Patent ID: 8089715

Claim:
A method of formatting a storage disk including: defining a first portion of a sector of the storage disk, wherein the first portion precedes a defect, having a length, and has a first length that varies based on a detected location of the defect; deciding whether to include synchronization information in a second portion of the sector of the storage disk including by comparing the length of the defect to a threshold that is set to a value such that a timing loop is able to be paused without resulting in inaccurate timing; defining the second portion of the sector of the storage disk, wherein the second portion follows the defect and has a second length that varies based on the detected location of the defect; in the event it is decided to include synchronization information in the second portion of the sector, allocating a split sector format where a first portion of the sector includes synchronization information and a second portion of the sector includes synchronization information; in the event it is decided not to include synchronization information in the second portion of the sector, allocating a low overhead split sector format where a first portion of the low overhead sector includes synchronization information and a second portion of the low overhead sector excludes synchronization information; and storing information associated with the format of the sector.