'Hybrid' HDD Technology To Allow Data Access Without Booting

jfruhlinger writes "You've got a file on your laptop that you need to access — but you don't want to wait for your laptop to boot up to get at it. New technology from the company Silicon Storage Technology will make the contents of a hard drive accessible via a computer's USB port even when the computer is powered down. 'FlashMate combines hardware, firmware and software in a system application subsystem that manages a notebook computer's hard drive. It is based on SST's expertise in NAND flash controllers and memory subsystem design with Insyde Software's expertise in PC BIOS, system software and power management. FlashMate can work in conjunction with features such as Windows Vista ReadyDrive and serve as nonvolatile cache for the hard disk drive, thus enabling a standard hard disk drive to function as a hybrid drive.'"

Hey, what a great idea!

[Megane (129182)]

Too bad that Apple has supported HD access without booting for years. Firewire target mode, and SCSI target mode before that.

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[FinchWorld (845331)]

Too bad that Apple has supported HD access without booting for years. Firewire target mode, and SCSI target mode before that. Too bad Apple never supported it via USB then eh? What with USB being widely more available on say, your friends/parents/co-workers/public computer as opposed to firewire.

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[demon (1039)]

Mostly because you'd need a dedicated USB port - FireWire/i.Link/IEEE 1394 is a *peer to peer* bus, so all ports work the same, whereas USB ports have *host* ports and *device* ports. It makes it much more difficult to implement. On the older NewWorld PPC systems, FireWire target mode was simply implemented by a little bit of Forth that talked on the FireWire bus, accepted commands, and read from/wrote to the system's internal disk as directed - it's so dirt simple. (I understand the Intel based systems hav

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[dgatwood (11270)]

Mostly correct.

IIRC, software-switchable USB silicon does exist, though it isn't all that common. Of course, if you switch one of the standard USB connectors over into device mode, you'd still need a highly nonstandard USB cable with two "type A" connectors on it instead of a "type A" and a "type B"---a specialized cable that almost nobody actually owns. By contrast, FireWire requires only a standard cable that anyone who has any (non-camcorder) FireWire peripherals should already own. Thus, unless you

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[kf6auf (719514)]

Also, USB2 wasn't finalized until 2000. Firewire was around when USB was painfully slow.

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[v1 (525388)]

I'd imagine that's why Apple didn't choose to do USB target disk mode when they dropped SCSI despite the fact that all Macs had USB by that time

More likely this was due to USB at the time being 1.1 at 12mbps. Firewire at 400mbps gave it a good whupping until the advent of USB 1.2/2.0HS years later. Until only recently, USB was not much better than ADB at doing data transfers.

The fact that they used the same connector on both ends was icing on the cake. USB target disk mode would probably require puting

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[Tobenisstinky (853306)]

I think what megane was trying to point out was that this was being touted as "new and revolutionary" while Apple has been doing it for years. As for why we do it, it's great for data recovery if the OS goes bye-bye or a laptop screen gets smashed, we can copy the drive over to another laptop and contiue working. Because Apple builds the OS and hardware, it all plays nice together, and you can boot a desktop with a laptop in target disk mode. (Provided you have your architectures in sync - or have built a "

Re:Hey, what a great idea!

[peragrin (659227)]

Why it's cool that's easy

my powerbook died. the graphics chip stopped working, so the display was all screwed up. I bought a new Mac Mini, plugged in my firewire cable into both computers. I booted the bad powerbook into target disk mode, and turned on the mac mini for the first time.

As OS X initaized it gave me the option of importing settings and applications from another computer. It mounted my poor powerbook as a fire wire drive, copied everything over including passwords and user settings. two hours(20 gigs of stuff to copy) I had a nearly identical system up and running. I had to change things like the computers network name, change the resolution, but I was up and running fully. No reinstalling software for a day. it just worked.

I took the powerbook back to apple for repairs. when i got it back I repeated the process in reverse restoring the powerbook to what I had before in just a couple of hours, not days of reinstalling software like windows requires.

Yes I said days as windows software installs don't like being transfered in such ways.

