Image forming apparatus and method for controlling image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9979838-B2
Application number	US-201514790097-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2015
Priority date	Jul 7, 2014
Publication date	May 22, 2018
Grant date	May 22, 2018

Abstract

An image forming apparatus including: a hard disk configured to store data; a hard disk malfunction detecting unit configured to detect malfunction of the hard disk; a partition confirmation unit configured to determine as to whether a malfunctioning portion of the hard disk is in a preliminary determined partition; and a partition formatting unit configured to format the partition, wherein, when the malfunctioning portion of the hard disk detected by the hard disk malfunction detecting unit is determined as being in the partition preliminary determined by the partition confirmation unit, the partition formatting unit formats the partition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
at least one storage memory configured to store data wherein plural logical storage partitions are defined in the storage memory, one of the partitions is configured to store data related to an application and another one of the partitions is configured to store data other than data related to the application;
a storage malfunction detecting unit configured to detect malfunction of the storage memory;
a partition confirmation unit configured to confirm, when a malfunction of the storage memory is detected by the storage malfunction detecting unit, whether or not the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory is in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application, wherein the partition is defined for access by the application operating on an operating system of the image forming apparatus; and
a partition formatting unit configured to format the partition for recovering damage to a logical structure of a file system in the partition upon condition that it is confirmed by the partition confirmation unit that the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory detected by the storage malfunction detecting unit is in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application and not to format the partition for recovering damage to a logical structure of a file system in the partition upon condition that it is confirmed by the partition confirmation unit that the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory detected by the storage malfunction detecting unit is not in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application,
wherein the storage malfunction detecting unit, the partition confirmation unit and the partition formatting unit are implemented by at least one computer.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a data updating confirmation unit configured to confirm as to whether data added or updated by a user is included in a partition of the storage memory, wherein
when the data added or updated by the user is included in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application, the data updating confirmation unit confirms that the data added or updated by the user is included in the partition of the storage memory, and
when the data added or updated by the user is determined as being not included in the partition of the storage memory, the partition formatting unit formats the partition.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a data saving unit configured to save the data temporarily in an available region except for the partition including the malfunctioning portion, and
a data recovery unit configured to recover the data saved by the data saving unit, wherein
the data saving unit saves the data, before the partition formatting unit formats the partition, and
the data recovery unit recovers the data, after the partition formatting unit formats the partition.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a formatting frequency storage memory configured to store a frequency of formatting by the partition formatting unit,
a formatting frequency confirmation unit configured to confirm the frequency of formatting stored in the formatting frequency storage memory,
a formatting frequency upper limit storage memory configured to store an upper limit of the frequency of formatting the partition, and
an error notification unit configured to notify an error, wherein,
when the upper limit of the frequency of formatting stored by the formatting frequency upper limit storage memory is reached, without formatting the partition by the partition formatting unit, the error notification unit notifies the error.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application is a temporary region.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application is a user data region configured to store an image data or an application.

7. A controlling method of an image forming apparatus comprising:
detecting malfunction of a storage memory configured to store data, wherein plural logical storage partitions are defined in the storage memory, one of the partitions is configured to store data related to an application and another one of the partitions is configured to store data other than data related to the application;
confirming, when a malfunction of the storage memory is detected in the detecting step, whether or not the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory is in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application, wherein the partition is defined for access by the application operating on an operating system of the image forming apparatus;
controlling to format the partition for recovering damage to a logical structure of a file system in the partition upon condition that it is confirmed in the confirming that the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory detected in the detecting is in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application; and
controlling not to format the partition for recovering damage to a logical structure of a file system in the partition upon condition that it is confirmed in the confirming that the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory detected in the detecting is not in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application,
wherein the detecting, the confirming and the controlling are performed by at least one computer.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that when executed causes a computer to perform a controlling method of an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:
detecting malfunction of a storage memory configured to store data, wherein plural logical storage partitions are defined in the storage memory, one of the partitions is configured to store data related to an application and another one of the partitions is configured to store data other than data related to the application;
confirming, when a malfunction of the storage memory is detected in the detecting step, whether or not the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory is in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application, wherein the partition is defined for access by the application operating on an operating system of the image forming apparatus;
controlling to format the partition for recovering damage to a logical structure of a file system in the partition upon condition that it is confirmed in the confirming that the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory detected in the detecting is in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application; and
controlling not to format the partition for recovering damage to a logical structure of a file system in the partition upon condition that it is confirmed in the confirming that the malfunctioning portion of the storage memory detected in the detecting is not in the partition which is configured to store the data related to the application,
wherein the detecting, the confirming and the controlling are performed by at least one computer.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Yasukawa Takuma

Classifications

• H04N1/00084 Primary

  Recovery or repair, e.g. self-repair · CPC title

• H04N1/0005

  in service, i.e. during normal operation · CPC title

• G06F3/0685

  Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays · CPC title

• H04N2201/0094

  Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception · CPC title

• G06F3/0607

  by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device · CPC title