Maxtor Corporation

Nick Warner

Erhard Theodor Schreck

Don Brunnett

Gang Herbert Lin

John P Mead

Donald Joseph Brunnett

Duc H Banh

Jingbo Yu

John Vicars

Kezhao Zhang

Suet Teo

Kurt Rusnak

A method of determining side track erasure in a disk drive having a disk and a transducer. A target track and one or more side tracks proximate to the target track on the disk are selected, and recording parameters for recording signals on the target track and each side track with the transducer are selected. Thereafter, signals are recorded on each side track and then signals are recorded on the target track multiple times. A reduction in the integrity of the recorded signals on each side track due to recording signals on the target track multiple times is detected, and the detected reduction in the integrity of the recorded signals on each side track represents the amount of the erasure of the recorded signals on the side track. Recording parameters are changed based on the signal integrity reduction to minimize side track erasure.

Method of determining side track erasure in a disk drive

A disk drive includes a rotatable data storage disk, a transducer, and a controller. The transducer is configured to write data on the disk. The controller is configured to receive data from a host device, to measure at least one parameter that is indicative of a time varying characteristic associated with the disk drive, and to write the measured parameter and the data on the disk through the transducer. The time varying characteristic that is measured may include temperature, air pressure, flying height of the transducer relative to the disk, and/or a position error signal (PES) that is indicative of a radial location of the transducer relative to a desired location along a track on the disk. The measured parameters may be embedded within the data that is written on the disk, they may be written in a same track and/or sector as the data, and/or they may be written on a reserved portion of the disk.

Disk drive that stores time varying characteristics thereof with data from a host device and associated methods

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Livermore, CA, United States of America

Nick Warner