A method and apparatus for detecting lubricant depletion in a disk drive is provided.
Disk operation performance parameters are monitored for each of a plurality of
zones on the surface of the disk and stored. Examples of performance parameters
include dwell time, flying height changes, and data recovery measurements. The
performance parameters are compared against predetermined threshold values. If
the performance parameters exceed the predetermined threshold values for any of
the zones, a potential lubricant depletion or other general degradation problem
is flagged for the corresponding zone. Optionally, when a potential lubricant depletion
problem is flagged for a particular zone, corrective action is taken. Examples
of corrective action include moving recently accessed data from the flagged zone
to a zone not identified as having a lubricant depletion problem, moving older
archival data to the flagged zone, and/or removing access to the flagged zone.
