Information recording/reproducing apparatus for handling defective sectors on an optical disk

摘要

Disclosed is an information recording/reproducing apparatus which uses a rewritable recording medium having a sector structure, and in which a data writing gate signal and a data erasing gate signal are reproduced on the basis of an ID detection signal of a target sector, while a data reading gate signal and a marking gate signal are produced on the basis of the ID detection signal of the target sector or on the basis of an ID detection signal of a sector located N sectors before the target one, so that when data is to be renewed in a specific sector from which no ID detection signal can be obtained, marking is performed in the specific sector on the basis of an ID detection signal of a sector located N sectors before the specific sector and new data are rewritten into a substitutive sector, whereby it is possible to perform data erasing and data recording in a target sector with high reliability and high positional accuracy and it is possible to shorten gaps respectively in front and rear of a data field to thereby make it possible to efficiently use a data area.