International Business Machines Corporation

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

William Harlow McConnell

Norman Kermit Frater

Bernd Lamberts

Brad Vaughn Johnson

Adam Polcyn

Stanley S Hoo

Erik Baserman

Frank J Wang

Murray K Hill

Molly Smith, Legal Representative

Charles D Cullom, Iii

The present invention provides a method, apparatus and program product for testing the reliability of a disk drive. The head-to-disk clearance of a disk drive is measured at different slider airbearing conditions. The change in head-to-disk clearance between the slider airbearing conditions is calculated. If the calculated head-to-disk clearance change between airbearing conditions for each of the heads in the disk drive exceeds a predetermined threshold, the disk drive is verified as having passed the reliability test. Differences in slider airbearing conditions are generated by varying pressures and/or temperatures under which the drive is operated.

Method and apparatus for testing the reliability of a disk drive

Provided are a method, system, and program for performing error correction in a storage device having a magnetic storage medium. A plurality of zones are defined in the magnetic storage medium, wherein each zone comprises a plurality of addressable locations in the magnetic storage medium. A determination is made as to whether a change of a signal-to-noise ratio for one subject zone of the plurality of zones exceeds a threshold. An operation is performed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the subject zone of the magnetic storage medium after determining that the change of the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds the threshold.

Method, system, and program for performing error correction in a storage device having a magnetic storage medium

In a disk drive system transducer suspensions are swaged to the actuator arms. The end actuator arms in the arm stack experience unbalanced forces which detrimentally effect the flying height of the transducers. A compensating swage plate is swaged on the opposite surface of each of the end actuator arms such that these unbalanced forces are canceled and the transducer maintains the proper flying height.

Transducer suspension system

In a magnetic recording disk file employing a transducing slider which is closely spaced from the disk surface and has side rail members extending in the direction of disk motion and tapered portions at the leading edge, the disk may be cleaned of contaminant particles by moving the slider in increments from the outside disk diameter to the inside diameter, so that the particles first encounter the slider/inner side rail and are swept away, rather than first encountering the tapered portions and being wedged into the magnetic coating.

Magnetic recording disk cleaning using controlled actuator motion

A method for monitoring characteristics of a magnetic recording head which is flying in an air bearing relationship over a rotating magnetic recording disk containing Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 detects triboelectric charges generated by intermittent contact between the head and the disk and also detects modulations in the spacing between the head and the disk surface when the two are not in contact.

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Los Altos Hills, CA, United States of America

William Harlow McConnell