44
3.5
True-IDE Specifications
The following requirements must be met in order to use a flash card in accordance with the True-
IDE specifications. If these requirements are not met, the card will probably start up in memory
mode. Once a card starts up as a PC-ATA card, it will operate as such until its power is turned off.
True-IDE specifications cannot be selected by modifying registers during operation or by a reset.
True-IDE setting procedure and precautions
1. Set the flash card
OE
pin (
ATASEL
) to GND during the transition from power-off to power-
on.
2. The
OE
pin (
ATASEL
) must then be held low during use as a True-IDE specification card.
Notes: 1. When starting up as a True-IDE specification card, only I/O access is enabled.
2. Only the task file region can be accessed.
3. No memory areas can be accessed (including the attribute region); i.e., the
WE
and
OE
input pins cannot be used. It is recommended that
WE
and
OE
be pulled high.
4. The card will operate as a PC-ATA specification card if the
OE
setting is incorrect
(including an incorrect setting due to noise, etc.) when performing hot-line insertion or
removal, and particularly in the power-off
→
power-on sequence.
5. The selection of PC-ATA or True-IDE specifications is determined only in the power-
on sequence. The state of
OE
is not checked in a reset.
When the True-IDE specifications are used, the access method is simpler than in other modes. The
necessary peripheral circuitry is also comparatively small in scale, making this mode suitable for
embedded applications. Once a card is used with the PC-ATA specifications, this does not mean
that it can no longer be used as a PC card. For example, a flash card used as a True-IDE
specification card in the user’s own system can be used as a PC card without any problem if
inserted in the PC card slot of a notebook PC.
In this case, however, although identification as hardware is possible, it will not be possible to
read or write data if the actual file formats of the user’s system and the PC are different. It is
therefore advisable to use DOS format or similar file management in one’s own system so that
files can also be read in a PC environment.
The pin interface when using the True-IDE specifications is shown in tables 3.19 and 3.20. For the
method of accessing the registers, and timing details, see tables 3.16 to 3.18, etc.