CompactFlash endurance check

Hi group

I heard rumors that's possible to read out how many times a given
CompactFlash was written to. I haven't found out how to get this
information out of a card yet. Does someone know ?

TIA

Markus

In article <tvnbc0hlhbsem1rtr6lih4jaqeh7o0udcf@4ax.com>, Markus Zingg 
<m.zingg@nct.ch> writes
>Hi group
>
>I heard rumors that's possible to read out how many times a given
>CompactFlash was written to. I haven't found out how to get this
>information out of a card yet. Does someone know ?
>

The IDE "Translate sector" command (87h) apparently allows you to do 
this. The spec says

This command allows the host a method of determining the exact number of 
times a user sector
has been erased and programmed. The controller responds with a 512 byte 
buffer of information
containing the desired cylinder, head and sector, including its Logical 
Address, and the Hot
Count, if available, for that sector. Table 46 represents the 
information in the buffer. Please note
that this command is unique to the CompactFlash Storage Card.

It's on p88 of the standard CF spec which I got from the Sandisk 
website, I can email you it if you like.

I haven't ever used this command myself.

-- 
Tim Mitchell