the number of sectors per block into sectsperblk spb 504 the transfer length in sectors into hostxfersectctr hxsc 502 and devicexfersectctr dxsc 503 the number of longwords in a sector into smi_lw_persect 507 and the number of longwords in a block into host_lw_perblk 506 in addition the microprocessor 201 sets buffsects 505 to maxbuffsects 510 sets host_lw_ptr 511 and smi_lw_ptr 512 to sob_lw ptr 515 and then activates the modules host interface 400 data mover 500 and storage medium interface 600 fig2 subsequently in step 703 the data mover 500 determines if the amount of data remaining to be transferred is less than a block 39 s worth of data this determination is based on whether the value of hxsc 502 is less than the value of spb 504 if the value of hxsc 502 is less than the value of spb 504 then the method 700 proceeds to step 715 fig7 c if however the value of hxsc 502 is not less than the value of spb 504 then the data mover 500 determines in step 704 if there is at least 1 block 39 s worth of available storage in the buffer 205 this determination is based on whether the value of buffsects 505 is greater than or equal to the value of spb 504 if the value of buffsects 505 is not greater than or equal to the value of spb 504 then the method 700 proceeds to step 708 fig7 b if the value of buffsects 505 is.