Self-labeling digital storage unit

A portable hard drive of a size which may be held in the palm of a hand for communicating with a host device comprising:

• at least one port for communicating with a host device;
• a mass storage hard disk;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said port and said hard disk, said processing circuitry being operable to monitor at least part of the contents of a file allocation table on the hard disk drive;
• and
• a display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information obtained by monitoring the file allocation table.

A portable hard drive of a size which may be held in the palm of a hand for communicating with a host device comprising:

• at least one port for communicating with a host device;
• a mass storage hard disk;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said at least one port and said hard disk, said processing circuitry being operable to monitor the master boot record on the hard disk drive, said processing circuitry determining the free space available on the hard disk using the contents of the master boot record;
• and
• a display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information relating to the amount of free space on the hard drive.

A solid state memory media of the type insertable into a host device comprising:

• a port for communicating with a host device;
• a non-volatile memory media;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said port and said memory media;
• and
• a persistent display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information which will continue to be displayed without being coupled to a power source.

A solid state memory media of the type insertable into a digital camera comprising:

• a port for communicating with a host device;
• a non-volatile memory media;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said port and said memory media;
• and
• a display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information relating to the content of the non-volatile memory media.

A solid state memory drive of the type which is portable and insertable into a host computer comprising:

• a port for communicating with a host computer and for receiving power from said host computer;
• a non-volatile memory media;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said port and said memory media;
• and
• a persistent display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information which will continue to be displayed after being connected from said host computer and without connection to any other source of power.

A method of displaying user defined messages comprising the steps of:

• receiving user data indicative of a message to be displayed;
• embedding the user data in a sequence of data having a predetermined signature;
• writing the sequence including the user data into a file;
• and
• displaying said message based upon said user data upon reading a file including said predetermined signature.

A method of operating a portable hard drive of a size which may be held in the palm of a hand, said portable hard drive including a display comprising the steps of:

• providing a communication port on said portable hard drive for communicating with a host device;
• accessing at least one file system control structure in a mass storage hard disk contained in said hard drive;
• determining information related to the amount of free space on said mass storage hard disk based on the content of a file system control structure;
• and
• displaying information on said display indicative of the amount of free space on said mass storage device.

A method of operating a portable media of a size which may be held in the palm of a hand, said portable media lacking an internal power source and including a persistent display and a memory device, comprising the steps of:

• providing a communication port on said portable media for communicating with a host device;
• providing power to the portable media through said communication port when said portable media is communicating with said host device;
• displaying information on said display indicative of the contents of said memory device;
• and
• maintaining said display after loss of power from said host device.

A portable hard drive of a size which may be held in the palm of a hand for communicating with a host device comprising:

• at least one port for communicating with a host device;
• a mass storage hard disk;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said port and said hard disk;
• and
• a display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information relating to the state of the hard disk drive.

A solid state memory media of the type insertable into a digital camera comprising:

• a port for communicating with a host device;
• a non-volatile memory media;
• processing circuitry operatively coupled to said port and said memory media;
• and
• a display operatively coupled to said processing circuitry for automatically displaying information relating to the state of the non-volatile memory media.