Abstract: A disk drive system comprising a shock evaluator is disclosed. The shock evaluator includes a shock evaluation circuit and threshold logic and firmware that is capable of evaluating the level of physical shocks to the disk drive system. The shock evaluation circuit is capable of comparing the level of a physical shock to threshold shock values. The threshold logic and firmware is capable of periodically resetting the threshold shock values to account for the change in operating conditions experienced by the disk drive system. When the shock evaluator determines that a physical shock is present, communication between the read/write transducer and the disk is interrupted to prevent corruption of data stored on the disk.

Abstract: A disk drive system comprising a shock sensing circuit is disclosed. The shock sensing circuit includes a shock evaluation circuit and threshold logic and firmware that is capable of evaluating the level of physical shocks to the disk drive system. The shock evaluation circuit is capable of comparing the level of a physical shock to threshold shock values. The threshold logic and firmware is capable of periodically resetting the threshold shock values to account for the change in operating conditions experienced by the disk drive system. When the shock sensing circuit determines that a physical shock is present, communication between the read/write transducer and the disk is interrupted to prevent corruption of data stored on the disk.