Method and apparatus for restoring a device to a default state

#This invention relates to electronic devices, and more particularly, to the resetting of data stored on a disk drive or other storage device in an electronic device.

#Gaming systems currently available on the market are capable of playing game discs, music CDs, and movie DVDs from a disc drive. For example, the Playstation® 2 gaming system from Sony Corporation provides the ability to play games, music, and video titles from a disc inserted in the console. These gaming systems have limited internal data storage capacity. Typically, the internal data storage is used to store system and configuration information, such as the local time, the language preference of the user, and other settings. Other data, such as saved game data and other game-specific data, is generally stored on a memory device that is external to the game console. For example, memory units that are inserted into a handheld game controller store game information for later retrieval by a game console. Existing gaming systems do not contain an internal non-removable hard disk drive for storing saved games and other information.

#A new generation of video gaming systems are equipped with a hard disk drive to enhance gaming, and broadband connectivity to facilitate online gaming. With these additions, significant amounts of data (e.g., saved game data from multiple game titles and multiple users of the gaming system) can be stored within the video gaming system using the hard disk drive. This new internal storage capability creates new issues with respect to software or data corruption on the hard disk drive. Returning a video gaming system to the manufacturer to correct the software and/or data corruption is an inconvenience to the user who is unable to use the system for a significant period of time.

#FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary gaming system.

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the gaming system.

#FIG. 3 illustrates a network gaming system in which the FIG. 1 gaming system is connected via a network to other consoles and services.

#Although particular examples discussed herein refer to gaming systems, the methods and apparatus of the present invention may be applied to any device having a hard disk drive or other storage mechanism that can be reset to a factory default state. The hard disk drive or other storage mechanism is partitioned into a bootable region that is protected as read-only (i.e., not erased during a reset operation) and a second partition that has read and write capabilities and is erased during a reset operation.

#FIG. 1 shows an exemplary gaming system 100. The gaming system 100 includes a game console 102 and up to four controllers, as represented by controllers 104(1) and 104(2). The game console 102 is equipped with an internal hard disk drive and a portable media drive 106 that supports various forms of portable storage media as represented by optical storage disc 108. Examples of suitable portable storage media include DVD, CD-ROM, game discs, and so forth.

#The game console 102 has four slots 110 on its front face to support up to four controllers, although the number and arrangement of slots may be modified. A power button 112 and an eject button 114 are also positioned on the front face of the game console 102. The power button 112 switches power to the game console and the eject button 114 alternately opens and closes a tray of the portable media drive 106 to allow insertion and extraction of the storage disc 108.