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[dgatwood (11270)]

To be fair, software-copy-protected apps on the Mac don't like being transferred that way, either, but at least for most of them, you just have to reauthorize them. There are a few, however, that are poorly written and break completely (you have zero days to register this software before saving and printing are disabled), requiring reinstallation of the app after a transfer. (Finale, I'm looking at you.) Fortunately, such problems are rare in my experience.

Wow.

[EveryNickIsTaken (1054794)]

You've got a file on your laptop that you need to access -- but you don't want to wait for your laptop to boot up to get at it.

Damn... and I thought I was fucking lazy.

alright!

[snark23 (122331)]

Now I don't even have to boot to steal sensitive information. This will save so much time!

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[stunt_penguin (906223)]

That's my sensitive information, you insensitive clod!

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[arivanov (12034)]

Ahem. My thought exactly. I bet it does not recognise administrator versus user rights.

Macs

[MBCook (132727)]

That's odd, all the Macs I've owned in the last 7+ years have done that though FireWire Disk Mode. Boot, hold a key down, in 5 seconds or so you have a oversized, way overpowered, external FireWire disk. It's about time the rest of the computer world started getting this ability.

Of course, since I just put my computers to sleep I don't have to worry about boot time.

It's a useful ability though. I've used it a few times on my Macs. Plus, it makes getting a new Mac and transferring things over (using the installer's transfer wizard) trivial.

Re:Macs

[clickclickdrone (964164)]

Now why the hell don't reviews ever mention stuff like that? I'd have bought a Mac for that feature alone.

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[quanticle (843097)]

Now why the hell don't reviews ever mention stuff like that? I'd have bought a Mac for that feature alone.

Perhaps because Apple doesn't publicize the feature either. There are many cool things that the Mac OS can do that aren't well publicized. Another example is universal spell checking [tuaw.com], which I also never hear mentioned.

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[tengwar (600847)]

One they really should mention because it usually catches new Mac users out: how to de-install an application. I spent some time looking for the Add/Remove Programs equivalent before I found that you just drop the application in the Trash.

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[quanticle (843097)]

Given that the firmware on Macs is much more closely integrated with the OS than on PCs, the distinction isn't as sharp on that platform. In any case, my point stands - Macs can do lots of cool things that Apple doesn't tell us they can do.

Re:Macs

[0100010001010011 (652467)]

Because the feature first showed up in 1991. Starting first with SCSI Disk Mode and evolving into Firewire Disk Mode in 2000. Here are a list of other features that I wish my XP laptop had that Mac has had as long as I've run them (Since system 7.1).

You can rename a file while it's open.
You can move a file while it's open. (Mac programs track it accurately, stuff like jEdit doesn't).
You can rename a program while it's running.
You can open a folder that is in the trash and move a file out of it without having to restore the folder, get the file and then delete the folder again.

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[Corporate Troll (537873)]

You do realise that all the "features" you list are a direct result of having a sane filesystem? (Apart from the last one, not sure about that) Most, if not all Unix operating systems can that and did that for ages.

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[0100010001010011 (652467)]

Some additional thoughts:
How many cars do you see advertised on TV "Now with cruise control?". It's just assumed to most knowledgeable Mac Users that you can do this. Apple wants to show off their latest and greatest. Spaces, Expose, etc, this is old news to us.

Being able to take screenshots of the entire screen and saved to a file on the desktop. Later versions (9.1?) added the ability to take screen shots of areas selected by the mouse. I'm still fighting to find a decent screen capture program in XP.

Univ

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[quanticle (843097)]

How many cars do you see advertised on TV "Now with cruise control?". It's just assumed to most knowledgeable Mac Users that you can do this.

At least cars come with a visible cruise control knob, and have an entry in the user manual telling you how to operate the feature. Macs have neither. Things like target mode, and integrated spell checking aren't visible to the user. A new user doesn't even know that the feature exists until he/she comes across a reference to it on the Web, or someone else tells

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[0100010001010011 (652467)]

I'm pretty sure target disk mode was in my manual.

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[gEvil (beta) (945888)]

What's even more fun is connecting two Macs together using firewire, setting the first one to boot into target disk mode, and then having the other one boot off the first machine's hard disk. Great way to diagnose disk problems without ever opening a case.

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[demon (1039)]

I actually helped a friend use that method to install OS X 10.4 on his iBook - his girlfriend had one as well, but his didn't have a DVD drive. It's amazing how handy such a simple feature can be.

