WD HSH721414ALE6M0, HSH721414ALN6M0, HSH721415ALE6M0, HSH721415ALN6M0 User manual

Model:

HSH721414ALE6M0/4

HSH721414ALN6M0/4
HSH721415ALE6M0/4
HSH721415ALN6M0/4

Hard disk drive specifications

Ultrastar® DC HC620
(previously known as Ultrastar Hs14 14TB/15TB)

3.5 inch Serial ATA hard disk drive

Revision 1.5 22 November 2018

1

Hard Disk Drive Specification

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One MB is equal to one million bytes, one GB is equal to one billion bytes and one TB equals 1,000GB (one trillion bytes)
when referring to storage capacity. Accessible capacity will vary from the stated capacity due to formatting and partitioning

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2

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Table of contents

1 General ............................................................................................................................................................. 16

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 16

Glossary ........................................................................................................................................... 16

General caution ............................................................................................................................... 17

References ........................................................................................................................................ 17

2 General features ............................................................................................................................................... 18

Part 1. Functional specification ....................................................................................................................... 19

3 Fixed disk subsystem description ..................................................................................................................... 20

Control Electronics ......................................................................................................................... 20

Head disk assembly ........................................................................................................................ 20

Actuator ........................................................................................................................................... 20

4 Drive characteristics.......................................................................................................................................... 21

Default logical drive parameters ................................................................................................... 21

Data sheet ........................................................................................................................................ 22

World Wide Name Assignment ...................................................................................................... 22

Drive organization .......................................................................................................................... 23

Drive Format ............................................................................................................................ 23

Cylinder allocation................................................................................................................... 23

Zone Layout .............................................................................................................................. 23

Performance characteristics ........................................................................................................... 25

Command overhead ................................................................................................................. 25

Mechanical positioning ............................................................................................................ 26

Drive ready time ...................................................................................................................... 26

Operating modes ...................................................................................................................... 27

5 Defect flagging strategy .................................................................................................................................... 28

Shipped format ................................................................................................................................ 28

6 Specification ...................................................................................................................................................... 29

Electrical interface .......................................................................................................................... 29

Connector location ................................................................................................................... 29

Signal definition....................................................................................................................... 30

Out of band signaling .............................................................................................................. 31

Environment .................................................................................................................................... 32

Temperature and humidity ..................................................................................................... 32

Storage Requirements ............................................................................................................. 33

Corrosion test ........................................................................................................................... 33

Atmospheric condition ............................................................................................................. 33

DC power requirements.................................................................................................................. 34

Input voltage ............................................................................................................................ 34

Power supply current (typical1) .............................................................................................. 35

Power line noise limits ............................................................................................................ 36

Power Consumption Efficiency ............................................................................................... 36

Reliability ........................................................................................................................................ 37

Data integrity ........................................................................................................................... 37

Cable noise interference .......................................................................................................... 37

Load/Unload ............................................................................................................................. 37

Start/stop cycles ....................................................................................................................... 37

Preventive maintenance .......................................................................................................... 37

Data reliability ......................................................................................................................... 37

Required Power-Off Sequence ................................................................................................ 37

Mechanical specifications ............................................................................................................... 38

Physical dimensions ................................................................................................................ 38

Connector locations ................................................................................................................. 40

3

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Drive mounting ........................................................................................................................ 40

Heads unload and actuator lock ............................................................................................. 40

Vibration and shock ........................................................................................................................ 41

Operating vibration ................................................................................................................. 41

Nonoperating vibration ........................................................................................................... 42

Operating shock ....................................................................................................................... 42

Nonoperating shock ................................................................................................................. 42

Nonoperating Rotational shock .............................................................................................. 43

Acoustics .......................................................................................................................................... 44

Identification labels ........................................................................................................................ 44

Safety ............................................................................................................................................... 45

UL and CSA standard conformity .......................................................................................... 45

German Safety Mark ............................................................................................................... 45

Flammability ............................................................................................................................ 45

Safe handling ........................................................................................................................... 45

Substance restriction requirements ....................................................................................... 45

Secondary circuit protection ................................................................................................... 45

Electromagnetic compatibility ....................................................................................................... 46

CE Mark ................................................................................................................................... 46

RCM Mark ................................................................................................................................ 46

BSMI Mark .............................................................................................................................. 46

KC Mark ................................................................................................................................... 46

Part 2. Interface specification .......................................................................................................................... 47

7 General ............................................................................................................................................................. 48

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 48

Terminology ..................................................................................................................................... 48

Deviations From Standard ............................................................................................................. 48

8 Registers ........................................................................................................................................................... 49

Alternate Status Register............................................................................................................... 49

Command register .......................................................................................................................... 49

Cylinder High Register ................................................................................................................... 49

Cylinder Low Register .................................................................................................................... 50

Device Control Register .................................................................................................................. 50

Device/Head Register ...................................................................................................................... 51

Error Register ................................................................................................................................. 51

Features Register ............................................................................................................................ 52

Sector Count Register ..................................................................................................................... 52

Sector Number Register ................................................................................................................. 52

Status Register ................................................................................................................................ 53

9 Normal and Error Output field descriptions ...................................................................................................... 54

Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 54

Status field ...................................................................................................................................... 54

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 54

ALIGNMENT ERROR bit ....................................................................................................... 55

BUSY bit................................................................................................................................... 55

CHECK CONDITION bit ........................................................................................................ 55

DATA REQUEST bit ............................................................................................................... 55

DEVICE FAULT bit ................................................................................................................ 55

DEVICE READY bit ................................................................................................................ 55

ERROR bit ................................................................................................................................ 56

SENSE DATA AVAILABLE bit ............................................................................................. 56

Transport Dependent bits and fields...................................................................................... 56

ERROR field .................................................................................................................................... 57

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 57

ABORT bit ................................................................................................................................ 57

4

Hard Disk Drive Specification

END OF MEDIA bit ................................................................................................................ 57

ID NOT FOUND bit ................................................................................................................ 57

ILLEGAL LENGTH INDICATOR bit .................................................................................... 57

INTERFACE CRC bit .............................................................................................................. 57

SENSE KEY field .................................................................................................................... 58

UNCORRECTABLE ERROR bit ............................................................................................ 58

INTERRUPT REASON field .......................................................................................................... 59

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 59

COMMAND/DATA bit ............................................................................................................. 59

INPUT/OUTPUT bit ................................................................................................................ 59

COUNT field .................................................................................................................................... 60

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 60

NCQ Tag ................................................................................................................................... 60

SACTIVE field ................................................................................................................................. 60

SATA STATUS field ....................................................................................................................... 60

LBA field .......................................................................................................................................... 60

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 60

LBA of First Unrecoverable Error .......................................................................................... 60

Device Signatures for Normal Output .......................................................................................... 61

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 61

10 General Operation Descriptions ....................................................................................................................... 62

Reset Response ................................................................................................................................ 62

Register Initialization ............................................................................................................. 63

Diagnostic and Reset considerations ............................................................................................. 63

Sector Addressing Mode ................................................................................................................. 64

Logical CHS Addressing Mode ............................................................................................... 64

LBA Addressing Mode ............................................................................................................. 64

Power Management Feature .......................................................................................................... 65

Power Mode .............................................................................................................................. 65

Power Management Commands ............................................................................................. 66

Standby timer .......................................................................................................................... 66

Interface Capability for Power Modes .................................................................................... 66

SMART Function ............................................................................................................................ 67

Attributes ................................................................................................................................. 67

Attribute values ....................................................................................................................... 67

Attribute thresholds ................................................................................................................ 67

Threshold exceeded condition ................................................................................................. 67

SMART commands .................................................................................................................. 67

Off-line Read Scanning ........................................................................................................... 67

Error Log .................................................................................................................................. 67

Self-test ..................................................................................................................................... 68

Security Mode Feature Set ............................................................................................................. 69

Security mode........................................................................................................................... 69

Security Level .......................................................................................................................... 69

Password .................................................................................................................................. 69

Operation example .................................................................................................................. 70

Command Table ....................................................................................................................... 73

Host Protected Area Feature ......................................................................................................... 76

Example for operation (In LBA mode) ................................................................................... 76

Security extensions .................................................................................................................. 77

Write Cache Function ..................................................................................................................... 78

Reassign Function ........................................................................................................................... 78

Auto Reassign Function .......................................................................................................... 78

Power-up in Standby feature set ................................................................................................... 79

5

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Advanced Power Management feature set (APM) ........................................................................ 79

48-bit Address Feature Set ............................................................................................................ 79

SATA BIST (Built-in Self Test) ...................................................................................................... 80

SATA Interface Power Management ............................................................................................. 80

Software Setting Preservation ....................................................................................................... 81

COMRESET Preservation Requirements .............................................................................. 81

Serial ATA Revision 3.0 Optional Features .................................................................................. 82

Asynchronous Signal Recovery ............................................................................................... 82

Device Power Connector Pin 11 Definition ............................................................................ 82

Phy Event Counters ................................................................................................................ 82

NCQ NON-DATA (63h) ........................................................................................................... 86

Rebuild Assist log (15h) ........................................................................................................... 89

SCT Command Transport feature Set ........................................................................................... 90

Overview ................................................................................................................................... 90

SCT Command Protocol .......................................................................................................... 91

SCT Command Set .................................................................................................................. 99

Extended Power Conditions (EPC) feature ................................................................................. 106

Power conditions .................................................................................................................... 106

Power condition timers .......................................................................................................... 107

Interaction with resets, commands and other features ...................................................... 107

Sanitize Device feature set ........................................................................................................... 108

Overview ................................................................................................................................. 108

Sanitize Device Feature ........................................................................................................ 110

Sanitize Device state machine .............................................................................................. 110

Zone Device Feature set definitions ............................................................................................ 113

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 113

Basic zoned device model ...................................................................................................... 113

Host Managed Zones feature set .......................................................................................... 113

Zone attributes ....................................................................................................................... 114

Zone types............................................................................................................................... 116

Additional features for the Host Managed Zones feature set ............................................ 127

11 Command Protocol ......................................................................................................................................... 131

PIO Data In commands ................................................................................................................ 131

PIO Data Out commands ............................................................................................................. 131

Non-Data commands .................................................................................................................... 132

DMA Data In commands and DMA Data Out commands ......................................................... 133

First-party DMA commands ........................................................................................................ 133

12 Command Descriptions .................................................................................................................................. 134

Check Power Mode (E5h/98h) ...................................................................................................... 139

Device Configuration Overlay (B1h) ........................................................................................... 141

Device Configuration Restore (Subcommand C0h) ............................................................. 142

Device Configuration Freeze Lock (Subcommand C1h) ..................................................... 142

Device Configuration Identify (Subcommand C2h) ............................................................ 142

Device Configuration Set (Subcommand C3h) .................................................................... 142

Download Microcode (92h) ........................................................................................................... 145

Overview ................................................................................................................................. 146

Sector Number / Sector Count .............................................................................................. 146

Download and save microcode with offsets .......................................................................... 146

Download and save microcode with offsets for future use .................................................. 146

Activate downloaded microcode ............................................................................................ 146

Error Outputs ........................................................................................................................ 146

Download Microcode DMA (93h) ................................................................................................. 147

Overview ................................................................................................................................. 148

Sector Count / Sector Number .............................................................................................. 148

Download and save microcode with offsets .......................................................................... 148

6

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Download and save microcode with offsets for future use .................................................. 148

Activate downloaded microcode ............................................................................................ 148

Error Outputs ........................................................................................................................ 148

Execute Device Diagnostic (90h).................................................................................................. 149

Flush Cache (E7h)......................................................................................................................... 150

Flush Cache Ext (EAh) ................................................................................................................. 152

Format Track (50h) ....................................................................................................................... 154

Format Unit (F7h) ........................................................................................................................ 155

Identify Device (ECh) ................................................................................................................... 157

Idle (E3h/97h) ................................................................................................................................ 168

Idle Immediate (E1h/95h) ............................................................................................................ 170

Initialize Device Parameters (91h) .............................................................................................. 171

NCQ NON-DATA (63h) ................................................................................................................ 172

Abort NCQ Queue Subcommand (0h) .................................................................................. 173

Deadline handling Subcommand (1h) .................................................................................. 175

Read Buffer (E4h) ......................................................................................................................... 177

Read Buffer DMA (E9h) ............................................................................................................... 178

Read DMA(C8h/C9h) .................................................................................................................... 179

Read DMA Ext (25h) ..................................................................................................................... 181

Read FPDMA Queued (60h) ......................................................................................................... 183

Read Log Ext (2Fh) ....................................................................................................................... 185

General Purpose Log Directory ............................................................................................ 187

Extended Comprehensive SMART Error log ....................................................................... 188

Device Statistics log ............................................................................................................... 191

Extended Self-test log sector ................................................................................................. 197

Power Conditions log ............................................................................................................. 198

NCQ Command Error(log page 10h) .................................................................................... 201

Identify Device Data log ........................................................................................................ 203

Read Log DMA Ext(47h) .............................................................................................................. 213

Read Multiple (C4h)...................................................................................................................... 214

Read Multiple Ext (29h) ............................................................................................................... 215

Read Native Max Address (F8h) .................................................................................................. 216

Read Native Max Address Ext (27h) ........................................................................................... 217

Read Sector(s) (20h/21h) ............................................................................................................... 218

Read Sector(s) Ext (24h) ............................................................................................................... 219

Read Verify Sector(s) (40h/41h) ................................................................................................... 220

Read Verify Sector(s) Ext (42h) ................................................................................................... 221

Recalibrate (1xh) ........................................................................................................................... 222

RECEIVE FPDMA QUEUED (65h) ............................................................................................ 223

Request Sense Data Ext (0Bh) ..................................................................................................... 226

Sanitize Device Feature Set (B4h) ............................................................................................... 228

Crypto Scramble Ext Command (feature: 0011h) (data encryption model only) .............. 228

Overwrite Ext Command (feature: 0014h) .......................................................................... 231

Sanitize Freeze Lock Ext Command (feature: 0020h) ........................................................ 232

Sanitize Status Ext Command (feature: 0000h) ................................................................. 233

Security Disable Password (F6h) ................................................................................................. 234

Security Erase Prepare (F3h) ...................................................................................................... 235

Security Erase Unit (F4h) ............................................................................................................ 236

Security Freeze Lock (F5h) .......................................................................................................... 238

Security Set Password (F1h) ........................................................................................................ 239

Security Unlock (F2h) ................................................................................................................... 241

Seek (7xh) ...................................................................................................................................... 242

SEND FPDMA QUEUED (64h) ................................................................................................... 243

Sense Condition (F0h : Vendor specific) ...................................................................................... 244

7

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Set Features (EFh) ........................................................................................................................ 245

Set Transfer Mode ................................................................................................................. 246

Write Cache ............................................................................................................................ 246

Serial ATA Feature ............................................................................................................... 246

Advanced Power Management ............................................................................................. 247

Set Maximum Host Interface Sector Time .......................................................................... 247

Enable/Disable the Sense Data Reporting feature set ....................................................... 247

Extended Power Conditions (EPC) feature ......................................................................... 248

Set Max Address (F9h) ................................................................................................................. 256

Set Max Set Password (Feature = 01h)................................................................................ 258

Set Max Lock (Feature = 02h) .............................................................................................. 259

Set Max Unlock (Feature = 03h) .......................................................................................... 260

Set Max Freeze Lock (Feature = 04h) .................................................................................. 261

Set Max Address Ext (37h)........................................................................................................... 262

Set Multiple Mode (C6h) .............................................................................................................. 264

Sleep (E6h/99h) ............................................................................................................................. 265

SMART Function Set (B0h) ......................................................................................................... 266

SMART Subcommand ........................................................................................................... 266

Device Attributes Data Structure ........................................................................................ 276

Device Attribute Thresholds Data Structure ...................................................................... 281

Standby (E2h/96h) ........................................................................................................................ 287

Standby Immediate (E0h/94h) ..................................................................................................... 288

Write Buffer (E8h) ........................................................................................................................ 289

Write Buffer DMA (EBh) .............................................................................................................. 290

Write DMA (CAh/CBh) ................................................................................................................. 291

Write DMA FUA Ext (3Dh) .......................................................................................................... 292

Write DMA Ext (35h) .................................................................................................................... 294

Write FPDMA Queued (61h) ........................................................................................................ 295

Write Log Ext (3Fh) ...................................................................................................................... 297

Write Log DMA Ext (57h) ............................................................................................................ 299

Write Multiple (C5h)..................................................................................................................... 300

Write Multiple Ext (39h) .............................................................................................................. 301

Write Multiple FUA Ext (CEh) .................................................................................................... 302

Write Sector(s) (30h/31h) .............................................................................................................. 303

Write Sector(s) Ext (34h) .............................................................................................................. 304

Write Uncorrectable Ext (45h) ..................................................................................................... 305

Zone management commands ...................................................................................................... 306

Overview ................................................................................................................................. 306

ZAC Management In command template, 4Ah, DMA ........................................................ 306

ZAC MANAGEMENT OUT command template, 9Fh, Non-Data or DMA Out ................ 308

CLOSE ZONE EXT command – 9Fh/01h, Non-Data .......................................................... 309

FINISH ZONE EXT command – 9Fh/02h, Non-Data ......................................................... 310

OPEN ZONE EXT command – 9Fh/03h, Non-Data ............................................................ 312

REPORT ZONES EXT command – 4Ah/00h, DMA In ....................................................... 313

RESET WRITE POINTERS EXT command – 9Fh/04h, Non-Data ................................... 318

Normal and Error Outputs ................................................................................................... 319

13 Appendix. Sense key and Additional Sense code list ..................................................................................... 321

8

Hard Disk Drive Specification

List of tables

Table 1 Type and Model# ........................................................................................................................ 16

Table 2 Formatted capacity .................................................................................................................... 21

Table 3 Data Sheet .................................................................................................................................. 22

Table 4 World Wide Name Assignment ................................................................................................. 22

Table 5 Zone Layout ................................................................................................................................ 23

Table 6 Command overhead ................................................................................................................... 25

Table 7 Average seek time ...................................................................................................................... 26

Table 8 Single Track Seek Time ............................................................................................................. 26

Table 9 Latency Time .............................................................................................................................. 26

Table 10 Drive ready time ...................................................................................................................... 26

Table 11 Mode transition times .............................................................................................................. 27

Table 12 Interface connector pins and I/O signals ................................................................................ 30

Table 13 Parameter descriptions ........................................................................................................... 31

Table 14 Temperature and humidity ..................................................................................................... 32

Table 15 Input voltage ............................................................................................................................ 34

Table 16 Power supply current ............................................................................................................... 35

Table 17 Allowable power supply noise limits at drive power connector ............................................ 36

Table 18 Power consumption efficiency ................................................................................................. 36

Table 19 Physical Dimensions ................................................................................................................ 39

Table 20 Random vibration PSD profile break points (operating) ...................................................... 41

Table 21 Random vibration (Rotational) PSD profile break points ..................................................... 41

Table 22 Random vibration PSD profile break points (nonoperating) ................................................ 42

Table 23 Sinusoidal shock wave ............................................................................................................. 43

Table 24 Rotational Shock ...................................................................................................................... 43

Table 25 Sound power levels .................................................................................................................. 44

Table 26 Alternate Status Register ........................................................................................................ 49

Table 27 Device Control Register ........................................................................................................... 50

Table 28 Device/Head Register ............................................................................................................... 51

Table 29 Error Register .......................................................................................................................... 51

Table 30 Status Register ......................................................................................................................... 53

Table 31 STATUS field ............................................................................................................................ 54

Table 32 ERROR field ............................................................................................................................. 57

Table 33 INTERRUPT REASON field ................................................................................................... 59

