Electronically alignable flexible disk drive

摘要

A disk drive in which the radial alignment, track zero alignment, index to data timing, write current, asymmetry and threshold dropout can be electronically adjusted. A plurality of programs stored in random access memory run a plurality of adjustment procedures used to control the electronic adjustment functions of the disk drive. An alignment disk read by the disk drive provides alignment data for the radial, track zero and index to data alignment procedures. A microstepper circuit in the disk drive allows the read/write heads to be moved in discrete steps of approximately 1/126 of the track pitch for electronically adjusting the radial and track zero parameters. The index to data alignment is set by generating and storing an artifical index offset value. The write current and asymmetry adjustment procedures utilize digital to analog convertors (DACS) to vary the voltage supplied to the read/write heads. The threshold dropout procedure utilizes a DAC to control the output of a pulse detector.