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[seebs (15766)]

That was how I finally got a CPU module problem diagnosed -- demonstrated that the problem went away if I booted my laptop from the desktop's hard drive, but the desktop couldn't do things. One CPU module swap later, everything was fine.

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[TheRaven64 (641858)]

It's also convenient when both machines are booted as a network link. If you've got one machine plugged into the network, and want to share the connection with another you can just string a firewire cable between them for 400 or 800Mb/s networking. I understand the USB is cheaper than Firewire, but it's so inflexible in comparison I'm still occasionally puzzled by how popular it is.

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[dctoastman (995251)]

TFA says while the computer is powered off. Not partially booted, not on, off. This is an evolutionary step from Apple's Disk Mode.

So, while Disk Mode is cool, it is still not the same. Because with this, you could transfer files from a desktop to a laptop during a power outage.

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[ceoyoyo (59147)]

Go back and read your comment. Do you think that's REALLY what they mean?

It sounds like they've implemented pretty much exactly the same thing as Apple's target disk mode, but stuck a flash memory cache on the hard drive. So, if you want something that happens to be in the cache then you can get it only powering up the cache. If you want something that's not in the cache then you have to power up the drive too. Either way, you still need power.

One small difference appears to be that they've put a dedica

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[langelgjm (860756)]

Well, I'm not sure what TFA is actually trying to say. In one instance, it says this:

FlashMate does more by giving notebook users the ability to access to hard disk data and various applications via the notebook's USB interface, without actually having to engage the CPU.

But in another place, it says this:

"Our FlashMate technology expands beyond hybrid-drive functionality by enabling notebook users to conveniently perform tasks without having to turn on the computer..."

How is the drive going to be power

Re:Macs

[tlhIngan (30335)]

That's odd, all the Macs I've owned in the last 7+ years have done that though FireWire Disk Mode. Boot, hold a key down, in 5 seconds or so you have a oversized, way overpowered, external FireWire disk. It's about time the rest of the computer world started getting this ability.

Actually, the feature is much older - dates back to the early 90's on the 68k Macs as well. Though, they didn't have Firewire ports, they did have SCSI ports. You could set them into "SCSI Disk Mode", and they'd appear on the SCSI bus as a disk (with the SCSI ID you set).

Heck, the SCSI logo that bounced around the screen while this went on even displayed the SCSI ID in case you forgot to set it properly (and thus can do some black magic to get your SCSI bus working again).

Was a great way of transferring files from my old Macs (one of which didn't have Ethernet!) to my new Powerbook about 4 years ago. (Admittedly, another neat thing was the fact that the old Mac with Ethernet didn't do AppleTalk over IP (which unfortunately, is all OS X supported natively). But OS X Classic could be booted and Chooser (remember that?) could find it, and it still magically appears as a mounted disk in OS X. I don't think I want to know how many layers of software was used for that to happen.

USB is much harder though - you can't just plug a USB Host port into another USB Host port - that's an illegal USB topology. (There can only be one host on a USB bus since it's a master-slave bus, unlike Firewire/SCSI which are peer-to-peer).

It's a trap!

[n1hilist (997601)]

I hear these hybrids cause a log of smug!

Apple leads the way... again

[Speare (84249)]

I'm not an Apple fanboi, but you can hold the T key down when booting ANY Mac and it boots into a "firewire drive" mode instead of a full kernel and gui. This has been true for years.

Best tag ever

[Jesterboy (106813)]

I don't really even care about the article, but I have to say, "flashyourcache" is the best tag I've ever seen.

Never needed it.

[Mr2cents (323101)]

I cannot imagine a reason why I would want this feature. Sure it's cool, but.. what's the use?

Now, something that I did find myself wishing a couple of times is a laptop with a video in connector. But then again, I'm one of those freaks who has a server without any monitor attached.

Who cares?

[goodmanj (234846)]

Who boots a laptop? I just close the lid on my Mac, and it goes to sleep. I open it up and there's my stuff, in less time than it takes to plug in a cable. It'll sleep happily for weeks without running out of juice. The only time I ever reboot it is when it needs a software update.

TFA is an elaborate solution to the wrong problem. The right problem is, "how can we make laptops that don't need to be booted every time they're used?"

