Patent ID: 7095579

Claim:
A disk drive comprising: (a) a disk; (b) an actuator arm; (c) a head connected to a distal end of the actuator arm; (d) a voice coil motor (VCM) for rotating the actuator arm about a pivot to actuate the head radially over the disk; (e) a ramp positioned near an outer diameter of the disk; (d) disk control circuitry for executing an unload operation to unload the actuator arm onto the ramp during a power failure by: monitoring a radial location of the head; if the radial location of the head is greater than a predetermined distance from the outer diameter of the disk when the power failure occurs, controlling the VCM to move the head toward the outer diameter of the disk until the actuator arm unloads onto the ramp; and if the radial location of the head is less than the predetermined distance from the outer diameter of the disk when the power failure occurs: controlling the VCM to move the head toward the inner diameter of the disk and stopping the head before it reaches the inner diameter of the disk; and controlling the VCM to move the head toward the outer diameter of the disk until the actuator arm unloads onto the ramp.