In one example, a method is provided for detecting the relative position of a transducer head with respect to a storage medium utilizing existing or previously written data structures on a magnetic storage tape and optically diffractive media. The method includes generating a read signal from a read element associated with a transducer head, the read signal generated from a reference data track stored on a magnetic storage medium, and determining a relative position of a first diffractive medium with respect to a second diffractive medium, wherein the first diffractive medium is associated with the storage medium. The transducer head is repositioned relative to the storage medium in response to the read signal and the relative position of the first diffractive medium and the second diffractive medium.