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[Nezer (92629)]

Who boots a laptop?

Lots of people... My wife for one. She has been a Mac user for years (since long before OS X). At one time she was told that computers needed to be shut down when not in use because it's better for the computer. She also wants to conserve power and sleep mode still consumes power (even if this amount is minuscule it does add up).

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[mollymoo (202721)]

The energy cost of rebooting and restarting all your applications is non-zero. For my iBook, it worked out that a boot cost the same as about 18 hours sleep.

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[Fred_A (10934)]

I too think that machines with longer battery life (that is more than the 4 hours or so we typically get with default batteries) would be a much more useful feature.

I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I wished I could get to my files without booting a machine... Either it was dead or I just waited the couple minutes required for it to boot (or the few seconds for it to wake up).

Either way while it's a kind of a neat hack in an abstract kind of way, I see it as a solution looking for a problem.

Just borrow not steal the laptop data you need?

[Herschel Cohen (568)]

Does data become just a bit too accessible? Just asking, what are the built in safe guards. None were noted in the article, but I may have missed its being mentioned.

A bit underwhelmed

[LarrySDonald (1172757)]

Ok, they jammed a USB frontend on the drive system. Good thinking, but not exactly revolutionary thinking - every cheapo device in the toy section seem to have a USB drive interface anymore (I'm only waiting for the first Happy Meal toy with a USB plug - "Experience vast adventures on your computer with the latest bid from Disney/Nick"). Should have always been that way, but good that it's getting that way now at least.

So OS security be damned, eh?

[mr_mischief (456295)]

TFA doesn't say a thing about authentication, authorization, or accounting. How does this know who's checking the data? How does it decide to allow them? Where and how does it store the facts about who accessed what and when? The AAA process is a cornerstone of security -- computer or otherwise.

Yes, I know physical security is paramount. A building needs more than one cornerstone, obviously. ;-) But other systems require the drive to be taken out or the machine to be booted at least. It's a lot easier to make sure no one can boot your machine (startup password, bootloader password, no booting from CD etc.) than to make sure they can't hook up a USB cable to it. It's also a lot harder to catch someone hooking up a cable for a couple of minutes than tearing down your laptop and taking the drive (or sliding the drive out if it's easily removable like some are -- taking it to another system and hooking it up are still time-consuming and conspicuous).

BTW, the other cornerstones are secure design (again, in software/hardware or outside computers altogether) and data hiding (encryption, shredding paper, window shades, closed doors, setting proper permissions so that AAA actually matters, etc).

SECURITY SECURITY SECURITY

[AtariDatacenter (31657)]

You know this is going to be exploited in so many bad ways. Did the NSA think up this one?

Logicube did this a long time ago

[Simon (S2) (600188)]

This [logicube.com] devices are used by the Police and other entities to create complete copies of confiscated computers and work on them without touching the original PC/Mac/Amiga/whatever. It can of course also be used for backup.

Avoiding the problem

[jolyonr (560227)]

This seems like an excellent way of avoiding attention to the real problem - why a modern OS takes so long to boot.

Jolyon

Whoa..

[DoctorDyna (828525)]

Am I wrong in thinking, with laptops that can play DVD's without booting, and now, with hard drives that are accessible without booting, that we are just a short fusion of technology away from having a machine where booting into an operating system is optional for most trivial tasks? I mean, how many functions do we have to breed into a PC before the OS (being a layer for hardware / software communication) becomes obsolete?

Personally, I'd love to see the full range of interesting ideas that can come out

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[DoctorDyna (828525)]

I stand adjusted. ;)

great!

[apodyopsis (1048476)]

thats great! MS finally realized that their OS boots up at about the same speed as a lethargic pig in treacle and decided to do something about it!

though they have scaled new and interesting heights of lateral thinking with this one...!

Makes little sense - what gets data w/o computer?

[scottsk (781208)]

If your computer isn't booted, then how do you access the data off of this not-booted hard drive? Another computer? Your MP3 player? Is it a NAS device, which would require a lot of not-booted services like Wi-Fi access to the network.

Re:Makes little sense - what gets data w/o compute

[ceoyoyo (59147)]

It turns your computer into a giant USB key/external hard drive.