A data processing device for detecting and correcting data errors of a re-writable memory via an error correction algorithm. In one embodiment, the data processing device includes a coding unit implemented in hardware and an error correction unit implemented in software. In one embodiment, the coding unit is capable receiving a first set of data to be written to the memory and processing that data in accordance with an error correction algorithm to form a second set of data. The second set of data may be output to memory. In one embodiment, the coding unit receives data from the memory and processes that data in accordance with the error correction algorithm to determine whether the data contains an error. In one embodiment, the error correction unit receives data that contains an error and produces corrected data via an error correction algorithm. The corrected data may be output to the memory.