Patent ID: 7209310

Claim:
A disk drive comprising: (a) a disk comprising a plurality of servo sectors defining a plurality of servo tracks, wherein each servo sector comprises a track address identifying a corresponding servo track; (b) a head actuated over the disk; (c) a ramp positioned near an outer diameter of the disk, wherein an edge of the ramp extends over a plurality of the servo tracks; (d) control circuitry for identifying a starting track proximate an outer diameter of the disk by: (i) loading the head from the ramp onto the disk; (ii) detecting a track address in at least one of the servo sectors; (iii) storing the detected track address; (iv) unloading the head from the disk onto the ramp; (v) repeating steps (i) through (iv) at least once; and (vi) identifying the starting track in response to the stored track addresses.