The alternate block allocation is executed by the FORMAT UNIT command, the REASSIGN BLOCKS command, or the automatic alternate block allocation. Refer to Subsection 5.3.2 “Auto alternate block allocation processing” of the SCSI Logical Interface Specifications for details of specifications on these commands. The logical data block is allocated to the next physically continued sectors after the above sector slip treatment is made. On the other hand, the logical data block is allocated to spare sectors which are not physically consecutive to the adjacent logical data blocks. If a command which processes several logical data blocks is specified, the HDD processes those blocks in ascending order of logical data block.
(1)Alternate block allocation during FORMAT UNIT command execution
When the FORMAT UNIT command is specified, the allocation of the alternate block to those defective sectors included in the defect list (P, G, or D) is continued until all spare sectors in the same cell are used up. When they are used up, unused spare sectors in the alternate cylinder are allocated to the defective sectors that follows the sector by means of alternate sector treatment. Figure 3.7 is examples of the alternate block allocation during the FORMAT UNIT command execution.
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