Table 34 Device Signatures for Normal Output.................................................................................... 61

Table 35 Device signatures for COUNT and LBA field ........................................................................ 61

Table 36 Reset Response ......................................................................................................................... 62

Table 37 Default Register Values ........................................................................................................... 63

Table 38 Diagnostic Codes ...................................................................................................................... 63

Table 39 Power conditions ...................................................................................................................... 66

Table 40 Command table for device lock operation -1 .......................................................................... 73

Table 41 Command table for device lock operation -2 .......................................................................... 74

Table 42 Command table for device lock operation -3 .......................................................................... 75

Table 43 Phy Event Counter Identifiers ................................................................................................ 83

Table 44 READ LOG EXT Log Page 11h data structure definition .................................................... 85

Table 45 NCQ NON-DATA – Command definition ............................................................................... 86

Table 46 Subcommand Field .................................................................................................................. 86

Table 47 NCQ NON-DATA Log (12h) data structure definition .......................................................... 88

Table 48 Rebuild Assist log (15h) data structure definition................................................................. 89

Table 49 SCT Log Page and direction .................................................................................................... 90

Table 50 Identify Device Information Word 206 ................................................................................... 90

Table 51 Output Registers of SCT Command Using SMART .............................................................. 91

9

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Table 52 Input Registers of SCT Command Using SMART ................................................................ 91

Table 53 Input Registers of SCT Command Using Write Log Ext ...................................................... 92

Table 54 Output Registers of SCT Command Using Write Log Ext ................................................... 92

Table 55 Key Sector Format ................................................................................................................... 93

Table 56 SCT Action Code List ............................................................................................................... 93

Table 57 Extended Status Code ............................................................................................................. 94

Table 58 Input Registers of SCT Data Transfer Using SMART .......................................................... 95

Table 59 Input Registers of SCT Data Transfer Using Read/Write Log Ext ...................................... 95

Table 60 Input Registers of SCT Status Request Using SMART ........................................................ 96

Table 61 Input Registers of SCT Status Request Using Read Log Ext ............................................... 96

Table 62 Data Format of SCT Status Response -1 ............................................................................... 97

Table 63 Data Format of SCT Status Response -2 ............................................................................... 98

Table 64 SCT Write Same (Inputs) ........................................................................................................ 99

Table 65 SCT Write Same (Outputs) ..................................................................................................... 99

Table 66 Error Recovery Control command (Inputs) .......................................................................... 101

Table 67 Error Recovery Control command (Outputs) ....................................................................... 101

Table 68 Feature Control command (Inputs) ...................................................................................... 102

Table 69 Feature Control command (Outputs) ................................................................................... 102

Table 70 Feature Code List .................................................................................................................. 103

Table 71 SCT Data Table command (Inputs) ...................................................................................... 104

Table 72 SCT Data Table command (Outputs) ................................................................................... 104

Table 73 Table ID .................................................................................................................................. 104

Table 74 Data Format of HDA Absolute Temperature History Table -1 ........................................... 105

Table 75 Data Format of HDA Absolute Temperature History Table -2 ........................................... 105

Table 76 Extended Power Conditions Subcommands......................................................................... 106

Table 77 Power Condition IDs .............................................................................................................. 106

Table 78 Summary of zone attributes ................................................................................................... 114

Table 79 Zone Type zone attribute ........................................................................................................ 114

Table 80 Relationships between zone attributes ................................................................................. 115

Table 81 Zone Condition zone attribute ............................................................................................... 115

Table 82 Zone Condition state machine functions .............................................................................. 121

Table 83 Characteristics and attributes associated with zone state ................................................. 121

Table 84 ZAC OPTIONS field ............................................................................................................... 130

Table 85 ZONE POST PROCESSING field ......................................................................................... 130

Table 86 Command Set ......................................................................................................................... 134

Table 87 Command Set –Continued– .................................................................................................. 135

Table 88 Command Set –Continued– .................................................................................................. 136

Table 89 Command Set (Subcommand) ............................................................................................... 137

Table 90 Check Power Mode Command (E5h/98h) ............................................................................. 139

Table 91 Device Configuration Overlay Command (B1h) .................................................................. 141

Table 92 Device Configuration Overlay Features register values ..................................................... 141

Table 93 Device Configuration Overlay Data structure ..................................................................... 143

Table 94 Device Configuration Overlay Data structure –Continued- ............................................... 144

Table 95 DCO error information definition ......................................................................................... 144

Table 96 Download Microcode Command (92h) .................................................................................. 145

Table 97 Download Microcode DMA Command (93h) ........................................................................ 147

Table 98 Execute Device Diagnostic Command (90h) ........................................................................ 149

Table 99 Flush Cache Command (E7h) ............................................................................................... 150

Table 100 Flush Cache Ext Command (EAh) ...................................................................................... 152

Table 101 Format Track Command (50h) ............................................................................................ 154

Table 102 Format Unit Command (F7h) ............................................................................................. 155

Table 103 Identify Device Command (ECh) ........................................................................................ 157

Table 104 Identify device information ................................................................................................. 158

Table 105 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 159

10

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Table 106 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 160

Table 107 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 161

Table 108 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 162

Table 109 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 163

Table 110 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 164

Table 111 Identify device information –Continued- ............................................................................ 165

Table 112 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 166

Table 113 Identify device information –Continued- ........................................................................... 167

Table 114 Idle Command (E3h/97h) ..................................................................................................... 168

Table 115 Idle Immediate Command (E1h/95h) ................................................................................. 170

Table 116 Initialize Device Parameters Command (91h) ................................................................... 171

Table 117 NCQ Queue Management command (63h) ........................................................................ 172

Table 118 Abort NCQ Queue Subcommand (0h) ................................................................................. 173

Table 119 Abort Type Field ................................................................................................................... 174

Table 120 Deadline handling Subcommand (1h) ................................................................................ 175

Table 121 Read Buffer Command (E4h) .............................................................................................. 177

Table 122 Read Buffer DMA Command (E9h) .................................................................................... 178

Table 123 Read DMA Command (C8h/C9h) ........................................................................................ 179

Table 124 Read DMA Ext Command (25h) ......................................................................................... 181

Table 125 Read FPDMA Queued Command (60h) ............................................................................. 183

Table 126 Read Log Ext Command (2Fh) ............................................................................................ 185

Table 127 Log Address Definition ........................................................................................................ 186

Table 128 General Purpose Log Directory ........................................................................................... 187

Table 129 Extended Comprehensive SMART Error Log .................................................................... 188

Table 130 Extended Error log data structure ..................................................................................... 189

Table 131 Command data structure .................................................................................................... 189

Table 132 Error data structure ............................................................................................................ 190

Table 133 Defined Device Statistics log pages .................................................................................... 191

Table 134 List of supported Device Statistics log pages ..................................................................... 191

Table 135 General Statistics ................................................................................................................ 192

Table 136 Rotating Media Statistics .................................................................................................... 193

Table 137 General Error Statistics ...................................................................................................... 194

Table 138 Temperature Statistics (part 1 of 2) ................................................................................... 194

Table 139 Temperature Statistics (part 2 of 2) ................................................................................... 195

Table 140 Transport Statistics ............................................................................................................. 196

Table 141 Extended Self-test log data structure ................................................................................. 197

Table 142 Extended Self-test log descriptor entry .............................................................................. 198

Table 143 Idle power conditions ........................................................................................................... 198

Table 144 Standby power conditions (log page 01h) ........................................................................... 198

Table 145 Power Conditions log descriptor ......................................................................................... 199

Table 146 Command Error log (part 1 of 2) ......................................................................................... 201

Table 147 NCQ Command Error log (part 2 of 2) ............................................................................... 202

Table 148 Identify Device Data Log ..................................................................................................... 203

Table 149 List of supported IDENTIFY DEVICE data pages ........................................................... 203

Table 150 Capacity log page ................................................................................................................. 204

Table 151 Supported Capabilities log page ......................................................................................... 205

Table 152 Supported Capabilities log page –Continued- ................................................................... 206

Table 153 Current Settings log page ................................................................................................... 207

Table 154 Current Settings log page –Continued- .............................................................................. 208

Table 155 Strings log page .................................................................................................................... 208

Table 156 Security log page .................................................................................................................. 209

Table 157 Serial ATA log page .............................................................................................................. 210

Table 158 Zoned-device Information ..................................................................................................... 211

Table 159 ZAC MINOR Version field ................................................................................................... 212

11

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Table 160 Read Log DMA Ext Command (47h) .................................................................................. 213

Table 161 Read Multiple Commands (C4h)......................................................................................... 214

Table 162 Read Multiple Ext Command (29h) .................................................................................... 215

Table 163 Read Native Max ADDRESS (F8h) .................................................................................... 216

Table 164 Read Native Max Address Ext (27h) .................................................................................. 217

Table 165 Read Sector(s) Command (20h/21h) ................................................................................... 218

Table 166 Read Sector(s) Ext Command (24h).................................................................................... 219

Table 167 Read Verify Sector(s) Command (40h/41h) ........................................................................ 220

Table 168 Read Verify Sector(s) Ext Command (42h) ........................................................................ 221

Table 169 Recalibrate Command (1xh) ................................................................................................ 222

Table 170 RECEIVE FPDMA QUEUED ............................................................................................. 223

Table 171 RECEIVE FPDMA QUEUED subcommands .................................................................... 223

Table 172 NCQ Command Acceptance Normal Output ..................................................................... 223

Table 173 NCQ Normal Output ........................................................................................................... 224

Table 174 NCQ Command Acceptance Error ...................................................................................... 224

Table 175 NCQ Write Command Aborted Error ................................................................................. 225

Table 176 Request Sense Data Ext command (0Bh) .......................................................................... 226

Table 177 Crypto Scramble Ext Command (B4h/0011h) (data encryption model only) .................. 228

Table 178 Overwrite Ext Command (B4h/0014h) ............................................................................... 231

Table 179 Sanitize Freeze Lock Ext Command (B4h/0020h) ............................................................. 232

Table 180 Sanitize Status Ext Command (B4h/0000h) ...................................................................... 233

Table 181 Security Disable Password Command (F6h) ..................................................................... 234

Table 182 Password Information for Security Disable Password command .................................... 234

Table 183 Security Erase Prepare Command (F3h) ........................................................................... 235

Table 184 Security Erase Unit Command (F4h) ................................................................................. 236

Table 185 Erase Unit Information ....................................................................................................... 236

Table 186 Security Freeze Lock Command (F5h) ............................................................................... 238

Table 187 Security Set Password Command (F1h)............................................................................. 239

Table 188 Security Set Password Information .................................................................................... 239

Table 189 Security Unlock Command (F2h) ....................................................................................... 241

Table 190 Security Unlock Information............................................................................................... 241

Table 191 Seek Command (7xh) ........................................................................................................... 242

Table 192 SEND FPDMA QUEUED .................................................................................................... 243

Table 193 Sense Condition command (F0h) ........................................................................................ 244

Table 194 Set Features Command (EFh) ............................................................................................ 245

Table 195 Restore Power Condition Settings subcommand ............................................................... 248

Table 196 Go To Power Condition subcommand ................................................................................. 250

Table 197 Set Power Condition Timer subcommand .......................................................................... 251

Table 198 Set Power Condition State subcommand ........................................................................... 253

Table 199 Enable the EPC feature subcommand ............................................................................... 254

Table 200 Disable the EPC feature subcommand ............................................................................... 255

Table 201 Set Max ADDRESS (F9h) .................................................................................................... 256

Table 202 Set Max set Password .......................................................................................................... 258

Table 203 Set Max Set Password data contents ................................................................................. 258

Table 204 Set Max Lock ........................................................................................................................ 259

Table 205 Set Max Unlock (F9h) .......................................................................................................... 260

Table 206 Set Max Freeze Lock (F9h) ................................................................................................. 261

Table 207 Set Max Address Ext Command (37h) ............................................................................... 262

Table 208 Set Multiple Mode Commands (C6h) ................................................................................. 264

Table 209 Sleep Command (E6h/99h) .................................................................................................. 265

Table 210 SMART Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave (B0h-D2h) ................................................... 267

Table 211 SMART Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave (B0h-D4h) ................................................... 268

Table 212 SMART Read Log Sector (B0h-D5h) .................................................................................. 270

Table 213 Log sector addresses ............................................................................................................ 271

12

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Table 214 SMART Write Log (B0h-D6h) ............................................................................................. 272

Table 215 SMART Enable Operations (B0h-D8h) .............................................................................. 273

Table 216 SMART RETURN STATUS command (B0h-DAh) ............................................................ 274

Table 217 Device Attribute Data Structure ........................................................................................ 276

Table 218 Individual Attribute Data Structure .................................................................................. 277

Table 219 Device Attribute Thresholds Data Structure ..................................................................... 281

Table 220 Individual Threshold Data Structure ................................................................................. 281

Table 221 SMART Log Directory ......................................................................................................... 282

Table 222 SMART summary error log sector ...................................................................................... 282

Table 223 Error log data structure ...................................................................................................... 283

Table 224 Command data structure .................................................................................................... 283

Table 225 Error data structure ............................................................................................................ 283

Table 226 Self-test log data structure .................................................................................................. 284

Table 227 Selective self-test log data structure .................................................................................. 285

Table 228 Selective self-test feature flags ........................................................................................... 285

Table 229 SMART Error Codes ............................................................................................................ 286

Table 230 Standby Command (E2h/96h) ............................................................................................. 287

Table 231 Standby Immediate Command (E0h/94h) .......................................................................... 288

Table 232 Write Buffer Command (E8h) ............................................................................................. 289

Table 233 Write Buffer DMA Command (EBh) .................................................................................. 290

Table 234 Write DMA Command (CAh/CBh) ...................................................................................... 291

Table 235 Write DMA FUA Ext Command (3Dh) .............................................................................. 292

Table 236 Write DMA Ext Command (35h) ........................................................................................ 294

Table 237 Write FPDMA Queued Command (61h) ............................................................................ 295

Table 238 Write Log Ext Command (3Fh) ........................................................................................... 297

Table 239 Write Log DMA Ext Command (57h).................................................................................. 299

Table 240 Write Multiple Command (C5h) ......................................................................................... 300

Table 241 Write Multiple Ext Command (39h) ................................................................................... 301

Table 242 Write Multiple FUA Ext Command (CEh) ......................................................................... 302

Table 243 Write Sector(s) Command (30h/31h) .................................................................................. 303

Table 244 Write Sector(s) Ext Command (34h) ................................................................................... 304

Table 245 Write Uncorrectable Ext Command (45h) .......................................................................... 305

Table 246 Zone management commands ............................................................................................. 306

Table 247 ZAC Management In command template inputs .............................................................. 307

Table 248 ZM_ACTION field ................................................................................................................ 307

Table 249 RECEIVE FPDMA QUEUED command encapsulation for the inputs used by the ZAC

Management In command ................................................................................................... 308

Table 250 ZAC MANAGEMENT OUT command template inputs ................................................... 308

Table 251 NCQ NON-DATA command encapsulation for the inputs used by the ZAC Management

Out command ....................................................................................................................... 309

Table 252 SEND FPDMA QUEUED command encapsulation for the inputs used by the ZAC

Management Out command ................................................................................................ 309

Table 253 CLOSE ZONE EXT command inputs ................................................................................. 310

Table 254 FINISH ZONE EXT command inputs ................................................................................. 311

Table 255 OPEN ZONE EXT command inputs ................................................................................... 312

Table 256 REPORT ZONES EXT command inputs............................................................................ 313

Table 257 REPORTING OPTIONS field ............................................................................................. 314

Table 258 REPORT ZONES EXT inputs ............................................................................................. 314

Table 259 SAME field ........................................................................................................................... 315

Table 260 Zone descriptor format ........................................................................................................ 316

Table 261 ZONE TYPE field ................................................................................................................. 316

Table 262 ZONE CONDITION field .................................................................................................... 317

Table 263 RESET WRITE POINTERS EXT command inputs .......................................................... 318

Table 264 Generic ZAC Extended Normal Output ............................................................................. 319

13

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Table 265 Generic ZAC Extended Error Output ................................................................................. 320

Table 266 Sense key / code / qualifier .................................................................................................. 321

14

Hard Disk Drive Specification

List of figures

Figure 1 Logical Layout example: Number of Block per Sector 4096 ................................................. 24

Figure 2 PList physical format ............................................................................................................... 28

Figure 3 Connector location.................................................................................................................... 29

Figure 4 The timing of COMRESET, COMINIT and COMWAKE ...................................................... 31

Figure 5 Limits of temperature and altitude ........................................................................................ 32

Figure 6 Limits of temperature and humidity ...................................................................................... 33

Figure 7 Top and side views and mechanical dimensions .................................................................... 38

Figure 8 Bottom and side views with mounting hole locations ........................................................... 39

Figure 9 Connector locations .................................................................................................................. 40

Figure 10 Initial Setting ......................................................................................................................... 70

Figure 11 Usual Operation ..................................................................................................................... 71

Figure 12 Password Lost ........................................................................................................................ 72

Figure 13 Sanitize Device state machines ........................................................................................... 111

Figure 14 Zones in a zoned device ........................................................................................................ 113

Figure 15 Write pointer zone and write pointer after Reset Write Pointer function with no

subsequent writes ................................................................................................................. 116

Figure 16 Write pointer zone and write pointer example ................................................................... 117

Figure 17 Examples of write commands that do not start at the write pointer ................................ 117

Figure 18 Zone Condition state machine ............................................................................................. 122

15

Hard Disk Drive Specification

1 General

Capacity

Type

SMR

Interface

Model#

Description

14TB

US7SAM140

Host

Managed

Serial ATA

512 Emulation

HSH721414ALE6M0

Instant Secure Erase

HSH721414ALE6M4

Secure Erase (Overwrite only)

Serial ATA

4K Native

HSH721414ALN6M0

Instant Secure Erase

HSH721414ALN6M4

Secure Erase (Overwrite only)

Capacity

Type

SMR

Interface

Model#

Description

15TB

US7SAM150

Host

Managed

Serial ATA

512 Emulation

HSH721415ALE6M0

Instant Secure Erase

HSH721415ALE6M4

Secure Erase (Overwrite only)

Serial ATA

4K Native

HSH721415ALN6M0

Instant Secure Erase

HSH721415ALN6M4

Secure Erase (Overwrite only)

ADM

Automatic Drive Maintenance

DFT

Drive Fitness Test

ESD

Electrostatic Discharge

ISE

Instant Secure Erase

TB

1,000,000,000,000 bytes (for Drive Capacity)

GB

1,000,000,000 bytes(for Drive Capacity)

Gbps

1,000,000,000 bits per second

Kbpi

1,000 bits per inch

Ktpi

1,000 tracks per inch

MB

1,048,576 bytes (for Memory Size)

MB/s

1,000,000 bytes per second

Mbps

1,000,000 bits per second

MiB/s

1,048,576 bytes per second

MiB

1,048,576 bytes (1x1024x1024 bytes)

PI

Protection Information

PSID

Physical presence Security ID

S.M.A.R.T.

Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology

SE

Secure Erase

Introduction

This document describes the specifications of the Ultrastar DC HC620 a Western Digital 3.5-inch 7200-rpm serial
ATA /Serial Attached SCSI interface hard disk drive with the following model numbers:

Table 1 Type and Model#

(14TB)

(15TB)

Glossary

16

Hard Disk Drive Specification

General caution

Do not apply force to the top cover. Handle the drive by its edges or frame only.
Do not touch the interface connector pins or the surface of the print circuit board.
The drive can be damaged by shock or ESD (Electrostatic Discharge). Any damage sustained by the drive after

removal from the shipping package and opening the ESD protective bag are the responsibility of the user.

