

4.2 Drive Configuration

Sectors per Drive
(max LBA)

Integrated Interface Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 (ATA-5/ATA-6),

SATA 150 MB 8 MB Buffer

Recording Method RLL EEPR4

Servo Type Embedded

Number of Servo
Sectors

Data Zones per Surface 16

Data Sectors per Track (ID/OD) 610/1102

Areal Density (Gbits/in
ID/OD)

2

max,

490,234,752

192

54.752

Recording Density (kbpi, ID/OD) ID = 770

OD = 615

Track Density (ktpi) 89 ktpi

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 4-1

Product Specifications

Performance Specifications

Seek Times (typical read, ms)

Track-to-Track 0.8

Average (normal seek)

Full Stroke (normal seek)

Average Latency (ms) 4.17

Controller Overhead (ms) < 0.3

Rotation Speed (RPM ±0.1%) 7200

Data Transfer Speed (MByte/sec max)

To/From Interface
(Maxtor Ultra ATA/133, up to)

To/From Interface
(SATA with 8 MB Buffer)

To/From Media (ID/OD up to nn.n, where
nn.n is the maximum transfer rate possible)

Sustained (ID/OD up to nn.n, where nn.n is
the maximum transfer rate possible)

Data Buffer Size (MB)/Type 8 MB

≤ 9.0

≤17.0

133

150

ID = 460

OD = 803

ID = 37

OD = 67

Drive Ready Time (typical sec) < 8.0

4.3 Physical Dimensions

PARAMETER VALUE

Height (maximum in mm) 26.10

Width (typical mm) 101.6

Depth (in. and mm) 147

Weight (maximum in grams) 630

4-2 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

4.4 Power Requirements

MODE 12V (MA) 5V (MA) POWER (W)

Spin-up (peak) 1566.2 841.6 23.2

Seek 666.4 931.3 12.6

Read/Write 556.4 665.1 9.5

Idle 456.3 670.8 8.8

Standby 37.2 119.7 1.0

Sleep 37.2 118.1 1.0

4.5 Power Mode Definitions

Spin-up

The drive is spinning up following initial application of power and has not yet
reached full speed.

Product Specifications

Seek

A random access operation by the drive.

Read/Write

Data is being read from or written to the drive.

Idle

The drive is spinning, the actuator is parked and powered off and all other circuitry
is powered on.
The drive is capable of responding to read commands within 40 ms.

Standby

The motor is not spinning. The drive will leave this mode upon receipt of a
command that requires disk access. The time-out value for this mode is
programmable. The buffer is active to accept write data.

Sleep

This is the lowest power state – with the interface set to inactive. A software or
hardware reset is required to return the drive to the Standby state.

4.6 EPA Energy Star Compliance

Maxtor Corporation supports the goals of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s Energy Star program to reduce the electrical power consumption of
computer equipment.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 4-3

Product Specifications

4.7 Environmental Limits

PARAMETER OPERATING

Temperature 5° C to 55° C

(with no ARR impact)
0

° C to 60° C

(Margin Demonstrated

Thermal Gradient 25

Relative Humidity 5% to 95% (non-condensing)

Wet Bulb 30

Altitude (relative to sea level) -650 to 10,000 feet -650 to 40,000 feet

Acoustic Noise

2

° C per hour (maximum)

° C (maximum)

IDLE MODE

1

)

(Track Following at Speed)

Fluid Bearing 2.9 bel average

3.4 bel maximum

4.0 bel average

4.2 bel maximum

NON-OPERATING/

STORAGE

low temperature (-40

high temperature (71
per MIL-STD-810E, method

501.3, climatic category;
hot-induced conditions.

NORMAL SEEK MODE

Notes:

° C)

° C)

1. Margin Demonstrated implies the product will operate at the stated conditions
with an acceptable impact to the ARR specification for any OEM requiring
those values in their purchase specification.

2. The testing performed by Maxtor is consistent with ISO 7779. Variation in
acoustic levels from the idle specification may occur due to offline activity
according to the SMART specification and/or atmospheric conditions.

4-4 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

4.8 Shock and Vibration

PARAMETER OPERATING NON-OPERATING

Product Specifications

Mechanical Shock R=0.988/shock at 60 Gs;

R= 0.999/shock at 30 Gs

Rotational Shock R=0.988 @ 2000 rad/sec

Rotational Random
Vibration

5 - 2000 Hz

3.60 rad/sec

2

RMS Overall

Random Vibration 5 - 2000 Hz

0.44 GRMS Overall

Swept Sine Vibration
(1 octave/minute,
peak amplitude)
10 to 300 Hz

1.0 G (0 to peak) amplitude,
1 octave per minute

301 to 400 Hz

0.25 G (0 to peak) amplitude,
1 octave per minute

401 to 500 Hz

0.0625 G (0 to peak) amplitude,
1 octave per minute

2 msec, 1/2 sine
R=0.90@>= 300G, 1 disk
R=0.95@>= 250G, 1 disk
R=0.99@>= 200G, 1 disk

2

R=0.95 @ 20K rad/sec2,

0.5ms to 1ms input
R=0.99 @ 15K rad/sec

2

,

0.5ms to 1ms input

2 - 300 Hz

96.5 rad/sec2 RMS

PSD:
7 - 800 Hz at 3.08 GRMS
No Damage

Operating Sine
Vibration

0.25 octave/min., 5­1500 Hz

Frequency(Hz)/Acceleration(Gpk)

5=0.25” DA

8.8=0.25” DA
9=1.000

100=1.000
300=0.060
885=0.060
890=0.100
895=0.070

1500=0.100

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 4-5

Product Specifications

4.9 Reliability Specifications

Annualized Return Rate

<1.0% Annualized Return Rate (ARR) indicates the average against

products shipped. ARR includes all reasons for returns (failures,
handling, damage, NDF) but does not include inventory credit
returns.

Start/Stop Cycles

>50,000 This indicates the average minimum cycles for reliable start/stop

function.

R=0.9998@ >4500, R=0.9995 @ >7500, R=0.5 @ >= 50000

Data Reliability

<1 per 10e15 bits read

Data errors (non-recoverable). Average data error rate allowed with
all error recovery features activated.

Component Design Life

5 years (minimum)

Component design life is defined as a.) the time period before
identified wear-out mechanisms impact the failure rate, or b.) the
time period up to the wear-out point when useful component life
expires.

4.10 EMC/EMI

4.10.1 Radiated Electromagnetic Field Emissions - EMC Compliance

The hard disk drive mechanism is designed as a subassembly for installation into a
suitable enclosure and is therefore not subject to Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules
(47CFR15) or the Canadian Department of Communications Radio Interference
Regulations. Although not required, the disk mechanism has been tested within a
suitable end-use product and found to comply with Class B limits of the FCC Rules
and Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

The CE Marking indicates conformity with the European Union Low Voltage
Directive (73/23/EEC) when the disk mechanism is installed in a typical personal
computer. Maxtor recommends that testing and analysis for EMC compliance be
performed with the disk mechanism installed within the user's end-use application.

