Chapter 5

ATA BUS INTERFACE AND ATA COMMANDS

This chapter describes the interface between the Quickview 300 hard disk drives and the PATA bus. The commands that are issued from the host to control the drive are listed, as well as the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the interface.

5.1INTRODUCTION

Maxtor Quickview 300 hard disk drives use the standard ATA/ATAPI interface. Support of various options in the standard are explained in the following sections.

5.2MECHANICAL INTERFACE

5.2.1Signal Cable and Connector

The Quickview 300 hard disk drive contains a 40-pin unitized connector for both signal and power connections as well as configuration jumpers. The dimensions and specifications of the unitized connector comply with Annex. A in the ATA/ATAPI standard.

The Quickview 300 drives require the use of an 80 conductor cable (ATA/ATAPI-6, Annex. A, Figure A.4 and description) to support the drive’s Ultra DMA capability.

5.3ELECTRICAL INTERFACE

5.3.1PATA Bus Interface

5.3.1.1Electrical Characteristics

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

The Quickview 300 hard disk drives support all Ultra DMA Data Transfer modes (0 - 5) defined in the ATA/ATAPI-6 standard and are ATA/ATAPI- 7 compliant. In addition, these drives support Mode 6, and can send and receive data at the full 133MB/s transfer rate.

Quickview 300 80/100/120/160/200/250/300GB PATA

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