Patent ID: 8830803

Claim:
An optical drive apparatus configured to read recorded information on an optical disk having a land and a groove, the optical drive apparatus comprising: an optical system configured to irradiate a recording surface of the optical disk with an optical beam; an optical detector configured to receive a reflected light of the optical beam reflected from the recording surface; a first tracking-error-signal generating unit configured to generate a first tracking error signal by using a DPD method, based on a light receiving amount of the optical detector; a second tracking-error-signal generating unit configured to generate a second tracking error signal by using a DPP method, based on the light receiving amount of the optical detector; a tracking servo unit configured to control the optical system based on either one of the first and second tracking error signals; and a determining unit configured to determine that an irradiation point of the optical beam is in a non-recorded area, wherein the tracking servo unit is configured to start a control of the optical system based on the first tracking error signal to achieve an on-track state, the recorded information being continuously read from the optical disk during the on-track state, and after the on-track state is achieved based on the first tracking error signal but the determining unit determines that the irradiation point of the optical beam is in a non-recorded area, the tracking servo unit is configured to switch over to a control of the optical system based on the second tracking error signal from the control of the optical system based on the first tracking error signal.