4.10.2 Canadian Emissions Statement

This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions
from digital apparatus as set out in the radio interference regulations of the
Canadian department of communications.

Le present appareil numerique n'emet pas de bruit radioelectriques depassant les

4-6 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

limites applicables aux appareils numeriques de Class B prescrites dans le
reglement sur le brouillage radioelectrique edicte pa le ministere des
communications du Canada.

4.11 Safety Regulatory Compliance

All Maxtor hard drives comply with relevant product safety standards such as CE,
CUL, TUV and UL rules and regulations. As delivered, Maxtor hard drives are
designed for system integration before they are used.

Product Specifications

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 4-7

Chapter 5

ATA BUS INTERFACE AND ATA COMMANDS

This chapter describes the interface between the MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT hard
disk drive and the ATA bus. The commands that are issued from the host to control
the drive are listed, as well as the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the
interface.

5.1 INTRODUCTION

MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive use the standard ATA/ATAPI
interface. Support of various options in the standard are explained in the
following sections.

5.2 MECHANICAL INTERFACE

5.2.1 Signal Cable and Connector

The MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive contains a 40-pin unitized
connector for both signal and power connections as well as configuration jumpers.
The dimensions and specifications of the unitized connector comply with Annex.
A in the ATA/ATAPI standard.

The MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT drive require the use of an 80 conductor cable
(ATA/ATAPI-6, Annex. A, Figure A.4 and description) to support the drive’s
Ultra DMA capability.

5.3 ELECTRICAL INTERFACE

5.3.1 ATA Bus Interface

5.3.1.1 Electrical Characteristics

Signals on the ATA interface are assigned to connector pins according to Annex. A
in the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard for the 80 conductor cable assembly. The signaling
protocol complies with clause 9 and signal timing complies with clause 10 of the
standard.

The MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive support all Ultra DMA Data Transfer
modes (0 - 5) defined in the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard. In addition, these drives support
Mode 6, and can send and receive data at the full 133MB/s transfer rate. Hosts may
assert the RESET- signal for longer than the minimum. When power is applied with
RESET- asserted, the MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT disk media will not begin to spin
up until RESET- is negated. This may reduce maximum current consumption for the

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-1

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

overall system.

5.4 REGISTER ADDRESS DECODING

The MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drives allow their host systems to address
the full set of command and control registers as specified in clause 7 of the ATA/
ATAPI-6 standard.

5.5 COMMAND INTERFACE

5.5.1 General Feature Set

The µProcessor, Disk Controller, and ATA Interface electronics are contained in a
proprietary ASIC developed by Maxtor.

5.5.2 Supported Commands

The MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT hard disk drive support all the mandatory commands
from the general feature set for devices not supporting the Packet command feature
set. Refer to the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard for a detailed description of these
commands. The IDENTIFY DRIVE command, however, is elaborated in the section
"Identify Drive Command" on page 5-5.

Table 5-1 lists the supported commands.

Table 5-1 Supported Commands

Command

CHECK POWER MODE 98h, E5h

DEVICE CONFIGURATION FREEZE LOCK B1h C1h

DEVICE CONFIGURATION IDENTIFY B1h C2h

DEVICE CONFIGURATION RESTORE B1h C0h

DEVICE CONFIGURATION SET B1h C3h

DOWNLOAD MICROCODE 92h 07h, 01h

EXECUTE DRIVE DIAGNOSTIC 90h

FLUSH CACHE E7h

IDENTIFY DRIVE ECh

IDLE 97h, E3h

Command

Code

Feature
Register
Value(s)

IDLE IMMEDIATE 95h, E1h

5-2 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

Table 5-1 Supported Commands

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Command

NOP 00h

READ BUFFER E4h

READ DMA C8h, C9h

READ MULTIPLE C4h

READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS F8h

READ SECTOR(S) 20h, 21h

READ VERIFY SECTOR(S) 40h, 41h

SECURITY DISABLE PASSWORD F6h

SECURITY ERASE PREPARE F3h

SECURITY ERASE UNIT F4h

SECURITY FREEZE LOCK F5H

SECURITY SET PASSWORD F1h

Command

Code

Feature
Register
Value(s)

SECURITY UNLOCK F2h

SEEK 70h

SET FEATURES EFh Note 1

SET MAX ADDRESS F9h 00h

SET MAX SET PASSWORD F9h 01h

SET MAX LOCK F9h 02h

SET MAX UNLOCK F9h 03h

SET MAX FREEZE LOCK F9h 04h

SET MULTIPLE MODE C6h

SLEEP 99h, E6h

SMART DISABLE OPERATIONS B0h D9h

SMART ENABLE OPERATIONS B0h D8h

SMART ENABLE/DISABLE ATTRIBUTE AUTOSAVE B0h D2h

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-3

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-1 Supported Commands

Command

SMART EXECUTE OFF-LINE IMMEDIATE B0h D4h

SMART READ DATA B0h D0h

SMART READ LOG B0h D5h

SMART RETURN STATUS B0h DAh

SMART SAVE ATTRIBUTE VALUES B0h D3h

SMART WRITE LOG B0h D6h

STANDBY 96h, E2h

STANDBY IMMEDIATE 94h, E0h

WRITE BUFFER E8h

WRITE DMA CAh, CBh

WRITE MULTIPLE C5h

WRITE SECTOR(S) 30h, 31h

Command

Code

Feature
Register
Value(s)

Note: 1. As defined in the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard.

5-4 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Identify Drive Command

This command allows the host to receive parameter information from the drive.

When the command is received, the drive:

1. Sets BSY

2. Stores the required parameter information in the sector buffer

3. Sets the DRQ bit

4. Generates an interrupt

The host may then read the information out of the sector buffer. Parameter words in
the buffer are shown in Table 5-2.

Note: All reserved bits or words should be zeroes.

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

0 General configuration bit-significant information:

15: 0 = ATA device

14-8: Retired

7: 1 = removable media device

6: Obsolete

5-3: Retired

2: Response incomplete

1: Retired

0: Reserved

1 Obsolete

2 Specific configuration

3 Obsolete

4-5 Retired

6 Obsolete

7-8 Reserved for assignment by the CompactFlash Association

9 Retired

10-19 Serial number (20 ASCII characters)

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-5

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

20-21 Retired

22 Reserved

23-26 Firmware revision (8 ASCII characters)

27-46 Model number (40 ASCII characters)

47 15-8: 80h

7-0: 00h = Reserved

01h-FFh: = Maximum number of sectors that shall be transferred per interrupt on

48 Reserved

49 Capabilities

15-14: Reserved for the IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE command.

13:
1 = Standby timer values as specified in this standard are supported.
0 = Standby timer values shall be managed by the device

12: Reserved for the IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE command.

11: 1 = IORDY supported. 0 = IORDY may be supported

10: 1 = IORDY may be disabled

9: 1 = LBA supported

8: 1 = DMA supported.

7-0: Retired

50 Capabilities

15: Shall be cleared to zero.

14: Shall be set to one.

READ/WRITE MULTIPLE commands

13-2: Reserved.

