Patent ID: 6975467

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: providing a disk surface that is divided into a plurality of zones, the disk surface having a head associated therewith; measuring amplitudes of a plurality of automatic gain control (AGC) fields in a first of said plurality of zones; storing a calibrated value, which is based upon the measured amplitudes, onto the disk surface for use in determining whether a high fly write condition exists in the first of said plurality of zones; receiving a write command to write a block of data in the first of said plurality of zones; measuring an amplitude of an AGC field in the first of said plurality of zones in response to the write command; comparing the measured amplitude to the calibrated value; determining whether the measured amplitude is within a predetermined tolerance in comparison to the calibrated value; writing the block of data onto the disk surface in a data sector associated with the AGC field in the first of said plurality of zones before the disk surface completes one revolution after measuring the measured amplitude regardless of whether the measured amplitude is within the predetermined tolerance; and, reading the block of data written onto the disk surface after the disk surface completes the one revolution and before the disk surface completes two revolutions after measuring the measured amplitude and performing a write verification on the block of data read from the disk surface if the measured amplitude is outside of the predetermined tolerance.