References

・ Serial ATA II: Extensions to Serial ATA 1.0
・ Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.2
・ Supported ZAC revision 05 (T13/BSR INCITS 537 Revision 05)

17

Hard Disk Drive Specification

2 General features

 Host Managed SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording)
 Data capacities of 14TB/15TB
 Spindle speeds of 7200 RPM
 Fluid Dynamic Bearing motor
 Dual Stage Actuator
 Closed-loop actuator servo
 Load/Unload mechanism, non head disk contact start/stop
 Automatic Actuator lock
 Write Cache
 Power saving modes/Low RPM idle mode (APM)
 S.M.A.R.T. (Self Monitoring and Analysis Reporting Technology)
 Adaptive zone formatting
 RVS(Rotational Vibration Safeguard)
 512MB Memory
 Seek time of 7.7 ms in read operation (without Command Overhead)
 Conventional Zone 1% of Total Capacity
 256MiB zone size (Conventional/Sequential Write required)
 UnRestricted Sequential Write Required Zone default setting to be 1
 Intelligent Write Verify for SMR Technology
 Segmented buffer implementation
 Automatic Error Recovery procedures for read and write commands
 Automatic defect reallocation
 Sector format of 512e bytes/sector, 4096 bytes/sector
 Native command queuing support
 Self Diagnostics at Power on and resident diagnostics
 Serial ATA Data Transfer 6/3/1.5Gbps
 Support security feature
 48 bit addressing feature
 SATA-3.2 compliant
 SATA Pin3 Power Disable (Option)
 Supported ZAC revision 05 (T13/BSR INCITS 537 Revision 05)

18

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Part 1. Functional specification

19

Hard Disk Drive Specification

3 Fixed disk subsystem description

Control Electronics

The drive is electronically controlled by a microprocessor, several logic modules, digital/analog modules, and
various drivers and receivers. The control electronics performs the following major functions:

 Controls and interprets all interface signals between the host controller and the drive.
 Controls read write accessing of the disk media, including defect management and error recovery.
 Controls starting, stopping, and monitoring of the spindle.
 Conducts a power-up sequence and calibrates the servo.
 Analyzes servo signals to provide closed loop control. These include position error signal and estimated

velocity.

 Monitors the actuator position and determines the target track for a seek operation.
 Controls the voice coil motor driver to align the actuator in a desired position.
 Constantly monitors error conditions of the servo and takes corresponding action if an error occurs.
 Monitors various timers such as head settle and servo failure.
 Performs self-checkout (diagnostics).

Head disk assembly

The head disk assembly (HDA) is assembled in a clean room environment and contains the disks and actuator
assembly. Helium is constantly circulated and filtered when the drive is operational. No venting of the HDA is
accomplished, as HDA is hermetically sealed.

The spindle is driven directly by an in-hub, brushless, sensor less DC drive motor. Dynamic braking is used to
quickly stop the spindle.

Actuator

The read/write heads are mounted in the actuator. The actuator is a swing-arm assembly driven by a voice coil
motor. A closed-loop positioning servo controls the movement of the actuator. An embedded servo pattern
supplies feedback to the positioning servo to keep the read/write heads centered over the desired track.

The actuator assembly is balanced to allow vertical or horizontal mounting without adjustment.
When the drive is powered off, the actuator automatically moves the head to the actuator ramp outside of the disk

where it parks.

20

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Description

14TB model

Physical Layout

Label capacity

14TB

14TB

Bytes per Sector

4096

4096

Number of Heads

16

16

Number of Disks

8

8

Logical Layout1

Bytes per Sector

512e

4096

Number of Sectors

27,344,764,928

3,418,095,616

Total Logical Data Bytes

14,000,519,643,136

14,000,519,643,136

Description

15TB model

Physical Layout

Label capacity

15TB

15TB

Bytes per Sector

4096

4096

Number of Heads

16

16

Number of Disks

8

8

Logical Layout1

Bytes per Sector

512e

4096

Number of Sectors

29,297,213,440

3,662,151,680

Total Logical Data Bytes

15,000,173,281,280

15,000,173,281,280

4 Drive characteristics

This section describes the characteristics of the drive.

Default logical drive parameters

Table 2 Formatted capacity

The default of the logical drive parameters in Identify Device data is as shown below.

(14TB)

(15TB)

Notes:

1

Logical layout: Logical layout is an imaginary drive parameter (that is, the number of heads) which is used to
access the drive from the system interface. The Logical layout to Physical layout (that is, the actual Head and
Sectors) translation is done automatically in the drive. The default setting can be obtained by issuing an
IDENTIFY DEVICE command

21

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Description

14TB Model

15TB Model

Max Data transfer rate (Mbps)

2290

2450

Interface transfer rate (MB/s)

600

600

MAX Sustained transfer rate (Typ.)
Read/Write (MB/s) *1

233 / 233

247 / 247

Memory size (MB)

512

512

Rotational speed (RPM)

7,200

7,200

Configurable number of buffer segment Number

2048max

2048max

Recording density- max (Kbpi)

1916

2052

Track density (Ktpi)

540

540

Areal density - max (Gbits/in2)

1034

1108

Description

WWN

Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI)

000CCAh (for Western Digital)

Block Assignment

25Bh, 274h (Thailand)

Data sheet

Table 3 Data Sheet

*1 Sequential Write Required Zone

World Wide Name Assignment

Table 4 World Wide Name Assignment

22

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Description

14TB model

Logical Layout

Bytes per Sector

512e

4096

Number of Conventional Zone

524

524

Start LBA 0 0

End LBA

274,726,911

34,340,863

Number of Sequential write
required zone

51,632

51,632

Start LBA

274,726,912

34,340,864

End LBA

27,344,764,927

3,418,095,615

Number of Sectors

27,344,764,928

3,418,095,616

Description

15TB model

Logical Layout

Bytes per Sector

512e

4096

Number of Conventional Zone

524

524

Start LBA 0 0

End LBA

274,726,911

34,340,863

Number of Sequential write
required zone

55,356

55,356

Start LBA

274,726,912

34,340,864

End LBA

29,297,213,439

3,662,151,679

Number of Sectors

29,297,213,440

3,662,151,680

Drive organization

Drive Format

Upon shipment from Western Digital manufacturing the drive satisfies the sector continuity in the physical format
by means of the defect flagging strategy described in Section 5 in order to provide the maximum performance to
users.

Cylinder allocation

Physical cylinder is calculated from the starting data track of 0. It is not relevant to logical CHS. Depending on the
capacity some of the inner zone cylinders are not allocated.

Data cylinder
This cylinder contains the user data which can be sent and retrieved via read/write commands and a spare area
for reassigned data.

Spare cylinder
The spare cylinder is used by Western Digital manufacturing and includes data sent from a defect location.

Zone Layout

The LBAs are divided into ranges called zones.
The entire capacity of a zoned block device is organized into a set of contiguous, non-overlapping zones.

Zone size 256MiB
Conventional Zone 1% of Total Capacity
Sequential write required zone 99% of Total Capacity

Table 5 Zone Layout

(14TB)

(15TB)

23

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Zone 0

Zone 1

Zone 2

…

Zone 523

Zone 524

Zone 525

Zone 526

…

Zone
14TB: 52155
15TB: 55879

Conventional zone
↓ LBA 0 LBA 34,340,863↓

Sequential write required zone
↓ LBA 34,340,864 LBA

14TB: 3,418,095,615
15TB: 3,662,151,679↓

Figure 1 Logical Layout example: Number of Block per Sector 4096

24

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command type
(Drive is in quiescent state)

Typical time (ms)

Read (Cache not hit)

0.2

Read (Cache hit)

0.2

Write

0.5

Seek

0.5

Performance characteristics

Drive performance is characterized by the following parameters:

 Command overhead
 Mechanical positioning

- Seek time

- Latency

 Data transfer speed
 Buffering operation (Look ahead/Write cache)

All the above parameters contribute to drive performance. There are other parameters that contribute to the
performance of the actual system. This specification defines the characteristics of the drive, not the
characteristics of the system throughput which depends on the system and the application.

Command overhead

Command overhead is defined as the time required
From the time
H->D Reg FIS w/ command bit is sent by host

is sent by host

To the time

- PIO Set Up FIS is sent by device (PIO Read/Write)

- DATA FIS is sent by device (DMA Read)

- DMA Activate FIS is sent by device (DMA Write)

- DMA Set Up FIS is sent by device (NCQ Read/Write)

- Seek Start (Read cache not hit or Seek)

The table below gives average command overhead.

Table 6 Command overhead

25

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command Type

Typical (ms)

Max (ms)

Read

7.7

10.0

Write

12.0

14.5

Function

Typical (ms)

Max (ms)

Read

0.23

0.25

Write

0.32

0.35

Rotational speed

Time for a revolution

(ms)

Average latency

(ms)

7200 RPM

8.3

4.16

Power on to ready

Typical (sec)

Max (sec)

23

30

Ready

The condition in which the drive is able to perform a media access command (such as read,
write) immediately

Power on

This includes the time required for the internal self diagnostics.

Mechanical positioning

Average seek time (without command overhead, including settling)

Table 7 Average seek time

The terms “Typical” and “Max” are used throughout this specification with the following meanings:

Typical. The average of the drive population tested at nominal environmental and voltage conditions.
Max. The maximum value measured on any one drive over the full range of the environmental and voltage

conditions. (See Section 6.2, “Environment” and Section 6.3, “DC Power Requirements”)

Single track seek time (without command overhead, including

settling)

Table 8 Single Track Seek Time

Average latency

Table 9 Latency Time

Drive ready time

Table 10 Drive ready time

Notes: The typical and maximum drive ready time in the table are for proper power shutdown using the Required
Power-Off Sequence. In the event of an EPO (Emergency Power Off), the drive ready times in the table can be
exceeded by as much as 4-12 seconds or more. The additional time is used to condition the drive for user data
access. The actual time may vary depending on the drive pre-condition before the EPO event.

26

Hard Disk Drive Specification

From

To

RPM

Typical (sec)

Idle_B

Active

7200

1.5

Idle_C

Active

6300 -> 7200

4

Standby_Y

Active

6300 -> 7200

4

Standby_Z

Active

0 > 7200

15

Operating modes

Operating mode descriptions

Operating mode Description

Spin up Period of time from 0 rpm to full rpm
Start up Period of time from power on to drive ready
Seek Seek operation mode
Write Write operation mode
Read Read operation mode
Active Drive is able to perform a media access command (such as read, write) immediately
Idle_0 Drive Ready, but not performing IO, drive may power down selected electronics to

reduce power without increasing response time

Idle_A Drive Ready, but not performing IO, drive may power down selected electronics to

reduce power without increasing response time

Idle_B Spindle rotation at 7200 RPM with heads unloaded
Idle_C/Standby_Y Spindle rotation at Low RPM with heads unloaded
Standby_Z Actuator is unloaded and spindle motor is stopped. Commands can be received

immediately

Sleep Actuator is unloaded and spindle motor is stopped. Only soft reset or hard reset can

change the mode to standby_z

Note: Upon power down or spindle stop a head locking mechanism will secure the heads in the OD parking
position.

Mode transition times

Mode transition times are shown below.

Table 11 Mode transition times

Note: Maximum transition time of 30 Seconds based on drive timeout value

27

Hard Disk Drive Specification

N N+1 N+2 N+3

defect defect

skip

skip

5 Defect flagging strategy

Media defects are remapped to the next available sector during the Format Process in manufacturing. The
mapping from LBA to the physical locations is calculated by an internally maintained table.

Shipped format

 Data areas are optimally used.
 No extra sector is wasted as a spare throughout user data areas.
 All pushes generated by defects are absorbed by the spare tracks.

Figure 2 PList physical format

Defects are skipped without any constraint, such as track or cylinder boundary. The calculation from LBA to
physical is done automatically by internal table.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

28

6 Specification

Electrical interface

Connector location

Refer to the following illustration to see the location of the connectors.

Figure 3 Connector location

Signal connector

A Serial ATA device may be either directly connected to a host or connected to a host through a cable.
For direct connection, the device plug connector is inserted directly into a backplane connector. The device plug

connector and the backplane connector incorporate features that enable the direct connection to be hot pluggable
and blind mateable.

For connection via cable, the device signal plug connector mates with the signal cable receptacle connector on one
end of the cable. The signal cable receptacle connector on the other end of the cable is inserted into a host signal
plug connector. The signal cable wire consists of two twinax sections in a common outer sheath.

Besides the signal cable, there is also a separate power cable for the cabled connection. A Serial ATA power cable
includes a power cable receptacle connector on one end and may be directly connected to the host power supply
on the other end or may include a power cable receptacle on the other end. The power cable receptacle connector
on one end of the power cable mates with the device power plug connector. The other end of the power cable is
attached to the host as necessary.

29

Hard Disk Drive Specification

No. Plug Connector pin definition

Signal

I/O

S1

GND

2nd mate

Gnd

S2

A+

Differential signal A from Phy

RX+

Input S3

A- RX-

Input

Signal

S4

Gnd

2nd mate

Gnd

S5

B-

Differential signal B from Phy

TX-

Output

S6

B+ TX+

Output

S7

Gnd

2nd mate

Gnd

Key and spacing separate signal and power

segments

P1

Reserved*

NOT USED (P1 and P2 tied internally)

Reserve

P2

Reserved*

Not USED (P1 and P2 tied internally)

Reserve

P3

Reserved* or
PWDIS*
(option)

Not USED (P1, P2 and P3 tied internally) or

Enter/Exit Power Disable (option)

Reserved or

PWDIS

P4

Gnd

1st mate

Gnd

P5

Gnd

2nd mate

Gnd

P6

Gnd

2nd mate

Gnd

P7

V5

5V power,pre-charge,2nd Mate

5V

P8

V5

5V power

5V

Power

P9

V5

5V power

5V

P10

Gnd

2nd mate

Gnd

P11

Reserved

Support staggered spin-up and LED activity

VDih max=2.1V

Reserve

P12

Gnd

1st mate

Gnd

P13

V12

12V power,pre-chage,2nd mate

V12

P14

V12

12V power

V12

P15

V12

12V power

V12

Signal definition

SATA has receivers and drivers to be connected to Tx+/- and Rx +/- Serial data signal.
Defines the signal names of I/O connector pin and signal name.

Table 12 Interface connector pins and I/O signals

* SATA Specification Revision 3.1 and prior revisions assigned 3.3V to pins P1, P2 and P3. In addition, device
plug pins P1, P2, and P3 were required to be bused together. In the standard configuration of this product,
P3 is connected with P1 and P2 and this product behaves as SATA 3.1 or prior version product in a system
designed to SATA 3.2 system that does not support the 3.3 feature. For product with the optional SATA 3.3
Power Disable Feature supported, P3 is now assigned as the POWER DISABLE CONTROL PIN. If P3 is driven
HIGH (2.1V-3.6V max), power to the drive circuitry will be disabled. Drives with this optional feature WILL NOT
POWER UP in systems designed to SATA Spec Revision 3.1 or earlier because P3 driven HIGH will prevent the
drive from powering up.

TX+ / TX-

These signals are the outbound high-speed differential signals that are connected to the serial ATA cable

RX+ / RX-

These signals are the inbound high-speed differential signals that are connected to the serial ATA cable.

5V PRECHARGE

+5 Vdc that is available on the extended pins. It is used for PRECHARGE when connected to backplane
incorporated feature.

30

Hard Disk Drive Specification

PARAMETER DESCRIPTION

Nominal (ns)

t1

ALIGN primitives

106.7

t2

Spacing

320

t3

ALIGN primitives

106.7

t4

Spacing

106.7

COMRESET/COMINIT

t1

t2

t3

t4

COMWAKE

12V PRECHARGE

+12 Vdc that is available on the extended pins. It is used for PRECHARGE when connected to backplane
incorporated feature.

Out of band signaling

Figure 4 The timing of COMRESET, COMINIT and COMWAKE
Table 13 Parameter descriptions

Hard Disk Drive Specification

31

Operating conditions

Temperature
Relative humidity
Maximum wet bulb temperature
Maximum temperature gradient
Altitude

5 to 60°C
8 to 90% non-condensing

29.4°C non-condensing
20°C/Hour
–300 to 3,048 m

Non-Op conditions

Temperature
Relative humidity
Maximum wet bulb temperature

Maximum temperature gradient

Altitude

-40 to 70°C (Storage 0 to 70°C)
5 to 95% non-condensing
35°C non-condensing

30°C/Hour

–300 to 12,000 m (Inside dashed-dotted line of Figure 5)

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

11000

12000

13000

-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Altitude (m)

Temperature (degC)

Altitude specification

Non-Operating

-40degC/12000m 40degC/12000m

70degC/3048m

5degC/3048m

60degC/3048m

60degC/-300m

5degC/-300m

-40degC/-300m

70degC/-300m

Operating

Environment

Temperature and humidity

Table 14 Temperature and humidity

Notes:

1. The system is responsible for providing sufficient ventilation to maintain a surface temperature below 65°C at
the center of the top cover of the drive.

2. Non condensing conditions should be maintained at any time.

Figure 5 Limits of temperature and altitude

32

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Figure 6 Limits of temperature and humidity

Storage Requirements

Packing

The drive or option kit must be heat-sealed in a moisture barrier bag with bag supplied by Western Digital.

Storage Time

The drive may not remain inoperative for a period of more than one year whether or not the original shipping
package is opened.

Corrosion test

The drive shows no sign of corrosion inside and outside of the hard disk assembly and is functional after being
subjected to seven days at 50°C with 90% relative humidity.

Atmospheric condition

Environments that contain elevated levels of corrosives (e.g. hydrogen sulfide, sulfur oxides, or hydrochloric acid)
should be avoided. Care must be taken to avoid using any compound/material in a way that creates an elevated
level of corrosive materials in the atmosphere surrounding the disk drive. Care must also be taken to avoid use of
any organometallic (e.g. organosilicon or organotin) compound/material in a way that creates elevated vapor
levels of these compounds/materials in the atmosphere surrounding the disk drive.

33

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Input voltage

During run

and spin up

Absolute max

spike voltage

Supply rise

time

+5 Volts Supply

5V ± 5%

–0.3 to 5.5V

0 to 200ms

+12 Volts Supply

12V ± 5%

–0.3 to 15.0V

0 to 400ms

DC power requirements

Damage to the drive electronics may result if the power supply cable is connected or disconnected to the legacy
Power connector while power is being applied to the drive (no hot plug/unplug is allowed). If SATA power supply
cable is connected or disconnected to the SATA power connector, hot plug/unplug is allowed.

Input voltage

Table 15 Input voltage

Caution: To avoid damage to the drive electronics, power supply voltage spikes must not exceed specifications.

34

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Power supply current (typical

Table 16 Power supply current

1

)

35

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Noise Voltage (mV pp)

Frequency Range

+5V DC

250

100Hz-20MHz

+12V DC

800

100Hz-8KHz

450

8KHz-100KHz

250

100KHz-20MHz

Power Consumption

Efficiency at Idle

14TB

15TB

W/TB

0.37

0.35

W/GB

0.00037

0.00035

Power line noise limits

Table 17 Allowable power supply noise limits at drive power connector

During drive operation, both 5 and 12-volt ripple are generated by the drive due to dynamic loading of the power
supply. This voltage ripple will add to existing power supply voltage ripple. The sum is the power line noise.

To prevent significant performance loss, the power line noise level when measured at the drive power connector
should be kept below the limits in the above table.