1: Obsolete

0: Shall be set to one to indicate a device specific Standby timer value

51-52 Obsolete

minimum.

5-6 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

53 15-3: Reserved

2:
1 = the fields reported in word 88 are valid.
0 = the fields reported in word 88 are not valid

1:
1 = the fields reported in words (70:64) are valid.
0 = the fields reported in words (70:64) are not valid

0: Obsolete

54-58 Obsolete

59

60-61 Total number of user addressable sectors

62 Obsolete

63 15-11: Reserved

15-9: Reserved

8: 1 = Multiple sector setting is valid

7-0: xxh = Current setting for number of sectors that shall be transferred per

interrupt on R/W Multiple command

10:
1 = Multiword DMA mode 2 is selected.
0 = Multiword DMA mode 2 is not selected

9:
1 = Multiword DMA mode 1 is selected.
0 = Multiword DMA mode 1 is not selected

8:
1 = Multiword DMA mode 0 is selected.
0 = Multiword DMA mode 0 is not selected

7-3: Reserved

2: 1 = Multiword DMA mode 2 and below are supported

1: 1 = Multiword DMA mode 1 and below are supported

0: 1 = Multiword DMA mode 0 is supported

64 15-8: Reserved

7-0: PIO modes supported

65

66

Minimum Multiword DMA transfer cycle time per word

15-0: Cycle time in nanoseconds

Manufacturer’s recommended Multiword DMA transfer cycle time

15-0: Cycle time in nanoseconds

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-7

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

67

68

69-70 Reserved (for future command overlap and queuing)

71-74 Reserved for IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE command.

75 Queue depth

76-79 Reserved for Serial ATA

80 Major version number

Minimum PIO transfer cycle time without flow control

15-0: Cycle time in nanoseconds

Minimum PIO transfer cycle time with IORDY flow control

15-0: Cycle time in nanoseconds

15-5: Reserved

4-0: Maximum queue depth – 1

0000h or FFFFh = device does not report version

15: Reserved

14: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-14

13: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-13

12: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-12

11: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-11

10: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-10

9: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-9

8: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-8

7: Reserved for ATA/ATAPI-7

6: 1 = supports ATA/ATAPI-6

5: 1 = supports ATA/ATAPI-5

4: 1 = supports ATA/ATAPI-4

3: 1 = supports ATA-3

2: Obsolete

1: Obsolete

0: Reserved

5-8 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

81 Minor version number

0000h or FFFFh = device does not report version.
0001h-FFFEh = see 6.16.41 of ATA/ATAPI-7 specification

82 Command set supported.

15: Obsolete

14: 1 = NOP command supported

13: 1 = READ BUFFER command supported

12: 1 = WRITE BUFFER command supported

11: Obsolete

10: 1 = Host Protected Area feature set supported

9: 1 = DEVICE RESET command supported

8: 1 = SERVICE interrupt supported

7: 1 = release interrupt supported

6: 1 = look-ahead supported

5: 1 = write cache supported

4: Shall be cleared to zero to indicate that the PACKET Command feature set is

3: 1 = mandatory Power Management feature set supported

2: 1 = Removable Media feature set supported

1: 1 = Security Mode feature set supported

0: 1 = SMART feature set supported

83 Command sets supported.

15: Shall be cleared to zero

14: Shall be set to on

13: 1 = FLUSH CACHE EXT command supported

12: 1 = mandatory FLUSH CACHE command supported

11: 1 = Device Configuration Overlay feature set supported

not supported

10: 1 = 48-bit Address feature set supported

9: 1 = Automatic Acoustic Management feature set supported

8: 1 = SET MAX security extension supported

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-9

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

83 7: See Address Offset Reserved Area Boot, INCITS TR27:2001

6: 1 = SET FEATURES subcommand required to spinup after power-up

5: 1 = Power-Up In Standby feature set supported

4: 1 = Removable Media Status Notification feature set supported

3: 1 = Advanced Power Management feature set supported

2: 1 = CFA feature set supported

1: 1 = READ/WRITE DMA QUEUED supported

0: 1 = DOWNLOAD MICROCODE command supported

84 Command set/feature supported extension.

15: Shall be cleared to zero

14: Shall be set to one

13-8: Reserved

7: 1 = WRITE DMA QUEUED FUA EXT command supported

6: 1 = WRITE DMA FUA EXT and WRITE MULTIPLE FUA EXT commands

5: 1 = General Purpose Logging feature set supported

4: 1 = Streaming feature set supported

3: 1 = Media Card Pass Through Command feature set supported

2: 1 = Media serial number supported

1: 1 = SMART self-test supported

0: 1 = SMART error logging supported

85 Command set/feature enabled.

15: Obsolete

14: 1 = NOP command enabled

13: 1 = READ BUFFER command enabled

12: 1 = WRITE BUFFER command enabled

11: Obsolete

supported

10: 1 = Host Protected Area feature set enabled

9: 1 = DEVICE RESET command enabled

8: 1 = SERVICE interrupt enabled

5-10 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

85 7: 1 = release interrupt enabled

6: 1 = look-ahead enabled

5: 1 = write cache enabled

4: Shall be cleared to zero to indicate that the PACKET Command feature set is

3: 1 = Power Management feature set enabled

2: 1 = Removable Media feature set enabled

1: 1 = Security Mode feature set enabled

0: 1 = SMART feature set enabled

86 Command set/feature enabled.

15-14: Reserved

13: 1 = FLUSH CACHE EXT command supported

12: 1 = FLUSH CACHE command supported

11: 1 = Device Configuration Overlay supported

10: 1 = 48-bit Address features set supported

9: 1 = Automatic Acoustic Management feature set enabled

8: 1 = SET MAX security extension enabled by SET MAX SET PASSWORD

7: See Address Offset Reserved Area Boot, INCITS TR27:2001

6: 1 = SET FEATURES subcommand required to spin-up after power-up

not supported.

5: 1 = Power-Up In Standby feature set enabled

4: 1 = Removable Media Status Notification feature set enabled

3: 1 = Advanced Power Management feature set enabled

2: 1 = CFA feature set enabled

1: 1 = READ/WRITE DMA QUEUED command supported

0: 1 = DOWNLOAD MICROCODE command supported

87 Command set/feature default.

15: Shall be cleared to zero

14: Shall be set to one

13-8: Reserved

7: 1 = WRITE DMA QUEUED FUA EXT command supported

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-11

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

87 6: 1 = WRITE DMA FUA EXT and WRITE MULTIPLE FUA EXT commands

5: General Purpose Logging feature set supported

4: 1 = Valid CONFIGURE STREAM command has been executed

3: 1 = Media Card Pass Through Command feature set enabled

2: 1 = Media serial number is valid

1: 1 = SMART self-test supported

0: 1 = SMART error logging supported

88 15: Reserved

14: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 6 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 6 is not selected

13: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 5 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 5 is not selected

12: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 4 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 4 is not selected

11: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 3 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 3 is not selected

10: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 2 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 2 is not selected

9: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 1 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 1 is not selected

8: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 0 is selected. 0 = Ultra DMA mode 0 is not selected

supported

7: Reserved

6: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 6 and below are supported

5: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 5 and below are supported

4: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 4 and below are supported

3: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 3 and below are supported

2: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 2 and below are supported

1: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 1 and below are supported

0: 1 = Ultra DMA mode 0 is supported

89 Time required for security erase unit completion

90 Time required for Enhanced security erase completion

91 Current advanced power management value

92 Master Password Revision Code

5-12 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

93 Hardware reset result. The contents of bits (12:0) of this word shall change only

during the execution of a hardware reset

15: Shall be cleared to zero.

