Abstract: Testing and compensating for fly height of a head in a storage device during settling time using a head for use on a storage medium and a processor to idle the head for an idle time, unload the head from idle, and compensate for any unsettled fly height of the head using the idle time and at least a pre-determined clearance settling function over time from idle.

Abstract: In a disc drive, a slider having electronic communication with the surface of a data disc, the slider having a first up-track mill transition that has a transition mill to remove oblique mill transitions so that the transition has a substantially perpendicular portion that impacts contaminant particles on or near the disc surface. In other embodiments, other edges of the slider have transition mills to remove oblique transition mills from possible impact with such particles.

Abstract: A slider (2?) with a reduced fly height is disclosed. The slider includes a small micropad (66) on the lower surface (22?) of the slider (2?). A sensor region (62) of a head (61) that is carried by the slider (2?) protrudes into the micropad (66). The fluid pressure acting on an air bearing surface system (26) on the lower surface (22?) of the slider (2?) is insufficient to dispose the entire lower surface (22?) of the slider (2?) in spaced relation to its corresponding disk (136) during the initial portion of the very first operation of the disk drive. The micropad (66) is thereby burnished, and continues to burnish until the air bearing surface system (26) assumes a position relative to the disk (136) that allows the fluid pressure acting on the air bearing surface system (26) to dispose the entire lower surface (22?) of the slider (2?) in spaced relation to the disk (136).

Abstract: Disk drive preconditioning allows the head-disk interface to be burnished or worn so that head-disk interference is reduced or eliminated before servo track writing. The head is positioned closer to the disk than the normal fly height during a preconditioning sweep and then returns to the normal fly height during servo track writing.

Abstract: Tools are provided to identify undesired pole tip protrusion (PTP) on a write portion of a read/write head in a hard disk. Such tools may be incorporated in the hard disk. A corrective action arrangement performs a corrective action in response to the identification of an undesired pole tip protrusion. The corrective action may comprise burnishing of pole tips of a write portion of the read/write head. An asperity read signal condition monitoring circuit monitors asperity conditions from the read signal. The asperity condition may be a high fly write condition, or it may be a thermal asperity condition. A PTP determining circuit determines when a monitored condition is indicative of an undesired PTP condition. A PTP test write cycle may be caused, during which the monitoring circuit monitors either during or right after the PTP test write cycle.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for recovering data in a disk drive following a read error. At least a portion of the actuator arm tip is heated. Thermal expansion reduces the read-head-to-disk spacing, increasing the likelihood of success when a re-read of the data is attempted. In one approach, a heater is operatively coupled to the tip. In one aspect, a write head is provided with write current in order to heat the tip. Data which may be modified or overwritten when providing write current to the write head is preferably read and buffered prior to the write operation, for later re-writing to the disk.

Abstract: A hard disk is provided with tools for limiting the duty cycle (a group of variations of load with time). The write current is controlled by, e.g., limiting the duration of a given write cycle. The write cycle may involve writing data continuously along adjacent portions of the disk media (e.g., writing of data in adjacent segments of a track in the outer diameter (OD) region of a platter), with an intermittent duty write current.

Abstract: A method of design of a magnetic recording slider and sensor geometry is disclosed which allows a magneto-resistive recording element to achieve a significantly reduced physical and magnetic spacing with a rigid magnetic recording disk in a disk drive, without resulting in thermal transients caused by sensor/disk contacts. The method utilizes pseudo-contact slider technology with an intentionally recessed MR sensor pole tip and alumina region. The reduced spacing achieved by pseudo-contact recording is significant compared to the spacing loss incurred by the proposed precision of the MR recoding element, resulting in a net reduction in head medium magnetic spacing.

Abstract: A magnetic recording contact slider is disclosed which allows a magneto-resistive recording element to achieve a significantly reduced physical and magnetic spacing with a rigid magnetic recording disk in a disk drive, without resulting in thermal transients caused by sensor/disk contacts. The slider utilizes a high air-bearing surface curvature to reduce the static friction between the slider and the recording disk.

Abstract: A method of design of a magnetic recording slider and sensor geometry is disclosed which allows a magneto-resistive recording element to achieve a significantly reduced physical and magnetic spacing with a rigid magnetic recording disk in a disk drive, without resulting in thermal transients caused by sensor/disk contacts. The method utilizes pseudo-contact slider technology with an intentionally recessed MR sensor pole tip and alumina region. The reduced spacing achieved by pseudo-contact recording is significant compared to the spacing loss incurred by the proposed precision of the MR recording element, resulting in a net reduction in head medium magnetic spacing.

Abstract: A method of design of a magnetic recording slider and sensor geometry is disclosed which allows a magneto-resistive recording element to achieve a significantly reduced physical and magnetic spacing with a rigid magnetic recording disk in a disk drive, without resulting in thermal transients caused by sensor/disk contacts. The method utilizes pseudo-contact slider technology with an intentionally recessed MR sensor pole tip and alumina region. The reduced spacing achieved by pseudo-contact recording is significant compared to the spacing loss incurred by the proposed precision of the MR recording element, resulting in a net reduction in head medium magnetic spacing.