Abstract: A data storage device is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk. The head is positioned at a first radial location over the disk and at least part of a codeword on the disk is read to generate first signal samples. A first quality metric is generated for the first signal samples. The head is positioned at a second radial location over the disk different from the first radial location and at least part of the codeword is read to generate second signal samples. A second quality metric is generated for the second signal samples. A first subset of the first signal samples is combined with a second subset of the second signal samples based on the first and second quality metrics to generate a combined set of signal samples. An attempt is made to decode the codeword based on the combined set of signal samples.

Abstract: A data storage device is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk comprising a plurality of data tracks. Data is encoded into a first number of codewords, and the first number of codewords are interleave written to a first segment of a first data track. Data is encoded into a second number of codewords, and the second number of codewords are interleave written to a second segment of the first data track. The first number of codewords is different than the second number of codewords, and a size of the first segment is different than a size of the second segment.

Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk having a plurality of tracks, wherein each track comprises a plurality of data sectors. A head is actuated radially over the disk for generating a read signal. A first read of a data sector is performed while adjusting an amplitude of the read signal in response to a gain control setting. When an error occurs while attempting to first read the data sector, a first jog value is generated in response to the gain control setting. The head is served over the data sector in response to the first jog value, and a second read of the data sector is performed.