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Date:      Tue, 23 Aug 2005 01:06:18 +0200
From:      Stefan Bethke <stb@lassitu.de>
To:        =?ISO-8859-1?Q?S=F8ren_Schmidt?= <sos@freebsd.org>
Cc:        freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, m.ehinger@ltur.de
Subject:   Re: IBM Active Protection System Approach
Message-ID:  <5051CE43-C8D3-41BD-9944-11EDFEA4300D@lassitu.de>
In-Reply-To: <A95A177C-8C1B-47F6-8344-B818F6A97EAF@FreeBSD.org>
References:  <OF828DE8D9.036E29C8-ONC1257065.002A679F-C1257065.002CBB28@gateway-inter.net> <A95A177C-8C1B-47F6-8344-B818F6A97EAF@FreeBSD.org>

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Am 22.08.2005 um 17:26 schrieb S=F8ren Schmidt:

> On 22/08/2005, at 10:08, m.ehinger@ltur.de wrote:
>> what would be the best approach to implement aps on FreeBSD?
>>
>> I got an Accelerometer driver which will deliver data. First =20
>> Version is available at
>> https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?=20
>> group_id=3D138242&package_id=3D160977
>>
>> We have to poll the device for information quiet often to detect a =20=

>> possible shock early enough to park disk drive heads.
> Urhm, what type of "accidents" is it we want to protect against here ?
>
> It will take several tens of mS to get the heads parked if not =20
> hundreds, and the worst case scenario would be that the "accident" =20
> will happen just as the heads are on the way to the parking zone =20
> which would *really* destroy data on there, unless the disk has =20
> special HW to just quickly lift the heads or something.

I have no insight into either IBM's or Apple's implementation, but =20
I've read that they both rely on detecting the machine being in =20
freefall, or similar acceleration states, as a cue to have the HD =20
park the heads before a possible impact.

Early reports from Mac enthusiast sites (and I believe similar =20
reports from IBM users) indicate that the hysteresis is so small that =20=

gently pounding the table the notebook is sitting on will make the =20
drive park the heads, and lead to 10 to 20 seconds delay before the =20
drive can be accessed again.

Given how tightly coupled mechanically the HD in most notebooks is to =20=

it's shell, it seems a very good idea to pursue.

If you have access to a new(ish) PowerBook, I recommend checking out =20
http://www.kernelthread.com/software/ams/. The sensitivity of the =20
accelerometer is truely astounding.  (For those who haven't seen it: =20
you turn the notebook, and the demo window is turned so it stays =20
level.  It takes *really* small movements to confuse the system.)


Stefan

--=20
Stefan Bethke <stb@lassitu.de>   Fon +49 170 346 0140





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