Power Consumption Efficiency

Table 18 Power consumption efficiency

36

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Reliability

Data integrity

When the write cache option is disabled, no customer data is lost during power loss. If the write cache option is
active or has been recently used, some data loss can occur during power loss. To prevent the loss of data at
power off; confirm the successful completion of a FLUSH CACHE (E7h) or FLUSH CACHE EXT (EAh) command

Cable noise interference

To avoid any degradation of performance throughput or error rate when the interface cable is routed on top or
comes in contact with the HDA assembly, the drive must be grounded electrically to the system frame by four
screws. The common mode noise or voltage level difference between the system frame and power cable ground
or AT interface cable ground should be in the allowable level specified in the power requirement section.

Load/Unload

The product supports a minimum of 600,000 normal load/unloads in a 40° C environment.
Load/unload is invoked by transition of the HDD's power mode. (Chapter 4.5.4 Operating modes)

Idle (Idle_A) <-> unload idle (Idle_B)
Idle (Idle_A) <-> Low rpm idle (Idle_C)

Start/stop cycles

The drive withstands a minimum of 50,000 start/stop cycles in a 40° C environment and a minimum of 10,000
start/stop cycles in extreme temperature or humidity within the operating range.

Preventive maintenance

None

Data reliability

Probability of not recovering data is 1 in 1015 bits read.
LDPC on the fly/ offline data correction

 4608 bit LDPC
 This implementation recovers maximum 2500 bits single burst error by on the fly correction and maximum

3500 bits single burst error by offline correction

Required Power-Off Sequence

The required sequence for removing power from the drive is as follows:

Step 1: Issue one of the following commands.

Standby
Standby immediate
Sleep

Note: Do not use the Flush Cache command for the power off sequence because this command does not invoke
Unload

Step 2: Wait until the Command Complete status is returned. However, the BIOS time out value needs to be 60

seconds considering error recovery time.

Step 3: Terminate power to HDD.

37

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Mechanical specifications

Physical dimensions

Figure 7 Top and side views and mechanical dimensions

All dimensions are in millimeters.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

38

Height (mm)

Width (mm)

Length (mm)

Weight (grams)

26.1 MAX

101.6 ± 0.25

147 MAX

660 MAX

Figure 8 Bottom and side views with mounting hole locations

All dimensions in the above figure are in millimeters.
The following table shows the physical dimensions of the drive.

Table 19 Physical Dimensions

39

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Connector locations

Figure 9 Connector locations

Drive mounting

The drive will operate in all axes (6 directions). Performance and error rate will stay within specification limits if
the drive is operated in the other orientations from which it was formatted.

For reliable operation, the drive must be mounted in the system securely enough to prevent excessive motion or
vibration of the drive during seek operation or spindle rotation, using appropriate screws or equivalent mounting
hardware.

The recommended mounting screw torque is 0.6 - 1.0 Nm (6-10 Kgf.cm).
The recommended mounting screw depth is 3.8mm maximum for bottom and 6.1 mm maximum for horizontal

mounting.
Drive level vibration test and shock test are to be conducted with the drive mounted to the table using the bottom

four screws.

Heads unload and actuator lock

Heads are moved out from disks (unload) to protect the disk data during shipping, moving, or storage. Upon
power down, the heads are automatically unloaded from disk area and the locking mechanism of the head
actuator will secure the heads in unload position.

40

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Frequency

5 Hz

17 Hz

45 Hz

48 Hz

62 Hz

65 Hz

150 Hz

200 Hz

500 Hz

RMS

(m/sec2)

[(m/sec2)2/Hz]

1.9 x

10E–3

1.1 x

10E–1

1.1 x

10E–1

7.7 x

10E–1

7.7 x

10E–1

9.6 x

10E–2

9.6 x

10E–2

4.8 x

10E–2

4.8

x10E-2

6.57

Frequency

20 Hz

100 Hz

200 Hz

800 Hz

1000 Hz

1500 Hz

1700 Hz

2000 Hz

RMS

(Rad/s2)

[(Rad/s2)

2

/Hz]

1.90E-02

1.90E-02

1.87E-01

1.87E-01

5.33E-02

7.70E-03

4.00E-03

4.00E-03

12.5

Vibration and shock

All vibration and shock measurements recorded in this section are made with a drive that has no mounting
attachments for the systems. The input power for the measurements is applied to the normal drive mounting
points.

Operating vibration

Random vibration (Linear)

The test is 30 minutes of random vibration using the power spectral density (PSD) levels shown below in each of
three mutually perpendicular axes. The disk drive will operate without non-recoverable errors when subjected to
the below random vibration levels.

Table 20 Random vibration PSD profile break points (operating)

The overall RMS (root mean square) level is 6.57 m/sec2 (0.67 G).

Swept sine vibration (Linear)

The drive will meet the criteria shown below while operating in the specified conditions:
 No errors occur with 4.9 m/sec2 (0.5 G) 0 to peak, 5 to 300 to 5 Hz sine wave, 0.5 oct/min sweep rate with 3-

minute dwells at two major resonances

 No data loss occurs with 9.8 m/sec2 (1 G) 0 to peak, 5 to 300 to 5 Hz sine wave, 0.5 oct/min sweep rate with

3-minute dwells at two major resonances

Random vibration (Rotational)

The drive will meet the criteria shown below while operating in the specified conditions:

 Less than 20% Performance degradation
 The overall RMS (Root Mean Square) level of vibration is 12.5Rad/sec^2. PSD profile is shown below.

Table 21 Random vibration (Rotational) PSD profile break points

41

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Frequency

2 Hz

4 Hz

8 Hz

40 Hz

55 Hz

70 Hz

200 Hz

[(m/sec2)2/Hz]

0.096

2.89

2.89

0.289

0.962

0.962

0.096

Nonoperating vibration

The drive does not sustain permanent damage or loss of previously recorded data after being subjected to the
environment described below

Random vibration

The test consists of a random vibration applied for each of three mutually perpendicular axes with the time
duration of 10 minutes per axis. The PSD levels for the test simulate the shipping and relocation environment
shown below. The overall RMS (Root Mean Square) level of vibration is 10.2 m/sec2 (1.04 G).

Table 22 Random vibration PSD profile break points (nonoperating)

Swept sine vibration

 19.6 m/sec2 (2 G) (Zero to peak), 5 to 500 to 5 Hz sine wave
 0.5 oct/min sweep rate
 3 minutes dwell at two major resonances

Operating shock

The drive meets the following criteria while operating in the conditions described below. The shock test consists
of 10 shock inputs in each axis and direction for total of 60. There must be a delay between shock pulses long
enough to allow the drive to complete all necessary error recovery procedures.

 No error occurs with a 98.1 m/sec2 (10 G) half-sine shock pulse of 11 ms duration.
 No data loss occurs with a 294 m/sec2 (30 G) half-sine shock pulse of 4 ms duration.
 No data loss occurs with a 686 m/sec2 (70 G) half-sine shock pulse of 2 ms duration.

Nonoperating shock

The drive will operate without non-recoverable errors after being subjected to shock pulses with the following
characteristics.

Trapezoidal shock wave

 Approximate square (trapezoidal) pulse shape
 Approximate rise and fall time of pulse is1 ms
 Average acceleration level is 490 m/sec2 (50 G). (Average response curve value during the time following the

1 ms rise time and before the 1 ms fall with a time "duration of 11 ms")

 Minimum velocity change is 4.23 m/sec

42

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Acceleration level (m/sec2)

Duration (ms)

2940(300G)

2

1470(150G)

11

Duration

Rad/sec2

1 ms

30,000

2 ms

20,000

Sinusoidal shock wave

The shape is approximately half-sine pulse. The figure below shows the maximum acceleration level and
duration.

Table 23 Sinusoidal shock wave

Nonoperating Rotational shock

All shock inputs shall be applied around the actuator pivot axis.

Table 24 Rotational Shock

43

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Mode

7200rpm (Typical / Max)

Idle

2.0 / 2.5

Operating

3.6 / 4.0

Idle mode.

The drive is powered on, disks spinning, track following, unit ready to receive and
respond to interface commands.

Operating mode.

Continuous random cylinder selection and seek operation of the actuator with a dwell
time at each cylinder. The seek rate for the drive is to be calculated as shown below:

Acoustics

The upper limit criteria of the octave sound power levels are given in Bels relative to one picowatt and are shown
in the following table. The sound power emission levels are measured in accordance with ISO 7779.

Table 25 Sound power levels

Mode definition:

 Dwell time = 0.5 x 60/RPM
 Seek rate = 0.4 / (Average seek time + Dwell time)

Identification labels

The following labels are affixed to every drive shipped from the drive manufacturing location in accordance with
the appropriate hard disk drive assembly drawing:

 A label containing either the Western Digital logo or the HGST logo, and the part number (P/N).
 A label containing the drive model number, the manufacturing date code, the formatted capacity, the country of

manufacture, UL/CSA/TUV/CE/RCM mark logos and WEEE/China RoHS logos

 A label containing either the Western Digital logo or the HGST logo, the part number (P/N), the drive model

number, the manufacturing date code, the formatted capacity, the country of manufacture,
UL/CSA/TUV/CE/RCM mark logos and WEEE/China RoHS logos

 A bar code label containing the drive serial number
 A label containing the jumper pin description
 A user designed label per agreement

The above labels may be integrated with other labels.

44

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Safety

UL and CSA standard conformity

The product is qualified per UL60950-1：Second Edition and CAN/CSA-C22.2 No.60950-1-07 Second Edition,
for use in Information Technology Equipment including Electric Business Equipment.

The UL recognition or the CSA certification is maintained for the product life.
The UL and C-UL recognition mark or the CSA monogram for CSA certification appear on the drive.

German Safety Mark

The product is approved by TUV on Test requirement: EN60950-1：2006+A11 but the GS mark is not applicable
to internal devices such as this product.

Flammability

The printed circuit boards used in this product are made of material with the UL recognized flammability rating of
V-1 or better. The flammability rating is marked or etched on the board. All other parts not considered electrical
components are made of material with the UL recognized flammability rating of V-2 minimum basically.

Safe handling

The product is conditioned for safe handling in regards to sharp edges and corners.

Substance restriction requirements

The product complies with the Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament on the restrictions of the use of
the certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) and with Halogen free
requirements based on the electronics industry standard, IEC 61249-2-21 (http://www.iec.ch/).

Secondary circuit protection

Spindle/VCM driver module includes 12 V over current protection circuit.

45

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Electromagnetic compatibility

When installed in a suitable enclosure and exercised with a random accessing routine at maximum data rate, the
drive meets the following worldwide EMC requirements:

 United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rules and Regulations (Class B), Part 15.
 European Economic Community (EEC) directive number 76/889 related to the control of radio frequency

interference and the Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE) requirements of Germany (GOP).Spectrum
Management Agency (SMA) EMC requirements of Australia. The SMA has approved RCM Marking for
Western Digital Japan.

CE Mark

The product is declared to be in conformity with requirements of the following EC directives under the sole
responsibility of Western Digital Japan, Ltd:

Council Directive 2014/30/EU on the approximation of laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic
compatibility.

RCM Mark

The product complies with the following Australian EMC standard:
Limits and methods of measurement of radio disturbance characteristics of information technology, EN55032 :

2015 Class B.

BSMI Mark

The product complies with the Taiwan EMC standard “Limits and methods of measurement of radio disturbance

characteristics of information technology equipment, CNS 13438 Class B.”

KC Mark

The product complies with the Korea EMC standard. The regulation for certification of information and

communication equipment is based on “Telecommunications Basic Act” and “Radio Waves Act” Korea EMC

requirement are based technically on KN32/KN35 measurement standards and limits. KC standards are
likewise based on IEC standards.

46

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Part 2. Interface specification

47

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Device

Device indicates Leo-A
(Hs14 14TB/15TB) (Model Number: HSH721414ALx6xx / HSH721415ALx6xx)

Host

Host indicates the system that the device is attached to.

Check Power Mode

If the Extended Power Conditions feature set is disabled and the device is in
Idle mode, Check Power Mode command returns FFh by Sector Count
Register, instead of returning 80h. Refer to 12.1 “Check Power Mode” for
detail.

COMRESET

COMRESET response is not the same as that of Power On Reset. Refer to
section 10.1, “Reset Response” for detail.

Download

Both Download Microcode and Download Microcode DMA are aborted when
the device is in security locked mode.

COMRESET response time

During 500ms from Power On Reset, COMINIT is not returned within 10ms
as a response to COMRESET.

SCT Error Recovery Control

When the device is in standby mode, any command where error recovery

time limit is specified can’t be completed while waiting for the spindle to reach

operating speed even if execution time exceeds specified recovery time limit.
The minimum time limit is 6.5 second. When the specified time limit is shorter
than 6.5 second, the issued command is aborted.

7 General

Introduction

This specification describes the host interface of Leo-A(Hs14 14TB/15TB) (Model Number: HSH721414ALx6xx /
HSH721415ALx6xx) that supports Host Managed Zones feature set.

This product complies with di537r05: Zoned Device ATA Command Set (ZAC).
The interface conforms to the following working documents of Information technology with certain limitations

described in the chapter 7.3 “Deviations from Standard”.

- Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.2

Terminology

Deviations From Standard

The device conforms to the referenced specifications, with deviations described below.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

48

Alternate Status Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

BSY

RDY

DF

DSC

/SERV

DRQ

COR

IDX

ERR

8 Registers

In Serial ATA, the host adapter contains a set of registers that shadow the contents of the traditional device
registers, referred to as the Shadow Register Block. Shadow Register Block registers are interface registers
used for delivering commands to the device or posting status from the device. About details, please refer to the
Serial ATA Specification.

In the following cases, the host adapter sets the BSY bit in its shadow Status Register and transmits a FIS to the
device containing the new contents.

1) Command register is written in the Shadow Register Block

2) Device Control register is written in the Shadow Register Block with a change of state of the SRST bit

3) COMRESET is requested

Alternate Status Register

Table 26 Alternate Status Register

This register contains the same information as the Status Register. The only difference is that reading this register
does not imply interrupt acknowledge or clear a pending interrupt. See 8.11 “Status Register” on the page 53 for
the definition of the bits in this register.

Command register

This register contains the command code being sent to the device. Command execution begins immediately after
this register is written. The command set is shown in Table 86 Command Set.

All other registers required for the command must be set up before writing the Command Register.

Cylinder High Register

This register contains the high order bits of the starting cylinder address for any disk access. At the end of the
command, this register is updated to reflect the current cylinder number.

In LBA Mode this register contains Bits 16-23. At the end of the command, this register is updated to reflect the
current LBA Bits 16-23.

The cylinder number may be from zero to the number of cylinders minus one.
When 48-bit addressing commands are used, the “most recently written” content contains LBA Bits 16-23, and the

“previous content” contains Bits 40-47. The 48-bit Address feature set is described in 10.12.

49

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Device Control Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

HOB - - - 1

SRST

-IEN

0

Bit Definitions

HOB

HOB (high order byte) is defined by the 48-bit Address feature set. A write to any Command
Register shall clear the HOB bit to zero.

SRST (RST)

Software Reset. The device is held reset when RST=1. Setting RST=0 re-enables the device.
The host must set RST=1 and wait for at least 5 microseconds before setting RST=0, to ensure

that the device recognizes the reset.

-IEN

Interrupt Enable. When –IEN=0, and the device is selected, device interrupts to the host will be
enabled. When –IEN=1, or the device is not selected, device interrupts to the host will be
disabled.

Cylinder Low Register

This register contains the low order bits of the starting cylinder address for any disk access. At the end of the
command, this register is updated to reflect the current cylinder number.

In LBA Mode this register contains Bits 8-15. At the end of the command, this register is updated to reflect the
current LBA Bits 8-15.

The cylinder number may be from zero to the number of cylinders minus one.
When 48-bit addressing commands are used, the “most recently written” content contains LBA Bits 8-15, and the

“previous content” contains Bits 32-39.

Device Control Register

Table 27 Device Control Register

Hard Disk Drive Specification

50

Device/Head Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

1 L 1

DRV

HS3

HS2

HS1

HS0

Bit Definitions

L

Binary encoded address mode select. When L=0, addressing is by CHS mode. When L=1,
addressing is by LBA mode.

DRV

Device. This product ignores this bit.

HS3,HS2,HS1,HS0

Head Select. These four bits indicate binary encoded address of the head. HS0 is the least
significant bit. At command completion, these bits are updated to reflect the currently
selected head.

The head number may be from zero to the number of heads minus one.
In LBA mode, HS3 through HS0 contain bits 24-27 of the LBA. At command completion,

these bits are updated to reflect the current LBA bits 24-27.

Error Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

ICRCE

UNC

0

IDNF

0

ABRT

TK0NF

AMNF

Bit Definitions

ICRCE (CRC)

Interface CRC Error. ICRCE=1 indicates a CRC error occurred during FIS transmission or FIS
reception.

UNC

Uncorrectable Data Error. UNC=1 indicates an uncorrectable data error has been encountered.

IDNF (IDN)

ID Not Found. IDN=1 indicates the requested sector’s ID field could not be found.

ABRT (ABT)

Aborted Command. ABT=1 indicates the requested command has been aborted due to a device
status error or an invalid parameter in an output register.

TK0NF (T0N)

Track 0 Not Found. T0N=1 indicates track 0 was not found during a Recalibrate command.

AMNF (AMN)

Address Mark Not Found. This product does not report this error. This bit is always zero.

Device/Head Register

Table 28 Device/Head Register

This register contains the device and head numbers.

Error Register

Table 29 Error Register

This register contains status from the last command executed by the device, or a diagnostic code.
At the completion of any command except Execute Device Diagnostic, the contents of this register are valid always

even if ERR=0 in the Status Register.
Following a power on, a reset, or completion of an Execute Device Diagnostic command, this register contains a

diagnostic code.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

51

Features Register

This register is command specific. This is used with the Set Features command, SMART Function Set command
and Format Unit command.

Sector Count Register

This register contains the number of sectors of data requested to be transferred on a read or write operation
between the host and the device. If the value in the register is set to 0, a count of 256 sectors (in 28-bit addressing)
or 65,536 sectors (in 48-bit addressing) is specified.

If the register is zero at command completion, the command was successful. If not successfully completed, the
register contains the number of sectors which need to be transferred in order to complete the request.

The contents of the register are defined otherwise on some commands. These definitions are given in the command
descriptions.

Sector Number Register

This register contains the starting sector number for any disk data access for the subsequent command.
The sector number is from one to the maximum number of sectors per track.

In LBA mode, this register contains Bits 0-7. At the end of the command, this register is updated to reflect the
current LBA Bits 0-7.

When 48-bit commands are used, the “most recently written” content contains LBA Bits 0-7, and the “previous
content” contains Bits 24-31.

52

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Status Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

BSY

DRDY

DF

DSC

/SERV

DRQ

CORR

IDX

ERR

Bit Definitions

BSY

Busy. BSY=1 whenever the device is accessing the registers. The host should not read or write
any registers when BSY=1. If the host reads any register when BSY=1, the contents of the Status
Register will be returned.

DRDY (RDY)

Device Ready. RDY=1 indicates that the device is capable of responding to a command. RDY
will be set to 0 during power on until the device is ready to accept a command. If the device
detects an error while processing a command, RDY is set to 0 until the Status Register is read
by the host, at which time RDY is set back to 1.

DF

Device Fault. This product does not support DF bit. DF bit is always zero.

DSC

Device Seek Complete. DSC=1 indicates that a seek has completed and the device head is
settled over a track. DSC is set to 0 by the device just before a seek begins. When an error
occurs, this bit is not changed until the Status Register is read by the host, at which time the bit
again indicates the current seek complete status.

When the device enters into or is in Standby mode or Sleep mode, this bit is set by device in
spite of not spinning up.

