Patent ID: 8483027

Claim:
A disk drive comprising: a disk comprising a plurality of tracks; a head coupled to an actuator arm actuated over the disk; and control circuitry operable to: first seek the head a first seek distance from a first track to a second track; read data from the second track for a first time interval to generate a first read signal; second seek the head a second seek distance from the second track to a third track, wherein the second seek distance is less than the first seek distance; read data from the third track for a second time interval to generate a second read signal; third seek the head a third seek distance from the third track to a fourth track, wherein the third seek distance is less than the second seek distance; read data from the fourth track for a third time interval to generate a third read signal; and evaluate the first, second, and third read signals to qualify the disk drive, wherein the first, second, and third seeks are executed in proximity so as to excite the actuator arm with a jitter motion.