14: Shall be set to one.

13: 1 = device detected CBLID- above ViH. 0 = device detected CBLID- below

ViL

12-8: Device 1 hardware reset result. Device 0 shall clear these bits to zero.

Device shall set these bits as follows:

12: Reserved.

11: 0 = Device 1 did not assert PDIAG-.

1 = Device 1 asserted PDIAG-.

10-9: These bits indicate how Device 1 determined the device number:

00 = Reserved.

01 = a jumper was used.

10 = the CSEL signal was used.

11 = some other method was used or the method is unknown.

8: Shall be set to one.

7-0: Device 0 hardware reset result. Device 1 shall clear these bits to zero.

Device shall set these bits as follows:

7: Reserved.

6: 0 = Device 0 does not respond when Device 1 is selected.

5: 0 = Device 0 did not detect the assertion of DASP-.

4: 0 = Device 0 did not detect the assertion of PDIAG-.

3: 0 = Device 0 failed diagnostics.

2-1: These bits indicate how Device 0 determined the device number:

0: Shall be set to one.

1 = Device 0 responds when Device 1 is selected.

1 = Device 0 detected the assertion of DASP-

1 = Device 0 detected the assertion of PDIAG-.

1 = Device 0 passed diagnostics.

00 = Reserved.

01 = a jumper was used.

10 = the CSEL signal was used.

11 = some other method was used or the method is unknown.

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-13

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

94 15-8: Vendor’s recommended acoustic management value.

7-0: Current automatic acoustic management value

95 Stream Minimum Request Size

96 Stream Transfer Time - DMA

97 Stream Access Latency - DMA

98-99 Streaming Performance Granularity

100-103 Maximum user LBA for 48-bit Address feature set.

104 Stream Transfer Time – PIO

105 Stream Access Latency – PIO

106 Physical sector size

15: Shall be cleared to zero

14: Shall be set to one

13: 1 = Device has multiple logical sectors per physical sector.

12-4: Reserved

3-0: 2

107 Inter-seek delay for ISO-7779 acoustic testing in microseconds

108-126 Reserved

127 Removable Media Status Notification feature set support

15-2: Reserved

1-0:

X

logical sectors per physical sector

00 = Removable Media Status Notification feature set not supported

01 = Removable Media Status Notification feature supported

10 = Reserved

11 = Reserved

5-14 Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands

Table 5-2 Identify Drive Command Parameters

Word CONTENT DESCRIPTION

128 Security status

15-9: Reserved

8: Security level 0 = High, 1 = Maximum

7-6: Reserved

5: 1 = Enhanced security erase supported

4: 1 = Security count expired

3: 1 = Security frozen

2: 1 = Security locked

1: 1 = Security enabled

0: 1 = Security supported

129-159 Vendor specific

160-254 Reserved

255

Integrity word

15-8: Checksum

7-0: Signature

Maxtor MaxLine Plus II 250GB AT 5-15

SERVICE AND SUPPORT

6.1 Product Support/Technical Assistance/Customer Service

For Product Service and Support Information please visit our site at:

Chapter 6

www.maxtor.com

for warranty service or www.maxtorkb.com for technical support.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT 6-1

BREAKING THE 137 GIGABYTE STOR-

This appendix provides information about the 137GB storage barrier. It discusses the
history, cause and the solution to overcome this barrier.

A.1 Breaking the 137 Gigabyte Storage Barrier

Capacity barriers have been a fact of the personal computer world since its
beginnings in the early 1980’s. At least 10 different capacity barriers have occurred
in the storage industry over the last 15 years. The most notable barriers seen
previously have been at 528 megabytes and then at 8.4 gigabytes.

The most recent barrier which will be surmounted in 2001, is the 137-gigabyte limit
or a single ATA drive. The first ATA devices to exceed 137 gigabytes will be four­platter hard disk drives with 40 gigabytes per platter, yielding 160 gigabytes per
drive. These drives will be available in the second half of 2001. Later in the same
year, capacity will continue to grow to 60 gigabytes per platter, and a three-disk, 180­gigabyte device will be available and shipping.

Appendix A

AGE BARRIER

The ANSI NCITS T13 Technical Committee (also known as the ANSI ATA
committee) has broken this barrier by incorporating a proposal from Maxtor into the
ATA/ATAPI-6 draft standard that defines a method for 48-bit addressing on a single
drive, giving more than 144 petabytes (144,000 gigabytes) of storage.

In addition, the proposal from Maxtor that was incorporated into ATA/ATAPI-6
defines a method for extending the maximum amount of data that can be transferred
per command for ATA devices from 256 sectors (about 131 kilobytes) to 65,536
sectors (about 33 megabytes). This new method is particularly useful for applications
that use extremely large files, such as those for A/V or multimedia.

The following sections will describe issues surrounding the 137-gigabyte barrier and
the solution for breaking it.

A.1.1 History

Many of the “barriers” in the past resulted from BIOS and operating system issues
caused by failure to anticipate the remarkable increases in device storage capacity by
the people who designed hard disk structures, access routines, and operating systems
many years ago. They thought, “Who will ever have xxx much storage?” In some
cases, the barriers were caused by hardware or software bugs not found until hard
disks had grown in size beyond a certain point where the bugs would occur.

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT A-1

Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier

t

Past barriers often frustrated people trying to add a new hard disk to an older system
when they discovered that not all of the designed capacity of the hard disk was
accessible. This inability to access the entire drive is referred to as a “capacity
barrier” and it has been seen and overcome many times in the computer and disk drive
industry.

The 137-gigabyte barrier is the result of the original design specification for the ATA
interface that provided only 28 bits of address for data. This specification means a
hard disk can have a maximum of 268,435,456 sectors of 512 bytes of data which
puts the ATA interface maximum at 137.4 gigabytes.

10,000, 000

1,000, 000

100,000

10,000

1,000

100

10

DOS

5.x

4.x

3.x

10MB

16MB

Win95A
Win 3.x

32MB

128MB

Win98
Win95(osr2)

4GB

2GB

528MB

Win2000
WinME

33GB

8GB

137GB

WinXP

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

10 megabytes:early PC/XT limi

16 megabytes: FAT 12 limit

32 megabytes: DOS 3.x limit
128 megabytes: DOS 4.x limit
528 megabytes: Early ATA BIOSs without BIOS extensions

2.1 gigabytes: DOS file system partition limit

4.2 gigabytes: CMOS extended CHS addressing limit (not widely experienced)

8.4 gigabytes: BIOS/Int13 24-bit addressing limit
32 gigabytes: BIOS limit

A-2 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

A.1.2 Solving the 137 Gigabyte Capacity Barrier

As described earlier, the issue causing the 137-gigabyte barrier is the 28-bit
addressing method of the original ATA specification. A change to expand this
method was required to provide more address bits for the interface, allowing
significant growth for many years to come. A critical issue in expanding the
addressing capability was maintaining compatibility with the existing installed base
of products.