SERV (SRV)

Service. This product does not support SERV bit.

DRQ

Data Request. DRQ=1 indicates that the device is ready to transfer a word or byte of data
between the host and the device. The host should not write the Command register when DRQ=1.

CORR (COR)

Corrected Data. Always 0.

IDX

Index. IDX=1 once per revolution. Since IDX=1 only for a very short time during each revolution,
the host may not see it set to 1 even if the host is reading the Status Register continuously.
Therefore, the host should not attempt to use IDX for timing purposes.

ERR

Error. ERR=1 indicates that an error occurred during execution of the previous command. The
Error Register should be read to determine the error type. The device sets ERR=0 when the next
command is received from the host.

Status Register

Table 30 Status Register

This register contains the device status. The contents of this register are updated whenever an error occurs and at
the completion of each command.

If the host reads this register when an interrupt is pending, it is considered to be the interrupt acknowledge. Any
pending interrupt is cleared whenever this register is read.

If BSY=1, no other bits in the register are valid.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

53

Bit

Name

Reference

7

BUSY bit

9.2.3

6

DEVICE READY bit

9.2.7

5

DEVICE FAULT bit

9.2.6

4

N/A

3 DATA REQUEST bit

9.2.5

2

ALIGNMENT ERROR bit

9.2.2

1

SENSE DATA AVAILABLE bit

9.2.9

0

CHECK CONDITION bit

9.2.4

ERROR bit

9.2.8

9 Normal and Error Output field descriptions

Overview

9 Normal and Error Output field descriptions describes requirements for all commands. Individual commands may
describe additional requirements.

The normal outputs (see ACS-4) and error outputs (see ACS-4) for each command include:

a) a one byte STATUS field (see 9.2);
b) a one byte ERROR field (see 9.3);
c) a one byte INTERRUPT REASON field (see 9.4), if required, for certain commands (e.g., PACKET, READ

DMA QUEUED, READ DMA QUEUED EXT, WRITE DMA QUEUED, and WRITE DMA QUEUED EXT);

d) a COUNT field (see 9.5), SATA STATUS field (see 9.7), and SACTIVE field (see 9.6), if required, for certain

commands (e.g., the READ FPDMA QUEUED command, Sanitize Device feature set commands, and

WRITE FPDMA QUEUED command); and
e) an LBA field that may contain the LBA of First Unrecoverable Error (see 9.8.2).
f) Device Signatures field for Normal Output (see 9.9).

Status field

Overview

The STATUS field is one byte and is conveyed as an output from the device to the host (see applicable transport
standard). Each bit, when valid, is defined in Table 31 STATUS field.

Table 31 STATUS field

54

Hard Disk Drive Specification

ALIGNMENT ERROR bit

The ALIGNMENT ERROR bit is set to one if:

a) the LOGICAL TO PHYSICAL SECTOR RELATIONSHIP SUPPORTED bit is set to one;
b) the LPS MISALIGNMENT REPORTING SUPPORTED bit is set to one;
c) the ALIGNMENT ERROR REPORTING field contains 01b or 10b; and
d) the device returns completion for a write command without an error where:

A) the first byte of data transfer does not begin at the first byte of a physical sector; or
B) the last byte of data transfer does not end at the last byte of a physical sector.

Otherwise, the ALIGNMENT ERROR bit is cleared to zero.
If an alignment error and another error occur during the processing of a write command, then the other error is

returned and the alignment error is not reported in the STATUS field (i.e, the ALIGNMENT ERROR bit is cleared
to zero). If an alignment error occurs, even if it is not reported in the STATUS field and there is space remaining in
the LPS Mis-alignment log, then an entry must be made in the log.

BUSY bit

The BUSY bit is transport dependent (see 9.2.10). Refer to the applicable transport standard for the usage of the
BUSY bit.

CHECK CONDITION bit

An ATAPI device shall set the CHECK CONDITION bit to one if the:

a) value in the SENSE KEY field (see 9.3.7) is greater than zero;
b) ABORT bit (see 9.3.2) is set to one;
c) END OF MEDIA bit (see 9.3.3) is set to one; or
d) ILLEGAL LENGTH INDICATOR bit (see 9.3.5) is set to one.

Otherwise, an ATAPI device shall clear the CHECK CONDITION bit to zero.

DATA REQUEST bit

The DATA REQUEST bit is transport dependent (see 9.2.10). Refer to the appropriate transport standard for the
usage of the DATA REQUEST bit.

DEVICE FAULT bit

If the device is in a condition where continued operation may affect the integrity of user data on the device (e.g.,
failure to spin-up without error, or no spares remaining for reallocation), then the device does:

a) return command aborted with the DEVICE FAULT bit set to one in response to all commands (e.g., IDENTIFY

DEVICE commands, IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE commands) except REQUEST SENSE DATA EXT

commands;
b) complete a REQUEST SENSE DATA EXT command without error with a sense key of HARDWARE ERROR

with additional sense code of INTERNAL TARGET FAILURE (see SPC-4), if:

A) the SENSE DATA SUPPORTED bit is set to one; and
B) the REQUEST SENSE DEVICE FAULT SUPPORTED bit is set to one;

or

c) return command aborted with the DEVICE FAULT bit set to one in response to a REQUEST SENSE DATA EXT

command, if:

A) the SENSE DATA SUPPORTED bit is cleared to zero; or
B) the SENSE DATA SUPPORTED bit is set to one and the REQUEST SENSE DEVICE FAULT SUPPORTED

bit is cleared to zero.

Power cycling the device is the only mechanism that may clear the DEVICE FAULT bit to zero.
If the DEVICE FAULT bit has been cleared to zero, then it may remain clear until a command that affects user data

integrity is received by the device.

DEVICE READY bit

The DEVICE READY bit is transport dependent (see 9.2.10). Refer to the applicable transport standard for the
usage of the DEVICE READY bit.

55

Hard Disk Drive Specification

ERROR bit

An ATA device shall set the ERROR bit to one if any bit in the ERROR field (see 9.3) is set to one. Otherwise, an
ATA device shall clear the ERROR bit to zero.

SENSE DATA AVAILABLE bit

The SENSE DATA AVAILABLE bit shall be set to one if:

a) the SENSE DATA SUPPORTED bit is set to one;
b) the SENSE DATA ENABLED bit is set to one; and
c) the device has sense data to report after processing any command.

Otherwise, the SENSE DATA AVAILABLE bit shall be cleared to zero.
The ERROR bit and the SENSE DATA AVAILABLE bit may both be set to one.
Bit 1 of the STATUS field is obsolete if:

a) the SENSE DATA SUPPORTED bit is cleared to zero; or
b) the SENSE DATA ENABLED bit is cleared to zero.

Transport Dependent bits and fields

All bits and fields that are labelled transport dependent are defined in the transport standards.

56

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Bit

Name

Reference

7:4

SENSE KEY field

9.3.7

7

INTERFACE CRC bit

9.3.6

6

UNCORRECTABLE ERROR bit

9.3.8

5

Obsolete

4

ID NOT FOUND bit

9.3.4

3

Obsolete

2

ABORT bit

9.3.2

1

END OF MEDIA bit

9.3.3

0

ILLEGAL LENGTH INDICATOR bit

9.3.5

ERROR field

Overview

The ERROR field is one byte and is conveyed as an output from the device to the host (see applicable transport
standard). Each bit, when valid, is defined in Table 32 ERROR field

Table 32 ERROR field

ABORT bit

The ABORT bit is set to one if the device aborts the command. The ABORT bit is cleared to zero if the device does
not abort the command.

If the host requested an address outside of the range of user addressable addresses, then:

a) the ID NOT FOUND bit (see 9.3.4) is set to one and the ABORT bit is cleared to zero; or
b) the ID NOT FOUND bit is cleared to zero and the ABORT bit is set to one.

If a user addressable address was not found (see 9.3.4), the ABORT bit is cleared to zero.
If the INTERFACE CRC bit (see 9.3.6) is set to one, the ABORT bit is set to one.

END OF MEDIA bit

The END OF MEDIA bit set to one indicates that the end of the media has been reached by an ATAPI device
(see SFF 8020i). Otherwise, the END OF MEDIA bit is cleared to zero.

ID NOT FOUND bit

The ID NOT FOUND bit is set to one if:

a) a user-addressable address was not found; or
b) an address outside of the range of user-addressable addresses is requested and the ABORT bit (see 9.3.2) is

cleared to zero.

Otherwise, the ID NOT FOUND bit is cleared to zero.

ILLEGAL LENGTH INDICATOR bit

The operation of the ILLEGAL LENGTH INDICATOR bit is specific to the SCSI command set implemented by
ATAPI devices (e.g., devices defined by MMC-6).

INTERFACE CRC bit

The INTERFACE CRC bit is set to one if an interface CRC error occurred during an Ultra DMA data transfer.
The INTERFACE CRC bit is cleared to zero if an interface CRC error did not occur during an Ultra DMA data

transfer.
The value of the INTERFACE CRC bit may be applicable to Multiword DMA transfers and PIO data transfers. If the

INTERFACE CRC bit is set to one, the ABORT bit is set to one.

57

Hard Disk Drive Specification

SENSE KEY field

The operation of this field is specific to the SCSI command set implemented by ATAPI devices (e.g., devices
defined by MMC-6).

UNCORRECTABLE ERROR bit

The UNCORRECTABLE ERROR bit is set to one if the data contains an uncorrectable error. The
UNCORRECTABLE ERROR bit is cleared to zero if the data does not contain an uncorrectable error.

58

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Bit

Name

Reference

7:2

Obsolete

7 INPUT/OUTPUT bit

9.4.3

6

COMMAND/DATA bit

9.4.2

INTERRUPT REASON field

Overview

The INTERRUPT REASON field (see Table 33 INTERRUPT REASON field) is an output from the device to the
host for commands in the PACKET feature set and NCQ feature set.

Table 33 INTERRUPT REASON field

COMMAND/DATA bit

The COMMAND/DATA bit is cleared to zero if the transfer is data. Otherwise, the COMMAND/DATA bit is set to
one.

INPUT/OUTPUT bit

The INPUT/OUTPUT bit is cleared to zero if the transfer is to the device. The INPUT/OUTPUT bit is set to one if
the transfer is to the host.

59

Hard Disk Drive Specification

COUNT field

Overview

The COUNT field is an output from the device to the host. The uses of the COUNT field depend on the command
being processed. Commands may use the COUNT field to indicate the:

a) the tag of an NCQ command (see 9.5.2) for commands in the NCQ feature set.

NCQ Tag

For commands in the NCQ feature set, the COUNT field may be used to indicate the tag of an NCQ command that
caused an error.

SACTIVE field

See ATA8-AST for a description of the SACTIVE field.

SATA STATUS field

See ATA8-AST for a description of the SATA STATUS field (i.e., word 0 of the Set Device Bits FIS).

LBA field

Overview

The LBA field is an output from the device to the host. The uses of the LBA field depend on the command being
processed. Commands may use the LBA field to indicate the LBA of the first unrecovered error (see 9.8.2).

LBA of First Unrecoverable Error

For commands that return LBA of the first unrecoverable error, if an unrecoverable error was encountered prior to
or during the processing of that command, then the LBA field contains the LBA of the first unrecoverable error.

This value does not provide any status information regarding any data transferred by the command that returned
the error. The value may be outside the LBA range of the command that returned the error.

60

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Field

Description

ERROR

Diagnostic Results – The diagnostic code as described in Table 38 Diagnostic Codes is returned.
This field shall be reserved for the EXECUTE DEVICE DIAGNOSTIC command (see 12.5).

COUNT

See Table 35 Device signatures for COUNT and LBA field

LBA

DEVICE

Bit Description

7 Obsolete
6 N/A
5 Obsolete
4 Transport Dependent – See ACS-4
3:0 Reserved

STATUS

Bit Description

7:6 Transport Dependent – See ACS-4
5 DEVICE FAULT bit – See ACS-4
4 N/A
3 Transport Dependent – See ACS-4
2 N/A
1 N/A
0 shall be cleared to zero

Bits

ATA device

Host Managed
Zoned device

Reserved for SATA

Obsolete
COUNT field (7:0)

01h

01h

01h

01h

01h

N/A

LBA field (27:24)

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

LBA field (23:16)

00h

ABh

C3h

96h

EBh

AAh

LBA field (15:8)

00h

CDh

3Ch

69h

14h

CEh

LBA field (7:0)

01h

01h

01h

01h

01h

N/A

Device Signatures for Normal Output

Overview

Table 35 Device signatures for COUNT and LBA field specifies the normal outputs for the READ SECTOR(S)
command (see ACS-4), the IDENTIFY DEVICE command (see ACS-4), and the EXECUTE DEVICE DIAGNOSTIC
command (see ACS-4).

Table 34 Device Signatures for Normal Output

Table 35 Device signatures for COUNT and LBA field

Hard Disk Drive Specification

61

Power On Reset (POR)

The device executes a series of electrical circuitry diagnostics.

COMRESET

COMRESET is issued in Serial ATA bus.
The device resets the interface circuitry as well as Soft Reset.

Soft Reset (Software Reset)

SRST bit in the Device Control Register is set, and then is reset.
The device resets the interface circuitry according to the Set Features

requirement.

POR

COMRESET

Soft Reset

Aborting Host interface

- o o

Aborting Device operation

-

(*1)

(*1)

Initialization of hardware

o x x

Internal diagnostic

o x x

Spinning spindle

(*6) x x

Initialization of registers (*2)

o o o

Reverting programmed parameters to default

o

(*3)

(*3)

- Number of CHS

(set by Initialize Device Parameter)

- Multiple mode

- Write cache

- Read look-ahead

- ECC bytes

Disable Standby timer

o x x

Power mode

(*5)

(*4)

(*4)

10 General Operation Descriptions

Reset Response

There are three types of reset in ATA as follows:

The actions of each reset are shown in Table 36

Table 36 Reset Response

Table Notes
(*1) Execute after the data in write cache has been written.

(*2) Default value on POR is shown in Table 37 “Default Register Values” on page 63.
(*3) The Set Features command with Feature register = CCh enables the device to revert these parameters to

the power on defaults.

(*4) In the case of Sleep mode, the device goes to Standby mode. In other case, the device does not change

current mode.

(*5) Idle when Power-Up in Standby feature set is disabled. Standby when Power-Up in Standby feature set is

enabled.

(*6) Spinning up when Power-Up in Standby feature set is disabled. Standby when Power-Up in Standby feature

set is enabled.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

62

o ---- Execute
x ---- Not execute

Register

Default Value

Error

Diagnostic Code

Sector Count

01h

Sector Number

01h

Cylinder Low

00h

Cylinder High

00h

Device/Head

00h

Status

50h

Alternate Status

50h

Code

Description

01h

No error Detected

02h

Formatter device error

03h

Sector buffer error

04h

ECC circuitry error

05h

Controller microprocessor error

Register Initialization

Table 37 Default Register Values

After power on, hard reset, or software reset, the register values are initialized as shown in Table 37.

Table 38 Diagnostic Codes

The meaning of the Error Register diagnostic codes resulting from power on, hard reset or the Execute Device
Diagnostic command is shown in Table 38

Diagnostic and Reset considerations

In each case of Power on Reset, COMRESET, Soft reset, and EXECUTE DEVICE DIAGNOSTIC command, the
device is diagnosed. And Error register is set as shown in Table 29 Error Register.

63

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Device/Head



LBA bits

27-24

Cylinder High



LBA bits

23-16

Cylinder Low



LBA bits

15- 8

Sector Number



LBA bits

7- 0

Sector Addressing Mode

All addressing of data sectors recorded on the device’s media is by a logical sector address. The logical CHS

address for HSH721414ALx6xx / HSH721415ALx6xx is different from the actual physical CHS location of the data
sector on the disk media. All addressing of data sectors recorded on the device’s media.

HSH721414ALx6xx / HSH721415ALx6xx support both Logical CHS Addressing Mode and LBA Addressing Mode
as the sector addressing mode.

The host system may select either the currently selected CHS translation addressing or LBA addressing on a
command-by-command basis by using the L bit in the DEVICE/HEAD register. So a host system must set the L bit
to 1 if the host uses LBA Addressing mode.

Logical CHS Addressing Mode

The logical CHS addressing is made up of three fields: the cylinder number, the head number and the sector
number. Sectors are numbered from 1 to the maximum value allowed by the current CHS translation mode but can
not exceed 255(0FFh). Heads are numbered from 0 to the maximum value allowed by the current CHS translation
mode but can not exceed 15(0Fh). Cylinders are numbered from 0 to the maximum value allowed by the current
CHS translation mode but cannot exceed 65535(0FFFFh).

When the host selects a CHS translation mode using the INITIALIZE DEVICE PARAMETERS command, the host
requests the number of sectors per logical track and the number of heads per logical cylinder. The device then
computes the number of logical cylinders available in requested mode.

The default CHS translation mode is described in the Identify Device Information. The current CHS translation
mode also is described in the Identify Device Information.

LBA Addressing Mode

Logical sectors on the device shall be linearly mapped with the first LBA addressed sector (sector 0) being the
same sector as the first logical CHS addressed sector (cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1). Irrespective of the logical CHS
translation mode currently in effect, the LBA address of a given logical sector does not change. The following is
always true:

LBA = ( (cylinder * heads_per_cylinder + heads)

* sectors_per_track ) + sector - 1

Where heads_per_cylinder and sectors_per_track are the current translation mode values.

On LBA addressing mode, the LBA value is set to the following register.

64

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Power Management Feature

The power management feature set allows an application client to modify the behavior of a device in a manner that
reduces the power required to operate. The power management feature set provides a set of commands and a
timer that enables a device to implement low power consumption modes.

The Power Management feature set implements the following set of functions.

1. A Standby timer

2. Idle command

3. Idle Immediate command

4. Sleep command

5. Standby command

6. Standby Immediate command

Power Mode

The lowest power consumption when the device is powered on occurs in Sleep Mode. When in sleep mode, the
device requires a reset to be activated.

In Idle Mode the device is capable of responding immediately to media access requests.
In Active Mode the device is under executing a command or accessing the disk media with read look-ahead function

or writes cache function.

Active Idle mode

Servo is mostly off but heads are loaded. The spindle is rotated at the full speed.

Low Power Idle mode

Additional electronics are powered off, and heads are unloaded on the ramp, however the spindle is still rotated at
the full speed.

Low RPM Idle mode

The heads are unloaded on the ramp, and the spindle is rotated at the 85-90% of the full speed.

Standby Mode

The device interface is capable of accepting commands, but as the media may not immediately accessible, there
is a delay while waiting for the spindle to reach operating speed.

65

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Mode

BSY

RDY

Interface active

Media

Active x x

Yes

Active

Idle 0 1

Yes

Active

Standby 0 1

Yes

Inactive

sleep x x

No

Inactive

Power Management Commands

The Check Power Mode command allows a host to determine if a device is in, going, to or leaving standby or idle
mode.

The Idle and Idle Immediate commands move a device to idle mode immediately from the active or standby modes.
The idle command also sets the standby timer count and enables or disables the standby timer.

The Standby and Standby Immediate commands move a device to standby mode immediately from the active or
idle modes. The standby command also sets the standby timer count and enables or disables the Standby timer.

The Sleep command moves a device to sleep mode. The device’s interface becomes inactive after the device

reports command completion for the sleep command. A device only transitions from sleep mode after processing
hardware reset, a software reset.

Standby timer

The standby timer provides a method for the device to automatically enter standby mode from either active or idle
mode following a host programmed period of inactivity. If the device is in the active or idle mode, the device waits
for the specified time period and if no command is received, the device automatically enters the standby mode.

