A method according to one embodiment may include communicating, by a far end device with a near end device, using a Serial ATA (SATA) communications protocol; receiving, by the far end device, a SATA signal sequence having two bits, the state of which define at least one loopback mode; defining, by the far end device, a reserved and/or error state if both of the bits are set; and processing, by the far end device, the two bits together to determine if the two bits are in a state that defines at least one loopback mode or if the two bits are set. Of course, many alternatives, variations, and modifications are possible without departing from this embodiment.