A new ATA standard, ATA/ATAPI-6, has been in the works for some time, and the
latest draft of this standard resolves this issue by increasing the maximum number of
bits used for addressing from 28 to 48. This solution increases the maximum capacity
of an ATA device to 144 petabytes while maintaining compatibility with current
ATA products.

A.1.3 How is the Extension Implemented?

The 48-bit Address feature set provides a method to address devices with capacities
up to approximately 144 petabytes by increasing the number of bits used to specify
logical block addresses (LBAs) from 28 to 48. The feature set also provides a method
to increase the number of sectors that can be transferred by a single command from
256 to 65,536 by increasing the number of bits specifying sector count to 16 bits.

Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier

New commands specific to this feature set have been defined so that devices can
implement the new feature set in addition to previously defined commands. Devices
implementing the 48-bit Address feature set commands will also implement
commands that use 28-bit addressing in order to maintain interoperability with older
system components. In addition, 8-bit and 48-bit commands may be intermixed.

The 48-bit Address feature set operates in LBA addressing only. Support of the 48­bit Address feature set is indicated in the IDENTIFY DEVICE response data. In a
device implementing the 48-bit Address feature set, the registers used for addressing
are, in fact, a two-byte deep FIFO. Each time one of these registers is written, the new
content written is placed into the “most recently written” location and the previous
content of the register is moved to “previous content” location. A host may read the
“previous content” of the registers by first setting a bit in the Device Control register
to 1 and then reading the desired register.

A.1.4 What Do the Drives Need to Meet the Spec?

The challenge to drive manufacturers is to develop and implement new interface
chips on drives that can accept and decode the new 48-bit addressing scheme. Many
functions of decoding the commands sent to and from the drive are automated in the
silicon of the drive interface ASIC, and this is where drive manufacturers must update
their designs. Maxtor is the leader in development efforts and is the first to deliver a
product with the capacity and drive technology to deliver greater than 137 gigabytes
of capacity.

A.1.5 What Else is Involved?

Effort is required from OS vendors to increase storage device addressing up to 48 bits
or more. This increase will be a significant challenge for many OS vendors that have
32-bit code models. Adapting to 48-bit commands will be easy, but most vendors
will stop filling data at the 32-bit boundary and pad the upper 16 bits with zeros,

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT A-3

Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier

leaving that space empty.

The BIOS companies will also have to perform some work to recognize the increased
capacity of the devices attached to the bus and allow the extended 48-bit commands
to pass on to the devices. Boot partitions will also be an issue for the capacity of the
drive if the BIOS does not recognize the 48-bit addressing scheme at or before the
system boots the OS from the hard drive.

Independent software driver efforts for legacy operating systems (Windows NT 4,
Windows 98, and so on) will need to be implemented to allow higher-capacity
devices to work on installed systems and recognize the maximum available capacity
of the drive over the 137-gigabyte limit.

A.1.6 What is the Next Barrier?

While it is true that the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard defines a method to provide a total
capacity for a device of 144 petabytes, the next limit will be imposed not by the ATA
devices but by many of the popular operating systems in use today. This limit will be
at 2.2 terabytes (2,200 gigabytes). This barrier exists because many of today’s
operating systems are based on 32-bit addressing. These operating systems include
many flavors of Linux, Mac OS 9.x, and Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4, 2000, and XP
(Windows XP/64-bit also has the limit because of leveraged 32-bit code).

This barrier could be real as early as 2004 if current hard drive capacity rate increases
continue along the same growth trends.

Appendix A: Terminology

• BIOS: (an acronym for Basic Input/Output System design): The BIOS
processes and redirects all data as it is being accessed and stored.

• FAT: (an acronym for File Allocation Table): The FAT tells the
computer where data has been stored on the hard drive.

• CHS: (an acronym for Cylinders, Heads, and Sectors): The basic layout
components of a hard drive. INT 13h & INT 13h extensions: protocols
used for accessing data on hard drives.

Appendix B: Big Numbers

• 131 kilobytes = 131,000 bytes

a little more than 30 pages of text

• 33 megabytes = 33,000,000 bytes

more than 8,000 pages of text or 25 300-page books

• 137 gigabytes = 137,000,000,000 bytes

more than 100,000 books, or the contents of a good library

• 2.2 terabytes = 2,200,000,000,000 bytes

almost 2,000,000 books, or the about content of the Library of Congress

• 144 petabytes = 144,000,000,000,000,000 bytes

A-4 Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

120 billion books – (more than all that man has written)

• 9.4 zettabytes = 9,400,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes

Appendix C: Resources

• Maxtor “Big Drive” web site for resource information:
http://www.maxtor.com/bigdrive

• ATA/ATAPI-6: http://www.T13.org

Breaking the 137GB Storage Barrier

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT A-5

GLOSSARY

A

ACCESS – (v) Read, write, or update

information on some storage medium, such
as a disk. (n) One of these operations.

ACCESS TIME – The interval between the
time a request for data is made by the system
and the time the data is available from the
drive. Access time includes the actual seek
time, rotational latency, and command
processing overhead time. See also seek,
rotational latency, and overhead.

ACTUATOR – Also known as the
positioner. The internal mechanism that
moves the read/write head to the proper track.
The Maxtor actuator consists of a rotary
voice coil and the head mounting arms. One
end of each head mounting arm attaches to
the rotor with the read/write heads attached at
the opposite end of each arm. As current is
applied to the rotor, it rotates, positioning the
heads over the desired cylinder on the media.

ALLOCATION – The process of assigning
particular areas of the disk to particular files.
See also allocation unit.

ALLOCATION UNIT – An allocation unit,
also known as a cluster, is a group of sectors
on the disk that can be reserved for the use of
a particular file.

AVERAGE SEEK TIME – The average
time it takes for the read/write head to move
to a specific location. To compute the average
seek time, you divide the time it takes to
complete a large number of random seeks all
over the disk by the number of seeks
performed.

B

BACKUP – A copy of a file, directory, or

volume on a separate storage device from the
original, for the purpose of retrieval in case
the original is accidentally erased, damaged,
or destroyed.

BAD BLOCK – A block (usually the size of
a sector) that cannot reliably hold data
because of a media flaw or damaged format
markings.

BAD TRACK TABLE – A label affixed to
the casing of a hard disk drive that tells which
tracks are flawed and cannot hold data. The
listing is typed into the low-level formatting
program when the drive is being installed.
Because Maxtor disk drive’s
defect-management scheme handles all such
flaws automatically, there is no need to
concern yourself with bad track tables.

