Patent ID: 7212362

Claim:
A method for detecting a shock resistance performance of a magnetic head support member in a magnetic disk drive apparatus, comprising the steps of: loading a magnetic head supported by said magnetic head support member above a magnetic disk on which servo information have been preliminarily recorded; measuring off-track positions of said magnetic head and reproduced outputs OUT NOIM of said magnetic head at the respective off-track positions when no shock is applied; storing the measured off-track positions and the measured reproduced outputs OUT NOIM at the respective off-track positions; measuring off-track positions of said magnetic head and reproduced outputs OUT IM of said magnetic head when a shock is applied; and obtaining a change in flying height of said magnetic head from the measured reproduced output OUT IM of said magnetic head when the shock is applied and from the stored reproduced output OUT NOIM of said magnetic head when no shock is applied depending upon the measured off-track position of said magnetic head when the shock is applied.