If the value of SECTOR COUNT Register on Idle command or Standby command is set to 00h, the standby timer
is disabled.

Interface Capability for Power Modes

Each power mode affects the physical interface as defined in the following table:

Table 39 Power conditions

Ready (RDY) is not a power condition. A device may post ready at the interface even though the media may not
be accessible.

66

Hard Disk Drive Specification

SMART Function

The intent of Self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (SMART) is to protect user data and prevent
unscheduled system downtime that may be caused by predictable degradation and/or fault of the device. By
monitoring and storing critical performance and calibration parameters, SMART devices employ sophisticated data
analysis algorithms to predict the likelihood of near-term degradation or fault condition. By alerting the host system
of a negative reliability status condition, the host system can warn the user of the impending risk of a data loss and
advise the user of appropriate action.

Attributes

Attributes are the specific performance or calibration parameters that are used in analyzing the status of the device.

Attributes are selected by the device manufacturer based on that attribute’s ability to contribute to the prediction of

degrading or faulty conditions for that particular device. The specific set of attributes being used and the identity of
these attributes is vendor specific and proprietary.

Attribute values

Attribute values are used to represent the relative reliability of individual performance or calibration attributes. The
valid range of attribute values is from 1 to 253 decimal. Higher attribute values indicate that the analysis algorithms
being used by the device are predicting a lower probability of a degrading or faulty condition existing. Accordingly,
lower attribute values indicate that the analysis algorithms being used by the device are predicting a higher
probability of a degrading or faulty condition existing.

Attribute thresholds

Each attribute value has a corresponding attribute threshold limit which is used for direct comparison to the attribute
value to indicate the existence of a degrading or faulty condition. The numerical values of the attribute thresholds
are determined by the device manufacturer through design and reliability testing and analysis. Each attribute
threshold represents the lowest limit to which its corresponding attribute value can be equal while still retaining a
positive reliability status. Attribute thresholds are set at the device manufacturer’s factory and cannot be changed
in the field. The valid range for attribute thresholds is from 1 through 253 decimal.

Threshold exceeded condition

If one or more attribute values, whose Pre-failure bit of their status flag is set, are less than or equal to their
corresponding attribute thresholds, then the device reliability status is negative, indicating an impending degrading
or faulty condition.

SMART commands

The SMART commands provide access to attribute values, attribute thresholds and other logging and reporting
information.

Off-line Read Scanning

The device provides the off-line read scanning feature with reallocation. This is the extension of the off-line data
collection capability. The device performs the entire read scan with reallocation for the marginal sectors to prevent
the user data lost.

If interrupted by the host during the read scanning, the device services the host command.

Error Log

Logging of reported errors is supported. The device provides information on the last five errors that the device
reported as described in SMART error log sector. The device may also provide additional vendor specific
information on these reported errors. The error log is not disabled when SMART is disabled. Disabling SMART
shall disable the delivering of error log information via the SMART READ LOG SECTOR command.

If a device receives a firmware modification, all error log data is discarded and the device error count for the life of
the device is reset to zero.

67

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Self-test

The device provides the self-test features which are initiated by SMART Execute Off-line Immediate command.
The self-test checks the fault of the device, reports the test status in Device Attributes Data and stores the test
result in the SMART self-test log sector as described in SMART self-test log data structure. All SMART attributes
are updated accordingly during the execution of self-test.

If interrupted by the host during the self-tests, the device services the host command.
If the device receives a firmware modification, all self-test log data is discarded.

68

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Security Set Password

(‘F1’h)

Security Unlock

(‘F2’h)

Security Erase Prepare

(‘F3’h)

Security Erase Unit

(‘F4’h)

Security Freeze Lock

(‘F5’h)

Security Disable Password

(‘F6’h)

Device Locked mode

The device disables media access commands after power on. Media accesses
commands are enabled by either a security unlock command or a security erases unit
command.

Device Unlocked mode

The device enables all commands. If a password is not set this mode is entered after
power on, otherwise it is entered by a security unlock or a security erases unit
command.

Device Frozen mode

The device enables all commands except those which can update the device lock
function, set/change password. The device enters this mode via a Security Freeze Lock
command. It cannot quit this mode until power off.

High level security

When the device lock function is enabled and the User Password is forgotten the device
can be unlocked via a Master Password.

Maximum level security

When the device lock function is enabled and the User Password is forgotten then only
the Master Password with a Security Erase Unit command can unlock the device. Then
user data is erased.

Master Password

When the Master Password is set, the device does NOT enable the Device Lock
Function, and the device can NOT be locked with the Master Password, but the Master
Password can be used for unlocking the device locked.

Identify Device Information word 92 contains the value of the Master Password
Revision Code set when the Master Password was last changed. Valid values are
0001h through FFFEh.

User Password

The User Password should be given or changed by a system user. When the User
Password is set, the device enables the Device Lock Function, and then the device is
locked on next power on reset or hard reset.

Security Mode Feature Set

Security Mode Feature Set is a powerful security feature. With a device lock password, a user can prevent
unauthorized access to hard disk device even if the device is removed from the computer.

The following commands are supported for this feature.

Security mode

Following security modes are provided.

Security Level

Following security levels are provided.

Password

This function can have 2 types of passwords as described below.

The system manufacturer/dealer who intends to enable the device lock function for the end users, must set the
master password even if only single level password protection is required.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

69

Operation example

Master Password setting

The system manufacturer/dealer can set a new Master Password from default Master Password using the Security
Set Password command, without enabling the Device Lock Function.

The Master Password Revision Code is set to FFFEh as shipping default by the HDD manufacturer

User Password setting

When a User Password is set, the device will automatically enter lock mode the next time the device is powered
on.

Figure 10 Initial Setting

70

Hard Disk Drive Specification

POR

Device Locked mode

Unlock CMD Erase Prepare Media access

command (*1)

Non-Media access

command (*1)

Password
Match ?

Complete
Erase Unit

Lock function
Disable

Enter Device
Unlock mode

Erase Unit
Password
Match ?

Normal operation : All commands are available

Freeze Lock command

Enter Device Frozen mode
Normal Operation except Set Password,
Disable Password, Erase Unit, Unlock commands.

Reject

Complete

N

Y

N

Y

Operation from POR after User Password is set

When Device Lock Function is enabled, the device rejects media access command until a Security Unlock
command is successfully completed.

Figure 11 Usual Operation

(*1) Refer to 10.6.5 on the page.73

Hard Disk Drive Specification

71

User Password Lost

If the User Password is forgotten and High level security is set, the system user can’t access any data. However,

the device can be unlocked using the Master Password.
If a system user forgets the User Password and Maximum security level is set, data access is impossible. However,

the device can be unlocked using the Security Erase Unit command to unlock the device and erase all user data
with the Master Password.

Figure 12 Password Lost

Attempt limit for SECURITY UNLOCK command

The SECURITY UNLOCK command has an attempt limit. The purpose of this attempt limit is to prevent that
someone attempts to unlock the drive by using various passwords many times.

The device counts the password mismatch. If the password does not match, the device counts it up without
distinguishing the Master password and the User password. If the count reaches 5, EXPIRE bit (bit 4) of Word 128
in Identify Device information is set, and then SECURITY ERASE UNIT command and SECURITY UNLOCK
command are aborted until a hard reset or a power off. The count and EXPIRE bit are cleared after a power on
reset or a hard reset.

72

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command

Locked Mode

Unlocked Mode

Frozen Mode

Check Power Mode

Executable

Executable

Executable

Crypto Scramble Ext (data encryption model
only)

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Device Configuration Restore

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Device Configuration Freeze Lock

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Device Configuration Identify

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Device Configuration Set

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Download Microcode

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Download Microcode DMA

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Execute Device Diagnostic

Executable

Executable

Executable

Flush Cache

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Flush Cache Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Format Track

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Identify Device

Executable

Executable

Executable

Idle

Executable

Executable

Executable

Idle Immediate

Executable

Executable

Executable

Initialize Device Parameters

Executable

Executable

Executable

NCQ NON-DATA

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Overwrite Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Buffer

Executable

Executable

Executable

Read DMA

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read DMA Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read FPDMA Queued

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Log Ext

Executable

Executable

Executable

Read Log DMA Ext

Executable

Executable

Executable

Read Multiple

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Multiple Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Native Max Address

Executable

Executable

Executable

Read Native Max Ext

Executable

Executable

Executable

Read Sector(s)

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Sector(s) Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Verify Sector(s)

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Read Verify Sector(s) Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Recalibrate

Executable

Executable

Executable

Receive FPDMA Queued

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Request Sense Data Ext

Executable

Executable

Executable

Sanitize Freeze Lock Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Command Table

This table shows the device’s response to commands when the Security Mode Feature Set (Device lock function)

is enabled.

Table 40 Command table for device lock operation -1

73

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command

Locked Mode

Unlocked Mode

Frozen Mode

Sanitize Status Ext

Executable

Executable

Executable

SCT Read/Write Long

Command aborted

Command aborted

Command aborted

SCT Write Same

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

SCT Error Recovery Control

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

SCT Feature Control

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

SCT Data Table

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

SCT Read Status

Executable

Executable

Executable

Security Disable Password

Command aborted

Executable

Command aborted

Security Erase Prepare

Executable

Executable

Command aborted

Security Erase Unit

Executable

Executable

Command aborted

Security Freeze Lock

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Security Set Password

Command aborted

Executable

Command aborted

Security Unlock

Executable

Executable

Command aborted

Seek

Executable

Executable

Executable

Set Features

Executable

Executable

Executable

Set Max Address

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Set Max Address Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Set Multiple Mode

Executable

Executable

Executable

Sleep

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Disable Operations

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Enable Operations

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Execute Off-line Immediate

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Read Attribute Values

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Read Attribute Thresholds

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Return Status

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Save Attribute Values

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Read Log Sector

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Write Log Sector

Executable

Executable

Executable

SMART Enable/Disable Automatic Off-Line

Executable

Executable

Executable

Standby

Executable

Executable

Executable

Standby Immediate

Executable

Executable

Executable

Write Buffer

Executable

Executable

Executable

Write DMA

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write DMA Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write DMA FUA Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write FPDMA Queued

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Table 41 Command table for device lock operation -2

74

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command

Locked Mode

Unlocked Mode

Frozen Mode

Write Log Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write Log DMA Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write Multiple

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write Multiple Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write Multiple FUA Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write Sector(s)

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Write Sector(s) Ext

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

CLOSE ZONE EXT

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

FINISH ZONE EXT

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

OPEN ZONE EXT

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

REPORT ZONES EXT

Executable

Executable

Executable

RESET WRITE POINTER EXT

Command aborted

Executable

Executable

Table 42 Command table for device lock operation -3

75

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Read Native Max ADDRESS

(‘F8’h)

Set Max ADDRESS

(‘F9’h)

Capacity (native)

:

6,498,680,832

byte (6.4GB)

Max LBA (native)

:

12,692,735

(C1ACFFh)

Required size for protected area

:

206,438,400

byte

Required blocks for protected area

:

403,200

(062700h)

Customer usable device size

:

6,292,242,432

byte (6.2GB)

Customer usable sector count

:

12,289,536

(BB8600h)

LBA range for protected area

:

BB8600h to C1ACFFh

Host Protected Area Feature

Host Protected Area Feature is to provide the ‘protected area’ which can not be accessed via conventional method.
This ‘protected area’ is used to contain critical system data such as BIOS or system management information. The

contents of entire system main memory may also be dumped into ‘protected area’ to resume after system power
off. The LBA/CYL changed by following command affects the Identify Device Information.

The following set of commands is implemented for this function.

Example for operation (In LBA mode)

Assumptions:
For better understanding, the following example uses actual values for LBA, size, etc. Since it is just an example,

these values could be different.
Device characteristics

1. Shipping HDDs from HDD manufacturer

When the HDDs are shipped from HDD manufacturer, the device has been tested to have usable capacity of

6.4GB besides flagged media defects not to be visible by system.

2. Preparing HDDs at system manufacturer

Special utility software is required to define the size of protected area and store the data into it.
The sequence is:

Issue Read Native Max Address command to get the real device maximum LBA. Returned value shows that

native device Maximum LBA is 12,692,735 (C1ACFFh) regardless of the current setting.

Make entire device be accessible including the protected area by setting device Maximum LBA as

12,692,735 (C1ACFFh) via Set Max Address command. The option could be either nonvolatile or volatile.

Test the sectors for protected area (LBA >= 12,289,536 (BB8600h)) if required.

Write information data such as BIOS code within the protected area.
Change maximum LBA using Set Max Address command to 12,289,535 (BB85FFh) with nonvolatile

option.
From this point, the protected area cannot be accessed till next Set Max Address command is issued. Any

BIOSes, device drivers, or application software access the HDD as if that is the 6.2GB device because the
device acts exactly the same as real 6.2GB device does.

3. Conventional usage without system software support

Since the HDD works as 6.2GB device, there is no special care to use this device for normal use.

4. Advanced usage using protected area

The data in the protected area is accessed by following.

Issue Read Native Max Address command to get the real device maximum LBA. Returned value shows that

native device Maximum LBA is 12,692,735 (C1ACFFh) regardless of the current setting.

Make entire device be accessible including the protected area by setting device Maximum LBA as

76

Hard Disk Drive Specification

12,692,735 (C1ACFFh) via Set Max Address command with volatile option. By using this option, unexpected
power removal or reset will not make the protected area remained accessible.

Read information data from protected area.

Issue hard reset or POR to inhibit any access to the protected area.

Security extensions

1. Set Max Set Password

2. Set Max Lock

3. Set Max Freeze Lock

4. Set Max Unlock
The Set Max Set Password command allows the host to define the password to be used during the current power

on cycle. The password does not persist over a power cycle but does persist over a hardware or software reset.
This password is not related to the password used for the Security Mode Feature set. When the password is set
the device is in the Set_Max_Unlocked mode. The Set Max Lock command allows the host to disable the Set Max
commands (except set Max Unlock) until the next power cycle or the issuance and acceptance of the Set Max
Unlock command. When this command is accepted the device is in the Set_Max_Locked mode. The Set Max
Unlock command changes the device from the Set_Max_Locked mode to the Set_Max_Unlocked mode. The Set
Max Freeze Lock command allows the host to disable the Set Max commands (including Set Max UNLOCK) until
the next power cycle. When this command is accepted the device is in the Set_Max_Frozen mode.

The IDENTIFY DEVICE response word 83, bit 8 indicates that this extension is supported if set, and word 86, bit 8
indicate the Set Max security extension enabled if set.

77

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Write Cache Function

Write cache is a performance enhancement whereby the device reports as completing the write command (Write
Sector(s), Write Multiple and Write DMA) to the host as soon as the device has received all of the data into its
buffer. And the device assumes responsibility to write the data subsequently onto the disk.

 While writing data after completed acknowledgment of a write command, soft reset or hard reset does not affect

its operation. But power off terminates writing operation immediately and unwritten data are to be lost.

 Soft reset, Standby (Immediate) command and Flush Cache commands during writing the cached data are

executed after the completion of writing to media. So the host system can confirm the completion of write cache
operation by issuing Soft reset, Standby (Immediate) command or Flush Cache command to the device before
power off.

Reassign Function

The reassign Function is used with read commands and write commands. The sectors of data for reassignment
are prepared as the spare data sector.

This reassignment information is registered internally, and the information is available right after completing the
reassign function. Also the information is used on the next power on reset or hard reset.

If the number of the spare sector reaches 0 sectors, the reassign function will be disabled automatically.
The spare tracks for reassignment are located at regular intervals from Cylinder 0. As a result of reassignment, the

physical location of logically sequenced sectors will be dispersed.

Auto Reassign Function

The sectors that show some errors may be reallocated automatically when specific conditions are met. The spare
tracks for reallocation are located at regular intervals from Cylinder 0. The conditions for auto-reallocation are
described below.

Non recovered write errors

When a write operation can not be completed after the Error Recovery Procedure (ERP) is fully carried out, the
sector(s) are reallocated to the spare location. An error is reported to the host system only when the write cache is
disabled and the auto reallocation is failed.

If the write cache function is ENABLED, and when the number of available spare sectors reaches 0 sectors, both
auto reassign function and write cache function are disabled automatically.

Non recovered read errors
When a read operation is failed after defined ERP is fully carried out, a hard error is reported to the host system.
This location is registered internally as a candidate for the reallocation. When a registered location is specified as
a target of a write operation, a sequence of media verification is performed automatically. When the result of this
verification meets the criteria, this sector is reallocated.

Recovered read errors
When a read operation for a sector failed once then recovered at the specific ERP step, this sector of data is
reallocated automatically. A media verification sequence may be run prior to the relocation according to the pre­defined conditions.

78

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Power-up in Standby feature set

Power-Up In Standby feature set allows devices to be powered-up into the Standby power management state to
minimize inrush current at power-up and to allow the host to sequence the spin-up of devices.

This feature set will be enabled/disabled via the SET FEATURES command. The enabling of this feature set shall
be persistent after power cycle.

A device needs a SET FEATURES subcommand to spin-up to active state when the device has powered-up into
Standby. The device remains in Standby until the SET FEATURES subcommand is received.

If power-up into Standby is enabled, when an IDENTIFY DEVICE is received while the device is in Standby as a
result of powering up into Standby, the device shall set word 0 bit 2 to one to indicate that the response is incomplete,
then only words 0 and 2 are correctly reported.

The IDENTIFY DEVICE information indicates the states as follows:

 identify device information is complete or incomplete
 this feature set is implemented
 this feature set is enabled or disabled
 the device needs the Set Features command to spin-up into active state

Advanced Power Management feature set (APM)

This feature allows the host to select an advanced power management level. The advanced power management
level is a scale from the lowest power consumption setting of 01h to the maximum performance level of FEh. Device
performance may increase with increasing advanced power management levels. Device power consumption may
increase with increasing advanced power management levels. The advanced power management levels contain
discrete bands, described in the section of Set Feature command in detail. This feature set uses the following
functions:

1. A SET FEATURES subcommand to enable Advanced Power Management

2. A SET FEATURES subcommand to disable Advanced Power Management

Advanced Power Management is independent of the Standby timer setting. If both Advanced Power Management

and the Standby timer are set, the device will go to the Standby state when the timer times out or the device’s

Advanced Power Management algorithm indicates that the Standby state should be entered.
The IDENTIFY DEVICE response word 83, bit 3 indicates that Advanced Power Management feature is supported

if set. Word 86, bit 3 indicates that Advanced Power Management is enabled if set. Word 91, bits 7-0 contain the
current Advanced Power Management level if Advanced Power Management is enabled.

48-bit Address Feature Set

The 48-bit Address feature set allows devices:

a) with capacities up to 281,474,976,710,655 logical sectors (i.e., up to 144,115,188,075,855,360 bytes for a 512-

byte logical block device); and
b) to transfer up to 65536 logical sectors in a single command.

The 48-bit Address feature set operates in LBA addressing only. Devices also implement commands using 28-bit
addressing, and 28-bit and 48-bit commands may be intermixed.

Support of the 48-bit Address feature set is indicated in the Identify Device response bit 10 words 83. In addition,
the maximum user LBA address accessible by 48-bit addressable commands is contained in Identify Device
response words 230 through 233.

When the 48-bit Address feature set is implemented, the native maximum address is the value returned by a Read
Native Max Address Ext command. If the native maximum address is equal to or less than 268,435,455, a Read
Native Max Address shall return the native maximum address. If the native maximum address is greater than
268,435,455, a Read Native Max Address shall return a value of 268,435,455.

79

Hard Disk Drive Specification

SATA BIST (Built-in Self Test)

The device supports the following BIST modes, and begins operations when it receives BIST Activate FIS.