BIT – Abbreviation for binary digit. A binary
digit may have one of two values—1 or 0.
This contrasts with a decimal digit, which
may have a value from 0 to 9. A bit is one of
the logic 1or logic 0 binary settings that make
up a byte of data. See also byte.

BLOCK – A sector or group of sectors.

BPI – Abbreviation for bits per inch. A

measure of how densely information is
packed on a storage medium. Flux changes
per inch is also a term commonly used in
describing storage density on a magnetic
surface.

BUFFER – An area of RAM reserved for
temporary storage of data that is waiting to be
sent to a device that is not yet ready to receive
it. The data is usually on its way to or from
the disk drive or some other peripheral
device.

BUS – The part of a chip, circuit board, or
interface designed to send and receive data.

MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT G-1

Glossary

BYTE – The basic unit of computer memory,
large enough to hold one character of
alphanumeric data. Comprised of eight bits.
See also bit.

C

CACHE – Random-access memory used as a

buffer between the CPU and a hard disk.
Information more likely to be read or
changed is placed in the cache, where it can
be accessed more quickly to speed up general
data flow.

CAPACITY – The amount of information
that can be stored on a disk drive. The data is
stored in bytes, and capacity is usually
expressed in megabytes.

CDB – Command Descriptor Block. The
SCSI structure used to communicate requests
from an initiator (system) to a target (drive).

CLEAN ROOM – An environmentally
controlled dust-free assembly or repair
facility in which hard disk drives are
assembled or can be opened for internal
servicing.

CLUSTER – A group of sectors on a disk
drive that is addressed as one logical unit by
the operating system.

CONTROLLER – Short form of disk
controller. The chip or complete circuit that

translates computer data and commands into
CONTROLLER CARD – An adapter
holding the control electronics for one or
more hard disks, usually installed in a slot in
the computer.

CPU – Acronym for Central Processing
Unit. The microprocessor chip that performs

the bulk of data processing in a computer.

CYLINDER – On a disk drive that has more
than one recording surface and heads that
move to various tracks, the group of all tracks
located at a given head position. The number
of cylinders times the number of heads equals
the number of tracks per drive.

D

DATA SEPARATOR – On a disk drive that

stores data and timing information in an
encoded form, the circuit that extracts the
data from the combined data and clock signal.

DEDICATED SERVO – A surface separate
from the surface used for data that contains
only disk timing and positioning information
and contains no data.

DEFECT MANAGEMENT – A method
that is implemented to ensure long term data
integrity. Defect management eliminates the
need for user defect maps. This is
accomplished by scanning the disk drives at
the factory for defective sectors. Defective
sectors are deallocated prior to shipment. In
addition, during regular use, the drive
continues to scan and compensate for any
new defective sectors on the disk.

DISK – In general, any circular-shaped
data-storage medium that stores data on the
flat surface of the platter. The most common
type of disk is the magnetic disk, which stores
data as magnetic patterns in a metal or
metal-oxide coating. Magnetic disks come in
two forms: floppy and hard. Optical
recording is a newer disk technology that
gives higher capacity storage but at slower
access times.

DISK CONTROLLER – A plug-in board,
or embedded circuitry on the drive, that
passes information to and from the disk. The
Maxtor disk drives all have controllers
embedded on the drive printed-circuit board.

CRC – Acronym for Cyclic Redundancy
Check. An error detection code that is

recorded within each sector and is used to see
whether parts of a string of data are missing
or erroneous.

G-2 MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

DISKWARE – The program instructions
and data stored on the disk for use by a
processor.

Glossary

DMA – Acronym for direct memory access.
A process by which data moves directly
between a disk drive (or other device) and
system memory without passing through the
CPU, thus allowing the system to continue
processing other tasks while the new data is
being retrieved.

DRIVE – Short form of disk drive.

DRIVE GEOMETRY – The functional

dimensions of a drive in terms of the number
of heads, cylinders, and sectors per track. See
also logical format.

E

ECC – Acronym for error correction code.

The recording of extra verifying information
encoded along with the disk data. The
controller uses the extra information to check
for data errors, and corrects the errors when
possible.

EMBEDDED SERVO – A timing or
location signal placed on the disk’s surface
on the tracks that also store data. These
signals allow the actuator to fine-tune the
position of the read/write heads.

ENCODING – The protocol by which
particular data patterns are changed prior to
being written on the disk surface as a pattern
of On and Off or 1 and 0 signals.

EXTERNAL DRIVE – A drive mounted in
an enclosure separate from the PC or
computer system enclosure, with its own
power supply and fan, and connected to the
system by a cable.

F

FILE SERVER – A computer that provides

network stations with controlled access to
shareable resources. The network operating
system is loaded on the file server, and most
shareable devices (disk subsystems, printers)
are attached to it. The file server controls
system security and monitors
station-to-station communications. A
dedicated file server can be used only as a file
server while it is on the network. A non
dedicated file server can be used
simultaneously as a file server and a
workstation.

FLUX DENSITY – The number of magnetic
field patterns that can be stored in a given
length of disk surface. The number is usually
stated as flux changes per inch (FCI), with
typical values in the thousands.

FLYING HEIGHT – The distance between
the read/write head and the disk surface
caused by a cushion of air that keeps the head
from contacting the media. Smaller flying
heights permit more dense storage of data,
but require more precise mechanical designs.

FORMAT – To write onto the disk surface a
magnetic track pattern that specifies the
locations of the tracks and sectors. This
information must exist on a disk before it can
store any user data. Formatting erases any
previously stored data.

FORMATTED CAPACITY – The amount
of room left to store data on the disk after the
required space has been used to write sector
headers, boundary definitions, and timing
information generated by a format operation.
All Maxtor drive capacities are expressed in
formatted capacity.

FORM FACTOR – The physical outer
dimensions of a device as defined by industry
standard. For example, most Maxtor disk
drives use a 3 1/2-inch form factor.

FAT – Acronym for file allocation table. A
data table stored on the outer edge of a disk
that tells the operating system which sectors
are allocated to each file and in what order.

FCI – Acronym for flux changes per inch.
See also BPI.

G

GIGABYTE (GB) – One billion bytes (one

thousand megabytes).

MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT G-3

Glossary

GUIDE RAILS – Plastic strips attached to
the sides of a disk drive mounted in an IBM
AT and compatible computers so that the
drive easily slides into place.

H

HALF HEIGHT – Term used to describe a

drive that occupies half the vertical space of
the original full size 5 1/4-inch drive. 1.625
inches high.

HARD DISK – A type of storage medium
that retains data as magnetic patterns on a
rigid disk, usually made of an iron oxide or
alloy over a magnesium or aluminum platter.
Because hard disks spin more rapidly than
floppy disks, and the head flies closer to the
disk, hard disks can transfer data faster and
store more in the same volume.

HARD ERROR – A repeatable error in disk
data that persists when the disk is reread,
usually caused by defects in the media
surface.

HEAD – The tiny electromagnetic coil and
metal pole piece used to create and read back
the magnetic patterns (write and read
information) on the media.

HIGH-CAPACITY DRIVE – By industry
conventions typically a drive of 1 gigabytes
or more.

