Patent ID: 7197593
Filing Date: 2007-03-27
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. A bad-sector search method, comprising: a bad sector recording step whereby when receiving a command that accesses a sector on a disk-shaped recording medium placed in a data recording device, a bad sector is detected, and then an address of the bad sector is recorded in a memory; a determining step for determining whether or not the data recording device is executing a command; a detecting step whereby if it is determined that the data recording device is not executing a command, addresses of surrounding sectors adjacent to the bad sector, the address of which is recorded in the memory, are recorded in the memory, and then whether or not each of the surrounding sectors is a bad sector is detected; and a bad-surrounding-sector recording step whereby if the surrounding sector is not a bad sector, the address of the surrounding sector is deleted from the memory, and if the surrounding sector is a bad sector, the address of the surrounding sector is recorded in the memory as a bad sector; if the number of steps of error recovery procedures executed for data recorded in the surrounding sector exceeds a predetermined specified value, the detecting step detects that the surrounding sector is a bad sector; and wherein said detecting step further comprises: processing that deletes an address of a sector, a search for which has already been completed, from the addresses of the surrounding sectors in the memory; and processing whereby focusing on the two bad sectors adjacent to each other, each address of surrounding sectors adjacent to one bad sector is mutually compared with each address of surrounding sectors adjacent to the other bad sector, and one of duplicated surrounding sectors is deleted from the memory.