F – Far End Analog Loopback.
L – Far End Retimed Loopback
T – Far End Transmit only
A – ALIGN Bypass (valid only in combination with T bit)
S – Bypass Scrambling (valid only in combination with T bit)

SATA Interface Power Management

The device supports both receiving host-initiated interface power management requests and initiating interface
power management. The device initiates interface power management when the device enters its power saving
mode whose power consumption is lower than Idle mode.

80

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Software Setting Preservation

When a device is enumerated, software will configure the device using SET FEATURES and other commands.
These software settings are often preserved across software reset but not necessarily across hardware reset. In
Parallel ATA, only commanded hardware resets can occur, thus legacy software only reprograms settings that are
cleared for the particular type of reset it has issued. In Serial ATA, COMRESET is equivalent to hard reset and a
non-commanded COMRESET may occur if there is an asynchronous loss of signal. Since COMRESET is
equivalent to hardware reset, in the case of an asynchronous loss of signal some software settings may be lost
without legacy software knowledge. In order to avoid losing important software settings without legacy driver
knowledge, the software settings preservation ensures that the value of important software settings is maintained
across a COMRESET. Software settings preservation may be enabled or disabled using SET FEATURES with
a subcommand code of 06h. If a device supports software settings preservation, the feature shall be enabled by
default.

COMRESET Preservation Requirements

The software settings that shall be preserved across COMRESET are listed below. The device is only required
to preserve the indicated software setting if it supports the particular feature/command the setting is associated
with.
INITIALIZE DEVICE PARAMETERS: Device settings established with the INITIALIZE DEVICE PARAMETERS
command.

Power Management Feature Set Standby Timer: The Standby timer used in the Power Management feature set.
Security mode state: The security mode state established by Security Mode feature set commands (refer to

section 6.13 of the ATA/6 specification). The device shall not transition to a different security mode state based
on a COMRESET. For example, the device shall not transition from the SEC5: Unlocked / not Frozen state to
state SEC4: Security enabled / Locked when a COMRESET occurs, instead the device shall remain in the SEC5:
Unlocked / not Frozen state.

SECURITY FREEZE LOCK: The Frozen mode setting established by the SECURITY FREEZE LOCK command.
SECURITY UNLOCK: The unlock counter that is decremented as part of a failed SECURITY UNLOCK command

attempt.

SET ADDRESS MAX (EXT): The maximum LBA specified in SET ADDRESS MAX or SET ADDRESS MAX EXT.
SET FEATURES (Write Cache Enable/Disable): The write cache enable/disable setting established by the SET

FEATURES command with subcommand code of 02h or 82h.
SET FEATURES (Set Transfer Mode): PIO, Multiword, and UDMA transfer mode settings established by the SET

FEATURES command with subcommand code of 03h.
SET FEATURES (Advanced Power Management Enable/Disable): The advanced power management

enable/disable setting established by the SET FEATURES command with subcommand code of 05h or 85h. The
advanced power management level established in the Sector Count register when advanced power management
is enabled (SET FEATURES subcommand code 05h) shall also be preserved.

SET FEATURES (Read Look-Ahead): The read look-ahead enable/disable setting established by the SET
FEATURES command with subcommand code of 55h or AAh.

SET FEATURES (Reverting to Defaults): The reverting to power-on defaults enable/disable setting established
by the SET FEATURES command with a subcommand code of CCh or 66h.

SET MULTIPLE MODE: The block size established with the SET MULTIPLE MODE command.
SANITIZE FREEZE LOCK MODE: The Sanitize Frozen state established by the SANITIZE FREEZE LOCK EXT

command.

81

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Serial ATA Revision 3.0 Optional Features

There are several optional features defined in Serial ATA Revision 3.0. The following shows whether these features
are supported or not.

Asynchronous Signal Recovery

The device supports asynchronous signal recovery defined in Serial ATA Revision 3.0.

Device Power Connector Pin 11 Definition

Serial ATA Revision 3.0 specification defines that Pin 11 of the power segment of the device connector may be
used to provide the host with an activity indication and disabling of staggered spin-up.

Phy Event Counters

Phy Event Counters are an optional feature to obtain more information about Phy level events that occur on the
interface. This information may aid designers and integrators in testing and evaluating the quality of the interface.
A device indicates whether it supports the Phy event counters feature in IDENTIFY (PACKET) DEVICE Word 76,
bit 10. The host determines the current values of Phy event counters by issuing the READ LOG EXT command
with a log page of 11h. The counter values shall not be retained across power cycles. The counter values shall be
preserved across COMRESET and software resets.

The counters defined can be grouped into three basic categories: those that count events that occur during Data
FIS transfers, those that count events that occur during non-Data FIS transfers, and events that are unrelated to
FIS transfers. Counters related to events that occur during FIS transfers may count events related to host-to-device
FIS transfers, device-to-host FIS transfers, or bi-directional FIS transfers. A counter that records bi-directional
events is not required to be the sum of the counters that record the same events that occur on device-to-host FIS
transfers and host-to-device FIS transfers.

Implementations that support Phy event counters shall implement all mandatory counters, and may support any of
the optional counters as shown in Table 43 Phy Event Counter Identifiers. Note that some counters may increment
differently based on the speed at which non-Data FIS retries are performed by the host and device. Implementations
may record CRC and non-CRC error events differently. For example, there is a strong likelihood that a disparity
error may cause a CRC error. Thus, the disparity error may cause both the event counter that records non-CRC
events and the event counter that records CRC events to be incremented for the same event. Another example
implementation difference is how a missing EOF event is recorded; a missing EOF primitive may imply a bad CRC
even though the CRC on the FIS may be correct. These examples illustrate that some Phy event counters are
sensitive to the implementation of the counters themselves, and thus these implementation sensitive counters
cannot be used as an absolute measure of interface quality between different implementations.

Counter Reset Mechanisms

There are two mechanisms by which the host can explicitly cause the Phy counters to be reset.
The first mechanism is to issue a BIST Activate FIS to the device. Upon reception of a BIST Activate FIS the device
shall reset all Phy event counters to their reset value. The second mechanism uses the READ LOG EXT command.
When the device receives a READ LOG EXT command for log page 11h and bit 0 in the Features register is set to
one, the device shall return the current counter values for the command and then reset all Phy event counter values.

82

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Identifier
(Bits 11:0)

Mandatory/

Optional

Description

000h

Mandatory

No counter value; marks end of counters in the page

001h

Mandatory

Command failed and ICRC bit set to one in Error register

002h

Optional

R_ERR response for Data FIS

003h

Optional

R_ERR response for Device-to-Host Data FIS

004h

Optional

R_ERR response for Host-to-Device Data FIS

005h

Optional

R_ERR response for Non-data FIS

006h

Optional

R_ERR response for Device-to-Host Non-data FIS

007h

Optional

R_ERR response for Host-to-Device Non-data FIS

008h

Optional

Not supported (Device-to-Host non-Data FIS retries)

009h

Optional

Transitions from drive PhyRdy to drive PhyNRdy

00Ah

Mandatory

Signature Device-to-Host Register FISes sent due to a COMRESET

00Bh

Optional

CRC errors within a Host-to-Device FIS

00Dh

Optional

Non-CRC errors within a Host-to-Device FIS

00Fh

Optional

Not supported (R_ERR response for Host-to-Device Data FIS due to CRC
errors)

010h

Optional

Not supported (R_ERR response for Host-to-Device Data FIS due to non­CRC errors)

012h

Optional

Not supported (R_ERR response for Host-to-Device Non-data FIS due to
CRC errors)

013h

Optional

Not supported (R_ERR response for Host-to-Device Non-data FIS due to
non-CRC errors)

Counter Identifiers

Each counter begins with a 16-bit identifier. Table 43 Phy Event Counter Identifiers defines the counter value
for each identifier. Any unused counter slots in the log page should have a counter identifier value of 0h.
Optional counters that are not implemented shall not be returned in log page 11h. A value of ‘0’ returned for a
counter means that there have been no instances of that particular event. There is no required ordering for event
counters within the log page; the order is arbitrary and selected by the device vendor.

For all counter descriptions, ‘transmitted’ refers to items sent by the device to the host and ‘received’ refers to items

received by the device from the host.
Bits 14:12 of the counter identifier convey the number of significant bits that counter uses. All counter values

consume a multiple of 16-bits. The valid values for bits 14:12 and the corresponding counter sizes are:

1h 16-bit counter
2h 32-bit counter
3h 48-bit counter
4h 64-bit counter

Any counter that has an identifier with bit 15 set to one is vendor specific. This creates a vendor specific range of
counter identifiers from 8000h to FFFFh. Vendor specific counters shall observe the number of significant bits 14:12
as defined above.

Table 43 Phy Event Counter Identifiers

10.16.3.2.1 Counter Definitions

The counter definitions in this section specify the events that a particular counter identifier represents.

10.16.3.2.2 Identifier 000h

There is no counter associated with identifier 000h. A counter identifier of 000h indicates that there are no
additional counters in the log page.

10.16.3.2.3 Identifier 001h

The counter with identifier 001h returns the number of commands that returned an ending status with the ERR bit
set to one in the Status register and the ICRC bit set to one in the Error register.

83

Hard Disk Drive Specification

10.16.3.2.4 Identifier 002h

The counter with identifier 002h returns the sum of (the number of transmitted Device-to-Host Data FISes to
which the host responded with R_ERRP) and (the number of received Host-to-Device Data FISes to which the
device responded with R_ERRP).

10.16.3.2.5 Identifier 003h

The counter with identifier 003h returns the number of transmitted Device-to-Host Data FISes to which the host
responded with R_ERRP.

10.16.3.2.6 Identifier 004h

The counter with identifier 004h returns the number of received Host-to-Device Data FISes to which the device
responded with R_ERRP. The count returned for identifier 004h is not required to be equal to the sum of the
counters with identifiers 00Fh and 010h.

10.16.3.2.7 Identifier 005h

The counter with identifier 005h returns the sum of (the number of transmitted Device-to-Host non-Data FISes to
which the host responded with R_ERRP) and (the number of received Host-to-Device non-Data FISes to which
the device responded with R_ERRP). Retries of non-Data FISes are included in this count.

10.16.3.2.8 Identifier 006h

The counter with identifier 006h returns the number of transmitted Device-to-Host non-Data FISes to which the
host responded with R_ERRP. Retries of non-Data FISes are included in this count.

10.16.3.2.9 Identifier 007h

The counter with identifier 007h returns the number of received Host-to-Device non-Data FISes to which the
device responded with R_ERRP. Retries of non-Data FISes are included in this count.

10.16.3.2.10 Identifier 009h

The counter with identifier 009h returns the number of times the device transitioned into the PHYRDY state from
the PHYNRDY state, including but not limited to asynchronous signal events, power management events, and
COMRESET events. If interface power management is enabled, then this counter may be incremented due to
interface power management transitions.

10.16.3.2.11 Identifier 00Ah

The counter with identifier 00Ah returns the number of transmitted Device-to-Host Register FISes with the device
reset signature in response to a COMRESET, which were successfully followed by an R_OK from the host.

10.16.3.2.12 Identifier 00Bh

The counter with identifier 00Bh returns the number of received Host-to-Device FISes of all types (Data and non­Data) to which the device responded with R_ERRP due to CRC error.

10.16.3.2.13 Identifier 00Dh

The counter with identifier 00Dh returns the number of received Host-to-Device FISes of all types (Data and non­Data) to which the devices responded with R_ERRP for reasons other than CRC error.

84

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Byte

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

0

Reserved

1

Reserved

2

Reserved

3

Reserved

…

…

n

Counter n Identifier

n+1

n+2

Counter n Value

n + Counter n
Length

…

…

508

Reserved

509

510

511

Data Structure Checksum

READ LOG EXT Log Page 11h

READ LOG EXT log page 11h is one page (512 bytes) in length. The first Dword of the log page contains
information that applies to the rest of the log page. Software should continue to process counters until a counter
identifier with value 0h is found or the entire page has been read. A counter identifier with value 0h indicates that
the log page contains no more counter values past that point. Log page 11h is defined in Table 44

Table 44 READ LOG EXT Log Page 11h data structure definition

Counter n Identifier

Phy event counter identifier that corresponds to Counter n Value. Specifies the particular event counter that is
being reported. The Identifier is 16 bits in length.
Valid identifiers are listed in.

Counter n Value

Value of the Phy event counter that corresponds to Counter n Identifier. The number of significant bits is
determined by Counter n Identifier bits 14:12 (as defined in section 10.16.3.2). The length of Counter n Value
shall always be a multiple of 16-bits. All counters are one-extended. For example, if a counter is only physically
implemented as 8-bits when it reaches the maximum value of 0xFF, it shall be one-extended to 0xFFFF. The
counter shall stop (and not wrap to zero) after reaching its maximum value.

Counter n Length

Size of the Phy event counter as defined by bits 14:12 of Counter n Identifier.
The size of the Phy event counter shall be a multiple of 16-bits.

Data Structure Checksum

The data structure checksum is the 2’s complement of the sum of the first 511 bytes in the data structure. Each

byte shall be added with unsigned arithmetic and overflow shall be ignored. The sum of all 512 bytes of the data
structure will be zero when the checksum is correct.

Reserved All reserved fields shall be cleared to zero

85

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Features(7:0)

Subcommand Specific

Subcommand

Features(15:8)

Subcommand Specific

Count(7:0)

TAG

Reserved

Count(15:8)

Subcommand Specific

LBA(7:0)

Subcommand Specific

LBA(15:8)

Subcommand Specific

LBA(23:16)

Subcommand Specific

LBA(31:24)

Subcommand Specific

LBA(39:32)

Subcommand Specific

LBA(47:40)

Subcommand Specific

ICC(7:0)

Reserved

Auxiliary(7:0)

Reserved

Auxiliary(15:8)

Reserved

Auxiliary(23:16)

Subcommand Specific

Auxiliary(31:24)

Reserved

Device(7:0)

Res 1 Res

0

Reserved

Command(7:0)

63h

Subcommand

Description

Reference

0h

Abort NCQ queue

12.14.1

1h

Deadline Handling

12.14.2

2h - 4h

Reserved

-

5h

Set Features

Not supported

6h

Reserved

-

7h

ZAC Management Out

12.65.3

8h..Fh

Reserved

-

NCQ NON-DATA (63h)

The NCQ NON-DATA feature allows the host to manage the outstanding NCQ commands and/or affect the
processing of NCQ commands.

The NCQ NON-DATA command is a non-data NCQ command. Only specified NCQ NON-DATA subcommands are
executed as Immediate NCQ commands.

If NCQ is disabled and an NCQ NON-DATA command is issued to the device, then the device aborts the command
with the ERR bit set to one in the Status register and the ABRT bit set to one in the Error register. This command
is prohibited for devices that implement the PACKET feature set. The queuing behavior of the device depends on
which subcommand is specified.

Table 45 NCQ NON-DATA – Command definition

Table 45 defines the Subcommand values. If an invalid subcommand is specified, then the device aborts the
command with the ERR bit set to one in the Status register, the ABRT bit set to one in the Error register, and
causes all outstanding commands to be aborted.

Table 46 Subcommand Field

Subcommand Specific (TTAG) is the selected queue TAG. This allows the host to select the specific outstanding
queued command to be managed.

The error and normal returns for this command are subcommand specific.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

86

Abort NCQ Queue Subcommand (0h)

A Subcommand set to 0h specifies the Abort NCQ Queue subcommand (see 12.14.1). The Abort NCQ Queue
subcommand is an immediate NCQ command. Support for this subcommand is indicated in the NCQ NON-DATA
log (see 10.16.4.4).
The Abort NCQ Queue subcommand affects only those NCQ commands for which the device has indicated
command acceptance before accepting this NCQ NON-DATA command.
This command is prohibited for devices that implement the PACKET feature set.

Normal Outputs

If a supported Abort Type parameter is specified, then the device indicates success, even if the command results
in no commands being aborted.
When an Abort NCQ Queue command completes successfully, a Set Device Bits FIS is sent to the host to
complete the Abort subcommand and commands that were aborted as a consequence of the Abort subcommand
by setting the ACT bits for those commands to one. This SDB FIS may also indicate other completed commands.

Error Outputs

The device returns command aborted if:

a) NCQ is disabled and an Abort NCQ queue command is issued to the device;
b) The value of the TTAG field equals the value of the TAG field;
c) The value of the TTAG field is an invalid TAG number; or
d) An unsupported Abort type parameter is specified.

Deadline Handling Subcommand (1h)

A Subcommand set to 1h specifies the Deadline Handling Subcommand (see 12.14.2). This subcommand
controls how NCQ Streaming commands are processed by the device. Support for this subcommand is indicated
in the NCQ NON-DATA Log (see 10.16.4.4).

The state of the WDNC and RDNC bits are preserved across software resets and COMRESETs (via Software
Setting Preservations), and are not preserved across power cycles.

Normal Outputs

If this Deadline Handling Subcommand command is supported, the device returns command completed with no
error.
When a Deadline Handling Subcommand command completes successfully, a Set Device Bits FIS is sent to the
host to complete the Deadline Handling subcommand. This SDB FIS may also indicate other completed
commands.

Error Outputs

The device returns command aborted if:

a) NCQ is disabled and a Deadline Handling command is issued to the device;
b) The value of the TTAG field equals the value of the TAG field;
c) The value of the TTAG field is an invalid TAG number; or
d) An unsupported Abort type parameter is specified.

SET FEATURES Subcommand (5h)

Set Features Subcommand is not supported. When the drive receives Set Features Subcommand from the host,
the drive will abort the command.

READ LOG EXT Log Page 12h(NCQ Non-data Log)

To determine the supported NCQ NON-DATA subcommands and their respective features, host software reads log
address 12h. This log is supported if the NCQ NON-DATA command is supported (i.e., IDENTIFY DEVICE word
77 bit 5 is set to one). Table 47 defines the 512 bytes that make up the SATA NCQ NON-DATA log. The value of
the General Purpose Logging Version word is 0001h.

87

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Dword

Bits

Description

0

Subcommand 0h

31-5

Reserved

4

Supports Abort Selected TTAG

3

Supports Abort Non-Streaming

2

Supports Abort Streaming

1

Supports Abort All

0

Supports Abort NCQ

1

Subcommand 1h

31-3

Reserved

2

Supports Read Data Not Continue

1

Supports Write Data Not Continue

0

Supports DEADLINE HANDLING

2-4

31-0

Reserved

5

Subcommand 5h

31-1

Reserved

0

Supports Set Features

6

31-0

Reserved

7

31-1

Reserved

0

Support ZAC Management Out

8-127

31-0

Reserved

Table 47 NCQ NON-DATA Log (12h) data structure definition

10.16.4.4.1 Supports the Abort NCQ subcommand

If Supports the Abort NCQ subcommand is set to one, then the device supports the Abort NCQ Queue command
(12.14.1). If Supports the Abort NCQ subcommand is cleared to zero, then the device does not support the Abort
NCQ Queue command.

10.16.4.4.2 Supports Abort All

If Supports Abort All is set to one, then the device supports the value of Abort All for the Abort Type parameter of
the Abort NCQ Queue command. If Supports Abort All is cleared to zero, then the device does not support the
value of Abort All for the Abort Type parameter of the Abort NCQ Queue command.

10.16.4.4.3 Supports Abort Streaming

If Supports Abort Streaming is set to one, then the device supports the value of Abort Streaming for the Abort Type
parameter of the Abort NCQ Queue command. If Supports Abort Streaming is cleared to zero, then the device does
not support the value of Abort Streaming for the Abort Type parameter of the Abort NCQ Queue command.