HIGH-LEVEL FORMATTING –
Formatting performed by the operating
system’s format program. Among other
things, the formatting program creates the
root directory and file allocation tables. See
also low-level formatting.

HOME – Reference position track for
re-calibration of the actuator, usually the
outer track (track 0).

HOST ADAPTER – A plug-in board that
forms the interface between a particular type
of computer system bus and the disk drive.

I

INITIALIZE – See low level formatting.

INITIATOR – A SCSI device that requests

another SCSI device to perform an operation.
A common example of this is a system
requesting data from a drive. The system is
the initiator and the drive is the target.

INTERFACE – A hardware or software
protocol, contained in the electronics of the
disk controller and disk drive, that manages
the exchange of data between the drive and
computer.

INTERLEAVE – The arrangement of
sectors on a track. A 1:1 interleave arranges
the sectors so that the next sector arrives at
the read/write heads just as the computer is
ready to access it. See also interleave factor.

INTERLEAVE FACTOR – The number of
sectors that pass beneath the read/write heads
before the next numbered sector arrives.
When the interleave factor is 3:1, a sector is
read, two pass by, and then the next is read. It
would take three revolutions of the disk to
access a full track of data. Maxtor drives have
an interleave of 1:1, so a full track of data can
be accessed within one revolution of the disk,
thus offering the highest data throughput
possible.

INTERNAL DRIVE – A drive mounted
inside one of a computer’s drive bays (or a
hard disk on a card, which is installed in one
of the computer’s slots).

J

JUMPER – A tiny box that slips over two

pins that protrude from a circuit board. When
in place, the jumper connects the pins
electrically. Some board manufacturers use
Dual In-Line Package (DIP) switches instead
of jumpers.

G-4 MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

Glossary

K

KILOBYTE (K) – A unit of measure

consisting of 1,024 (210) bytes.

L

LANDING ZONE – A position inside the

disk’s inner cylinder in a non data area
reserved as a place to rest the heads during the
time that power is off. Using this area
prevents the heads from touching the surface
in data areas upon power down, adding to the
data integrity and reliability of the disk drive.

LATENCY – The period of time during
which the read/write heads are waiting for the
data to rotate into position so that it can be
accessed. Based on a disk rotation speed of
3,662 rpm, the maximum latency time is 16.4
milliseconds, and the average latency time is

8.2 milliseconds.

LOGICAL FORMAT – The logical drive
geometry that appears to an AT system BIOS
as defined by the drive tables and stored in
CMOS. With an installation program like
Disk Manager, the drive can be redefined to
any logical parameters necessary to adapt to
the system drive tables.

LOOK AHEAD – The technique of
buffering data into cache RAM by reading
subsequent blocks in advance to anticipate
the next request for data. The look ahead
technique speeds up disk access of sequential
blocks of data.

LOW-LEVEL FORMATTING –
Formatting that creates the sectors on the
platter surfaces so the operating system can
access the required areas for generating the
file structure. Maxtor drives are shipped with
the low-level formatting already done.

LOW PROFILE – Describes drives built to
the 3 1/2-inch form factor, which are only 1
inch high.

M

MB – See megabyte.

MEDIA – The magnetic film that is

deposited or coated on an aluminum substrate
which is very flat and in the shape of a disk.
The media is overcoated with a lubricant to
prevent damage to the heads or media during
head take off and landing. The media is
where the data is stored inside the disk in the
form of magnetic flux or polarity changes.

MEGABYTE (MB) – A unit of
measurement equal to 1,024 kilobytes, or
1,048,576 bytes except when referring to disk
storage capacity.

1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes when referring to
disk storage capacity.

See also kilobyte.

MEGAHERTZ – A measurement of
frequency in millions of cycles per second.

MHz – See megahertz.

MICROPROCESSOR – The integrated

circuit chip that performs the bulk of data
processing and controls the operation of all of
the parts of the system. A disk drive also
contains a microprocessor to handle all of the
internal functions of the drive and to support
the embedded controller.

MICROSECOND (µs) – One millionth of a
second (.000001 sec.).

MILLISECOND (ms) – One thousandth of
a second (.001 sec.).

MTTF – MTTF is a basic measure of
reliability for non-repairable systems. It is the
mean time expected until the first failure of a
piece of equipment. MTTF is a statistical
value and is meant to be the mean over a long
period of time and large number of units. For
constant failure rate systems, MTTF is the
inverse of the failure rate. If failure rate is in
failures/million hours, MTTF = 1,000,000 /
Failure Rate for components with
exponential distributions.

MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT G-5

Glossary

MTTR – Mean Time To Repair. The average
time it takes to repair a drive that has failed
for some reason. This only takes into
consideration the changing of the major
sub-assemblies such as circuit board or sealed
housing. Component level repair is not
included in this number as this type of repair
is not performed in the field.

O

OVERHEAD – The processing time of a

command by the controller, host adapter or
drive prior to any actual disk accesses taking
place.

OVERWRITE – To write data on top of
existing data, erasing it.

OXIDE – A metal-oxygen compound. Most
magnetic coatings are combinations of iron or
other metal oxides, and the term has become
a general one for the magnetic coating on tape
or disk.

P

PLATTER – An disk made of metal (or

other rigid material) that is mounted inside a
fixed disk drive. Most drives use more than
one platter mounted on a single spindle
(shaft) to provide more data storage surfaces
in a small package. The platter is coated with
a magnetic material that is used to store data
as transitions of magnetic polarity.

POH – Acronym for power on hours. The
unit of measurement for Mean Time Between
Failure as expressed in the number of hours
that power is applied to the device regardless
of the amount of actual data transfer usage.
See MTBF.

POSITIONER – See actuator.

R

RAM – Acronym for random access

memory. An integrated circuit memory chip
which allows information to be stored and
retrieved by a microprocessor or controller.
The information may be stored and retrieved
in any order desired, and the address of one
storage location is as readily accessible as
any other.

PARTITION – A portion of a hard disk
devoted to a particular operating system and
accessed as one logical volume by the
system.

PERFORMANCE – A measure of the speed
of the drive during normal operation. Factors
affecting performance are seek times, transfer
rate and command overhead.

PERIPHERAL – A device added to a
system as an enhancement to the basic CPU,
such as a disk drive, tape drive or printer.

PHYSICAL FORMAT – The actual
physical layout of cylinders, tracks, and
sectors on a disk drive.

PLATED MEDIA – Disks that are covered
with a hard metal alloy instead of an
iron-oxide compound. Plated disks can store
greater amounts of data in the same area as a
coated disk.

G-6 MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

RAM DISK – A “phantom disk drive” for
which a section of system memory (RAM) is
set aside to hold data, just as if it were a
number of disk sectors. The access to this
data is extremely fast but is lost when the
system is reset or turned off.

READ AFTER WRITE – A mode of
operation that has the computer read back
each sector on the disk, checking that the data
read back is the same as recorded. This slows
disk operations, but raises reliability.

READ VERIFY – A disk mode where the
disk reads in data to the controller, but the
controller only checks for errors and does not
pass the data on to the system.

