Patent ID: 7532551

Claim:
A method for managing a defective area of a recording medium having a data area, a lead-in area and a lead-out area, the method comprising: detecting a defective unit during reproducing or recording operation; recording the data of the defective unit in a replacement unit; and recording defect management information in a defect management area, wherein the defect management area includes a first part and a second part, the first part is used to record therein defect management information generated during a recording operation and the second part is used to record therein defect management information generated during a reproducing operation, wherein the defect management information generated during the recording operation includes position information of a defective unit and a corresponding replacement unit, and the defect management information generated during the reproducing operation includes position information of a defective unit and a corresponding replacement unit, and wherein the method further comprises recording a first access pointer and a second access pointer in the defect management area, the first access pointer indicating a position of the defect management information recorded in the first part and the second access pointer indicating a position of the defect management information recorded in the second part.