Abstract: Systems, methods, and firmware for operating data storage devices and storage processors are provided herein. In one example, a data storage device is provided. The data storage device includes magnetic storage media configured to store data, read heads configured to read data from the magnetic storage media at associated areal densities, and a storage processor. The storage processor is configured to monitor read error rates of the read heads during operation of the data storage device to identify a degraded one of the read heads, and process at least the read error rates and an areal density of the degraded one of the read heads to modify the areal density of at least the degraded one of the read heads.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and firmware for operating data storage devices and storage processors are provided herein. In one example, a data storage device is provided. The data storage device includes magnetic storage media configured to store data, read heads configured to read data from the magnetic storage media at associated areal densities, and a storage processor. The storage processor is configured to monitor read error rates of the read heads during operation of the data storage device to identify a degraded one of the read heads, and process at least the read error rates and an areal density of the degraded one of the read heads to modify the areal density of at least the degraded one of the read heads.

Abstract: A method for identifying a problem with a magnetic disk, comprising testing both sides of a disk for read errors using a pair of heads, flipping the disk 180 degrees, again testing both sides of the disk for read errors using the same heads, determining whether one side of the disk has more errors than the other side both before and after the flip, and determining that the disk is the cause of the read errors if the same side of the disk still has more errors than the other side after the flip.

Abstract: The method of the invention for servo track writer calibration consists of writing magnetic servo tracks and performing optical analysis using Kerr effect microscopy. After the servo tracks are written on the disk, the disk is placed in the optical inspection device having Kerr effect microscopy capability which allows the operator to directly observe the location of “track zero” which is conventionally the track nearest to the inner diameter (ID) of the disk. An embodiment of the method comprising measuring a plurality of distances from a selected points on the track zero to obtain an average measurement indicative of a position of track zero on the magnetic disk. The measured data is then used to calibrate or adjust the servo writer.

Abstract: The present invention is a method for defect locating marking and analysis of thin film hard disks. Initially, the hard disk is disposed in a disk drive and the disk is formatted with sector identification lines and data written into data tracks. During the data writing process a disk surface defect is identified by its sector, track and byte location. The hard disk is then marked such that the defect can be located at a later time. The erased bands aid in later locating the defect. After the defect locating erasures have been completed for each defect found on the disk, the disk is removed from the hard disk drive for further analysis. The disk is then placed on the stage of a microscope and ferromagnetic fluid is applied to the disk in order to make the erased tracks visible. The ferromagnetic fluid is applied out to the end of the track erasure of the track that includes the defect, without application of ferromagnetic fluid to the defect itself.

Abstract: The fuel consumption of an internal combustion engine is decreased by the sue of steam, wherein the steam is produced by maintaining a constant flow of water past the internal combustion engine which acts as the boiler, without the need for any external source of heat. The steam that is produced is injected in a timed, pulsed manner into the engine at such a time as to allow the expansion of the steam in the chamber to supplement the expansion of the gases caused by the explosion of the fuel consumed.

Abstract: A tornado warning device which emits a warning sound when air escapes the said device at a pre-determined rate, with said rate being that of the loss of air pressure in the path of a tornado.