READ/WRITE HEAD – The tiny
electromagnetic coil and metal pole piece
used to create and read back the magnetic
patterns (write or read information) on the
disk. Each side of each platter has its own
read/write head.

Glossary

REMOVABLE DISK – Generally said of
disk drives where the disk itself is meant to be
removed, and in particular of hard disks using
disks mounted in cartridges. Their advantage
is that multiple disks can be used to increase
the amount of stored material, and that once
removed, the disk can be stored away to
prevent unauthorized use.

RLL – Run Length Limited. A method used
on some hard disks to encode data into
magnetic pulses. RLL requires more
processing, but stores almost 50% more data
per disk than the MFM method.

ROM – Acronym for read only memory.
Usually in the form of an ROM in the
controller that contains programs that can be
accessed and read but not modified by the
system.

ROTARY ACTUATOR – The rotary
actuator replaces the stepper motor used in
the past by many hard disk manufacturers.
The rotary actuator is perfectly balanced and
rotates around a single pivot point. It allows
closed-loop feedback positioning of the
heads, which is more accurate than stepper
motors.

ROTATIONAL LATENCY – The delay
between when the controller starts looking
for a specific block of data on a track and
when that block rotates around to where it can
be read by the read/write head. On the
average, it is half of the time needed for a full
rotation (about 8 ms.).

S

SCSI – Acronym for Small Computer System

Interface, an American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) version of Shugart
Associates' SASI interface between the
computer and controller. SCSI has grown in
popularity and is one of the most flexible and
intelligent interfaces available.

SECTOR – A section of space along a track
on the disk, or the data that is stored in that
section. Hard disks most often have sectors
that are 512 data bytes long plus several bytes
overhead for error correcting codes. Each

sector is preceded by ID data known as a
header, which cannot be overwritten.

SEEK – A movement of the disk read/write
head in or out to a specific track.

SERVO DATA – Magnetic markings
written on the media that guide the read/write
heads to the proper position.

SERVO SURFACE – A separate surface
containing only positioning and disk timing
information but no data.

SETTLE TIME – The interval between
when a track to track movement of the head
stops, and when the residual vibration and
movement dies down to a level sufficient for
reliable reading or writing.

SHOCK RATING – A rating (expressed in
Gs) of how much shock a disk drive can
sustain without damage.

SOFT ERROR – An error in reading data
from the disk that does not recur if the same
data is reread. Often caused by power
fluctuations or noise spikes.

SOFT SECTORED – Disks that mark the
beginning of each sector of data within a
track by a magnetic pattern.

SPINDLE – The center shaft of the disk upon
which the drive’s platters are mounted.

SPUTTER – A type of coating process used
to apply the magnetic coating to some
high-performance disks. In sputtering, the
disks are placed in a vacuum chamber and the
coating is vaporized and deposited on the
disks. The resulting surface is hard, smooth,
and capable of storing data at high density.
Maxtor disk drives use sputtered thin film
disks.

STEPPER – A type of motor that moves in
discrete amounts for each input electrical
pulse. Stepper motors used to be widely used
for read/write head positioner, since they can
be geared to move the head one track per step.
Stepper motors are not as fast or reliable as
the rotary voice coil actuators which Maxtor
disk drives use.

MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT G-7

Glossary

SUBSTRATE – The material the disk platter
is made of beneath the magnetic coating.
Hard disks are generally made of aluminum
or magnesium alloy (or glass, for optical
disks) while the substrate of floppies is
usually mylar.

SURFACE – The top or bottom side of the
platter which is coated with the magnetic
material for recording data. On some drives
one surface may be reserved for positioning
information.

T

THIN FILM – A type of coating, used for

disk surfaces. Thin film surfaces allow more
bits to be stored per disk.

TPI – Acronym for tracks per inch. The
number of tracks or cylinders that are written
in each inch of travel across the surface of a
disk.

TRACK – One of the many concentric
magnetic circle patterns written on a disk
surface as a guide to where to store and read
the data.

TRACK DENSITY – How closely the
tracks are packed on a disk surface. The
number is specified as tracks per inch (TPI).

TRACK TO TRACK SEEK TIME – The
time required for the read/write heads to
move to an adjacent track.

TRANSFER RATE – The rate at which the
disk sends and receives data from the
controller. Drive specifications usually
reference a high number that is the burst
mode rate for transferring data across the
interface from the disk buffer to system
RAM. Sustained data transfer is at a much
lower rate because of system processing
overhead, head switches, and seeks.

U

UNFORMATTED CAPACITY – The total

number of bytes of data that could be fit onto
a disk. Formatting the disk requires some of
this space to record location, boundary
definitions, and timing information. After
formatting, user data can be stored on the
remaining disk space, known as formatted
capacity. The size of a Maxtor drive is
expressed in formatted capacity.

V

VOICE COIL – A type of motor used to

move the disk read/write head in and out to
the right track. Voice-coil actuators work like
loudspeakers with the force of a magnetic
coil causing a proportionate movement of the
head. Maxtor's actuator uses voice-coil
technology, and thereby eliminates the high
stress wearing parts found on stepper motor
type actuators.

W

WEDGE SERVO – The position on every

track that contains data used by the closed
loop positioning control. This information is
used to fine tune the position of the read/write
heads exactly over the track center.

WINCHESTER DISKS – Hard disks that
use a technology similar to an IBM model
using Winchester as the code name. These
disks use read/write heads that ride just above
the magnetic surface, held up by the air flow
created by the turning disk. When the disk
stops turning, the heads land on the surface,
which has a specially lubricated coating.
Winchester disks must be sealed and have a
filtration system since ordinary dust particles
are large enough to catch between the head
and the disk.

G-8 MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT

WRITE ONCE – In the context of optical
disks, technologies that allow the drive to
store data on a disk and read it back, but not
to erase it.

INDEX

A

abbreviations 1-1
adapter board 2-4, 3-20

C

Cable Select 3-7
cable select (CS) jumper 3-6
clearance 3-19
command descriptions 5-2
connector, IDE 3-11, 3-16
cooling fan requirements 3-19

D

daisy-chain 2-3
daisy-chained 3-6
drive select (DS) jumper 3-7

F

faceplate 3-1
floppy drive 3-20

J

jumper configurations 3-6
jumper locations 3-5
jumper options 3-6

M

maximum screw torque 3-18
mechanical dimensions 3-1
motherboard 3-20
mounting 3-17
mounting dimensions 3-17
mounting holes 3-17
mounting screw clearance 3-18
mounting screws 3-18
MS-DOS 3-26

P

packing assembly 3-2
packing materials 3-2
power and AT bus connector 3-10
power and bus interface cables 3-21
power connector 3-9, 3-13

H

hardware options 3-5

I

IDE 2-4, 3-9, 3-12
IDE-bus interface 5-1
IDE-bus interface connector 3-11, 3-16
input power connections 3-11, 3-14
interface, IDE-bus 5-1

S

shipping container 3-2
Slave Present 3-7
slave present (SP) jumper 3-7

V

ventilation 3-19
ventilation requirements 3-17

Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB AT I-1