10.16.4.4.4 Supports Abort Non-Streaming

If Supports Abort Non-Streaming is set to one, then the device supports the value of Abort Non-Streaming for the
Abort Type parameter of the Abort NCQ Queue command. If Supports Abort Non-Streaming is cleared to zero,
then the device does not support the value of Abort Non-Streaming for the Abort Type parameter of the Abort NCQ
Queue command.

10.16.4.4.5 Supports the Abort Selected TTAG

If Supports Abort Selected TTAG is set to one, then the device supports the value of Abort Selected for the Abort
Type parameter of the Abort NCQ Queue command. If Supports Abort Selected TTAG is cleared to zero, then the
device does not support the value of Abort Selected for the Abort Type parameter of the Abort NCQ Queue
command.

10.16.4.4.6 Supports the Deadline Handling subcommand

If Supports the Deadline Handling subcommand is set to one, then the device supports the Deadline Handling
command. If the Supports the Deadline Handling subcommand is cleared to zero, then the device does not support
the Deadline Handling command.

88

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Byte

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

0

Reserved

Rebuild

Assist

Enabled

1…6

Reserved

7

Physical Element Length (N)

8

(MSB)

Disabled Physical Element Mask

(LSB)

7 + N

8 + N

(MSB)

Disabled Physical Elements

(LSB)

7+(2×N)

8+(2×N)..511

Reserved

10.16.4.4.7 Supports WDNC

If Supports WDNC is set to one, then the device supports the WDNC bit of the DEADLINE HANDLING command.
If Supports WDNC is cleared to zero, then the device does not support the WDNC bit of the DEADLINE HANDLING
command.

10.16.4.4.8 Supports RDNC

If Supports RDNC is set to one, then the device supports the RDNC bit of the Deadline Handling command. If
Supports RDNC is cleared to zero, then the device does not support the WDNC bit of the Deadline Handling
command.

10.16.4.4.9 Supports Set Features

If Supports Set Features is set to one, then the device supports the value of Set Features for the SET FEATURES
subcommand of the NCQ NON-DATA command. If the Set Features bit is cleared to zero, then the device does
not support the SET FEATURES subcommand of the NCQ NONDATA command.

Rebuild Assist log (15h)

If the device supports the Rebuild Assist feature (i.e., IDENTIFY DEVICE data Word 78 bit 11 is set to one), then
the Rebuild Assist log shall be supported.

Table 48 Rebuild Assist log (15h) data structure definition

Physical Element Length

The Physical Element Length field indicates the number of bytes in the Disabled Physical Element Mask field and
the number of bytes in the Disabled Physical Elements field.
The device shall ignore any attempt by the host to change the value of this field when writing to the Rebuild Assist
log.

Disabled Physical Element Mask
The Disabled Physical Element Mask field indicates that bits in the Disabled Physical Elements field are supported.
The device shall ignore any attempt by the host to change the value of this field when writing to the Rebuild Assist
log.

Disabled Physical Elements

The Disabled Physical Elements field specifies if physical elements shall be disabled. Each bit that is set to one in
the Disabled Physical Elements field specifies that LBAs associated with this physical element shall respond to
read commands and write commands as if the associated LBAs have predicted errors.
Each bit that is set to zero in the Disabled Physical Elements field specifies that LBAs associated with this
physical element shall respond to read commands and write commands as if the associated LBAs do not have
predicted errors.

89

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Log page E0h

Log Page E1h

Write log page

Issue Command

Send Data to the drive

Read log page

Return Status

Received Data from the drive

Word

Description

206

SCT Command set support

15-12

Vendor Specific

11-6

Reserved

5

Action Code 5 (SCT Data Table) supported

4

Action Code 4 (Features Control) supported

3

Action Code 3 (Error Recovery Control) supported

2

Action Code 2 (SCT Write Same) supported

1

Obsolete

0

SCT Feature Set supported (includes SCT status)

SCT Command Transport feature Set

Overview

Introduction

SMART Command Transport (SCT) is the method for the drive to receive commands using log page E0h and
transporting data using log page E1h. These log pages are used as follows:

Table 49 SCT Log Page and direction

There are two ways to access the log pages: using SMART READ/WRITE LOG and READ/WRITE LOG EXT. Both
sets of commands access the same log pages and provide the same capabilities.

The log directory for log pages E0h and E1h should report a length of one. The length of log page E1h does not
indicate the length of an SCT data transfer.

If SMART is supported, but not enabled, the drive supports SMART READ/WRITE LOG for Log page E0h and E1h.
If security is enabled and password has not been issued to unlock the device, all SCT commands will fail.

Capability definition

Capability Identification is performed by issuing Identify Device command. Word 206 of Identify Data is used to
determine if SCT is enabled and which SCT Action Codes are supported.

Table 50 Identify Device Information Word 206

SCT Command Nesting and intermingling with Standard

commands

In general, standard ATA commands can be intermingled with SCT Commands but SCT commands cannot be
nested. SCT commands that do require a follow-on data transfer operation never have an issue with being
intermixed with any ATA commands or each other. SCT commands that do require data transfer, on the other
hand, may not be nested; that is, if a key command that requires a data transfer is issued, all data transfer – to or
from the host – must complete before another SCT command is issued. In most cases, however, ATA read/write
commands may be inserted in between SCT data transfers, that is, between complete SMART Read Log/Write Log
commands. Furthermore, any reset (power-on, software or hardware) will cause the SCT command to be aborted.

Resets

If an SCT command is executing, any reset including Soft Reset, Hard Reset, COMRESET, and Power-On Reset
all cause the command to be terminated. This could result in partial command execution or data loss. There is no
indication once the drive becomes ready that the previous command was terminated.

90

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command Block Output Registers

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Feature

D6h

Sector Count

01h

Sector Number

E0h

Cylinder Low

4Fh

Cylinder High

C2h

Device/Head

- - - D - - -

-

Command

B0h

Command Block Input Registers (Success)

Command Block Input Registers (Error)

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0 Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Error

00h

Error

04h

Sector Count

Depends on command (LSB)

Sector Count

Extended Status code (LSB)

Sector Number

Depends on command

(MSB)

Sector Number

Extended Status code (MSB)

Cylinder Low

Number of sectors to

transfer (LSB)

Cylinder Low

Number of sectors to transfer

(LSB)

Cylinder High

Number of sectors to

transfer (MSB)

Cylinder High

Number of sectors to transfer

(MSB)

Device/Head

- - - - - - -

- Device/Head

- - - - - - - - Status

50h

Status

51h

SCT Command Protocol

Command Transport

SCT Command Transport occurs when a 512-byte data packet (called “Key Sector”) is created and the written to
SMART or extended log page E0h. The key sector specifies Action and Function Codes along with the parameters
that are required to perform the action.

10.17.2.1.1 Issue SCT Command Using SMART

Table 51 Output Registers of SCT Command Using SMART

Table 52 Input Registers of SCT Command Using SMART

91

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command Block Output Registers

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Feature

Current

Reserved

Previous

Reserved

Sector Count

Current

01h

Previous

00h

LBA Low

Current

E0h

Previous

Reserved

LBA Mid

Current

00h

Previous

00h

LBA High

Current

Reserved

Previous

Reserved

Device/Head

- - - D - - -

-

Command

3Fh

Command Block Input Registers (Success)

Command Block Input Registers (Error)

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0 Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Error

00h

Error

04h

Sector
Count

HOB=0

Depends on command

(LSB)

Sector
Count

HOB=0

Extended Status Code

(LSB)

HOB=1

Reserved

HOB=1

Reserved

LBA Low

HOB=0

Depends on command

(MSB)

LBA Low

HOB=0

Extended Status Code

(MSB)

HOB=1

Reserved

HOB=1

Reserved

LBA Mid

HOB=0

Number of sectors (LSB)

LBA Mid

HOB=0

Number of sectors (LSB)

HOB=1

Reserved

HOB=1

Reserved

LBA High

HOB=0

Number of sectors (MSB)

LBA High

HOB=0

Number of sectors (MSB)

HOB=1

Reserved

HOB=1

Reserved

Device/Head

- - - - - - -

- Device/Head

- - - - - - - - Status

50h

Status

51h

10.17.2.1.2 Issue SCT Command Using Write Log Ext

Table 53 Input Registers of SCT Command Using Write Log Ext

Table 54 Output Registers of SCT Command Using Write Log Ext

All ATA “previous” registers are reserved in Write Log Ext responses.

92

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Byte

Field

Words

Description

1:0

Action Code

1

This field defines the command type and
generally specifies the type of data being
accessed, such as sector or physical action
being performed, such as seek.

3:2

Function Code

1

This field specifies the type of access, and
varies by command. For example, this can
specify read, write, verify, etc.

X:4

Parameter1

Depends on command

Depends on command

Y:x+1

Parameter2

Depends on command

Depends on command

… … … …

Total Words

256

Action Code

Block Data

TF Data

Description

0000h

- - Reserved

0001h

Read/Write

Y

Long Sector Access (Not Supported)

0002h

Write

N

SCT Write Same

0003h

- Y Error Recovery Control

0004h

- Y Features Control

0005h

Read

N

SCT Data Table

0006h-BFFFh

- - Reserved

C000h-FFFFh

- - Vendor Specific

10.17.2.1.3 Key Sector Format

An SCT command (Key Sector) is always 512 bytes long. Table below shows the generic format of an SCT
command.

Table 55 Key Sector Format

The action codes are defined in Table below.

Table 56 SCT Action Code List

93

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Status Code

Definition

0000h

Command complete without error

0001h

Invalid Function Code

0002h

Input LBA out of range

0003h

Request sector count overflow. The number of sectors requested to transfer (Sector Count
register) in the read or write log command is larger than required by SCT command.

0004h

Invalid Function code in Error Recovery command

0005h

Invalid Selection code in Error Recovery command

0006h

Host read command timer is less than minimum value

0007h

Host write command timer is less than minimum value

0008h

Background SCT command was aborted because of an interrupting host command

0009h

Background SCT command was terminated because of unrecoverable error

000Ah

Invalid Function code in Long Sector Access command

000Bh

SCT data transfer command was issued without first issuing an SCT command

000Ch

Invalid Function code in Feature Control command

000Dh

Invalid Feature code in Feature Control command

000Eh

Invalid New State value in Feature Control command

000Fh

Invalid Option Flags in Feature Control command

0010h

Invalid SCT Action code

0011h

Invalid Table ID (table not supported)

0012h

Command was aborted due to drive security being locked

0013h

Invalid revision code

0014h

Foreground SCT operation was terminated because of unrecoverable error

0015h

The most recent non-SCT command returned command completion with an error due to the
SCT Error Recovery Control Read Command Timer or SCT Error Recovery Control Write
Command Timer expiring

0016h-BFFFh

Reserved

C000h-C002h

Vendor Specific

C003h

Overlay switch failure in Long Sector Access command

C004h

Read Long failure

C005h

Write Long failure

C006h

Write Cache enable failure

C007h-FFEFh

Vendor Specific

FFF0h-FFFEh

Reserved

FFFFh

SCT command executing in background

10.17.2.1.4 Extended Status Code

Table 57 Extended Status Code

94

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command Block Output Registers

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Feature

D5h(Read)/D6h(Write)

Sector Count

Number of sectors to be

transferred

Sector Number

E1h

Cylinder Low

4Fh

Cylinder High

C2h

Device/Head

- - - D - - -

-

Command

B0h

Command Block Output Registers

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Feature

Current

Reserved

Previous

Reserved

Sector Count

Current

01h or 08h

Previous

00h

LBA Low

Current

E1h

Previous

Reserved

LBA Mid

Current

00h

Previous

00h

LBA High

Current

Reserved

Previous

Reserved

Device/Head

- - - D - - -

-

Command

2Fh(Read)/3Fh(Write)

Data transfer

Once an SCT command has been issued, status can be checked and data can be transferred. Data transfer uses
log page E1h.

10.17.2.2.1 Read/Write SCT Data Using SMART

Table 58 Input Registers of SCT Data Transfer Using SMART

10.17.2.2.2 Read/Write SCT Data Using Read/Write Log Ext

Table 59 Input Registers of SCT Data Transfer Using Read/Write Log Ext

95

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Command Block Output Registers

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Feature

D5h

Sector Count

01h

Sector Number

E0h

Cylinder Low

4Fh

Cylinder High

C2h

Device/Head

- - - D - - -

-

Command

B0h

Command Block Output Registers

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Feature

Current

Reserved

Previous

Reserved

Sector Count

Current

01h

Previous

00h

LBA Low

Current

E0h

Previous

Reserved

LBA Mid

Current

00h

Previous

00h

LBA High

Current

Reserved

Previous

Reserved

Device/Head

- - - D - - -

-

Command

2Fh

SCT Status Request

Once an SCT command has been issued, a status is reported in the ATA registers. This status indicates that the
command was accepted or that an error occurred. This ATA status return does not indicate successful
completion of the SCT actions. Some commands can take several minutes or even hours to execute. In this case,
the host can determine execution progress by requesting SCT status.

Log page E0h contains the status information. Reading log page E0h retrieves the status information. The SCT
status may be acquired any time that the host is allowing to send a command to the device. This command will
not change the power state of the drive, nor terminate any background activity, including any SCT command in
progress.

10.17.2.3.1 SCT Status Request Using SMART

Table 60 Input Registers of SCT Status Request Using SMART

10.17.2.3.2 SCT Status Request Using Read Log Ext

Table 61 Input Registers of SCT Status Request Using Read Log Ext

96

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Byte

Type

Field Name

Value

Description

1:0

Word

Format Version

0003h

Status Response format version number

3:2

Word

SCT Version

Manufacturer’s vendor specific implementation version

number

5:4

Word

SCT Spec.

0001h

Highest level of SCT Technical Report supported

9:6

Dword

Status Flags

Bit 0 : Segment Initialized Flag
If this bit is set to 1, an SCT Write Same command
write to all LBAs of the drive has completed without
error. This bit shall be cleared to 0 when any user LBA
is written, even if write cache is enabled. This bit is else
cleared if the capacity of the drive is changed via
SETMAX, SETMAX EXT or DCO. This bit is preserved
through a power cycle.
Bit 1-31 : Reserved

10

Byte

Drive Status

0 = Active waiting for a command
1 = Stand-by
2 = Sleep
3 = DST executing in background
4 = SMART ODC executing in background
5 = SCT executing in background

13:11

Byte[3]

reserved

00h

15:14

Word

Extended Status
Code

Status Of last SCT command issued. FFFFh if SCT
command executing in background.

17:16

Word

Action Code

Action code of last SCT command issued. If the
Extended Status Code is FFFFh, this is the Action
Code of the command that is current executing.

19:18

Word

Function Code

Function code of last SCT command issued. If the
Extended Status Code is FFFFh, this is the Function
Code of the command that is current executing.

39:20

Byte[20]

reserved

00h

47:40

Qword

LBA

Current LBA of SCT command execution in
background. If there is no command currently
executing in the background, this field is undefined.

199:48

Byte[152]

00h

200

Byte

HDA Temp

Current HDA temperature in degrees Celsius. This is a

2’s complement number. 80h indicates that this value

is invalid.

201

Byte

Min Temp

Minimum HDA temperature in degrees Celsius. This is

a 2’s complement integer. 80h indicates that this value

is invalid.

202

Byte

Max Temp

Maximum HDA temperature in degrees Celsius. This

is a 2’s complement number. 80h indicates that this

value is invalid.

203

Byte

Life Min Temp

Minimum HDA temperature in degrees Celsius seen

for the life of the device. This is a 2’s complement

integer. 80h indicates that this value is invalid.

204

Byte

Life Max Temp

Maximum HDA temperature in degrees Celsius seen

for the life of the drive. This is a 2’s complement

number. 80h indicates that this value is invalid.

10.17.2.3.3 Format of SCT Status Response

Table 62 Data Format of SCT Status Response -1

97

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Byte

Type

Field Name

Value

Description

205

Byte

Reserved

00h

209:206

Dword

Over Limit Count

Number of temperature recording Intervals since the
last power-on reset where the recorded temperature
was greater than Max Op Limit. See Table 74 for
information about this Interval.

213:210

Dword

Under Limit Count

Number of temperature recording Intervals since the
last power-on reset where the recorded temperature
was less than Min Op Limit. See Table 74 for
information about this Interval.

479:214

Byte[275]

Reserved

00h

511:480

Byte[32]

Vendor Specific

00h

Table 63 Data Format of SCT Status Response -2

98

Hard Disk Drive Specification

Word

Name

Value

Description

0

Action Code

0002h

This action writes a pattern or sector of data repeatedly to
the media. This capability could also be referred to as
“Write All” or “Write Same”.

1

Function Code

0001h

Repeat Write Pattern (Background Operation)

0002h

Repeat Write Sector (Background Operation)

0101h

Repeat Write Pattern (Blocking Operation)

0102h

Repeat Write Sector (Blocking Operation)

5:2

Start LBA

Qword

First LBA

9:6

Count

Qword

Number of sectors to fill

11:10

Pattern

Dword

If the Function Code is 0001h, this field contains a 32-bit
pattern that is written on the media starting at the location
specified in words two through five

255:12

reserved

0000h

Command Block Input Registers (Success)

Error

00h

Sector Count

Reserved

Sector Number

Reserved

Cylinder Low

Number of sectors to transfer (LSB) = 01h

Cylinder High

Number of sectors to transfer (MSB) = 00h

Device/Head

Reserved

Status

50h

SCT Command Set

SCT Write Same (action code : 0002h)

Table 64 SCT Write Same (Inputs)

Inputs: (Key Sector)

Table 65 SCT Write Same (Outputs)

Outputs: (TF Data)

The SCT Write Same command will begin writing sectors from Start LBA in incrementing order until Count
sectors have been written. The HPA feature determines the last user LBA. This command will not write over a
hidden partition when hidden partitions are enabled using the Host Protected Area drive capabilities. Automatic
sector reassignment is permitted during the operation of this function.

If Start LBA or Start LBA + Count go beyond the last user LBA then an error is reported and the SCT command is
not executed.

Once the key sector has been issued, if the Function Code was 0002h or 0102h and the TF Data indicates that
the drive is ready to receive data, log page E1h should be written to transfer the data.

Implementation note for Background Operation (Function code = 0001h, 0002h)

In this mode, the drive will return command completion status when the drive finished receiving data.
Any command, including IDENTIFY DEVICE, other than SCT Status, issued to the drive while this command is in

progress will terminate the SCT Write Same command. The incoming command is executed.
Use the SCT Status command to retrieve status information about the current SCT command. Example status

information includes: command active or complete, current LBA, and errors. When this command is in progress,
the SCT status error code will be FFFFh, and set to 0000h if the command completes without error. It will be less
than FFFFh and grater the 0000h if the command terminated prematurely for any reason.

Hard Disk Drive Specification

99

Possible Extended Status Code for Background Operation (Function code = 0001h, 0002h)

0008h

Background SCT command was aborted because of an interrupting host command

0009h

Background SCT command was terminated because of unrecoverable error

FFFFh

SCT command executing in background

Command Block Input Registers (Error)

Register

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0

Error

04h

Sector Count

Extended Status code

(LSB)

Sector Number

Extended Status code

(MSB)

Cylinder Low

N/A

Cylinder High

N/A

Device/Head

- - - - - - -

-

Status

51h

Possible Extended Status Code for Blocking Operation (Function code = 0101h, 0102h)

0017h

Blocking SCT Write Same command was terminated because of unrecoverable error

Implementation note for Blocking Operation (Function code = 0101h, 0102h)

In this mode, the drive will return command completion status when the drive finished the SCT Write Same
operation.

Outputs for Error

Write pointer that is used for checking sequential write will be updated by this command.

100

Hard Disk Drive Specification