Selection of optimum write current in a disc drive to minimize the

Abstract

A method for optimizing the write current used by a disc drive read/write transducer to write data to data tracks on a disc. The method optimizes the write current by selecting write currents that minimize the occurrence of repeatable, hard read errors. The method comprises writing a predetermined pattern of information to selected data tracks using each of a plurality of write current values and subsequently reading the data on the selected data track while recording the number of hard read errors for each of the write current values. The optimum write current value is selected at the write current value having the minimum number of hard read errors. An optimum write current value is determined for each of a plurality of locations on the disc and these write current values are stored in the disc drive. During subsequent disc drive write operations, these values are used to determine the optimum write current value for a selected data track through interpolation techniques. Alternatively, for disc drives employing zone-based recording, an optimum write current value can be determined and used for each zone of data tracks on the disc.