Patent ID: 6590388
Filing Date: 2003-07-08
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A method of gathering data to detect a defect in a magneto-resistive head in a disc drive, the magneto-resistive head having a magneto-resistive stripe, the disc drive possessing a flat, circular disc used as a recording medium, the disc being divided into a plurality of concentric tracks, each track having a track width, the magneto-resistive stripe having a stripe width, the method comprising:(a) selecting a target track; (b) recording a test signal along the target track; (c) trimming the target track to create a microtrack having a microtrack width less than the stripe width, the microtrack having a first circumferential edge and a second circumferential edge; (d) scanning the target track with the magneto-resistive head at various positions to detect any defect in the magneto-resistive stripe.