Bugs fixed in WITE 1.26

• Users of fast machines (e.g. 200MHz Pentium Pro) were previously unable to communicate reliably with SpinStands. "Timeout on receiving data" or "Timeout on command completion" error messages would be received. There are now no restrictions on the speed of the host machine.
• Patterns were written incorrectly immediately after reselection during PRML levels + ADC amplitude calibration. The correct pattern is now always written.
• During the write-read offset test on spinstands with mechanical hysteresis (311/312), hysteresis compensation was not applied. Write-to-read offset measurements on those types of spinstands were therefore incorrect. Hysteresis is now compensated for these spinstands, but for accurate results, it is strongly recommended to use 312MP or 1701MP spinstands for write-to-read offset measurement and/or application.
• Common settings in Default database forced error messages generation on chip parameter optimization form loading for some chips. These messages will no longer appear.
• Cosmetic improvements were made to the initial product form. Products can now be deleted from this form.
• The MR Impedance test returned a negative value when a negative read bias was specified. The MR impedance test now has the capability to measure resistance using any user-specified read bias.
• If a test was aborted due to a failed runtime grade, the results of a subsequent good (passed) test were sometimes only partially reported. WITE 1.26 saves all results correctly.
• Minimizing the runtime output form could crash the system. This is now possible to do without disruption.
• The default value for ID radius is now the same as the driver default, avoiding error messages when the default value is used.
• Band Erase always used head 0, even if a different head was selected. Band erase now uses the correct head.
• Grading tables always showed results for 32 heads when head stacks were used, no matter how many heads were actually tested. WITE 1.26 shows results only for the heads that were tested.
• ASCII output from the result processor now includes both disk and head stack ID values.
• The chip adapter board for SSI4910A was upgraded and boards starting with assembly revision J were incompatible with previous WITE revisions. The new chip adapter boards are now fully supported.
• Several labels on the track profile test menu were displayed incorrectly on high-resolution displays. WITE 1.26 displays this menu correctly on all monitors.
• When all heads on a head stack passed, but with different grades, the first head’s grade was used as the grade for the head stack. This did not affect the grade when any head failed – the head stack would always show as failed in this case – but could lead to misleading grading when all heads passed. In WITE 1.26, the worst grade among all the heads is used as the head stack’s grade.
• Histogram calculation failed with high-speed patterns. WITE 1.26 can calculate histograms with any pattern.
• During testing, the previous version of WITE intermittently displayed error messages that "data has changed" or "Can not refresh data." The test results for the test during which this error occurred duplicated the results of the previous test. WITE 1.26 does not incur these intermittent errors and correctly reports test results.
• On machines with a spectrum analyzer, the overwrite test sometimes saturated, causing inaccuracies in measurements. WITE 1.26 uses a different gain calibration algorithm to avoid saturation, providing stable results of the overwrite test.
• The "asymmetry measurements" checkbox in the Configure | Test menu was ignored by the track profile test. This checkbox is now taken into account. Note that it is overridden by fast seek operation.
• In release 1.255, changing RPM in the Configure | Device menu resulted in an "object variable not set" error. This can now be changed without error.
• Some WPROF and WPARAM setup windows remained open after the "Close windows" button on the Dashboard was pressed. All these windows are now closed.
• In release 1.255, it was not possible to abort regular-mode track profiling from the track profile plot form. In WITE 1.26, the "quick start" button changes mode to "abort" when the test is begun and will abort the test if pressed.
• During initialization, head 1 would sometimes not be detected properly and would consequently be unavailable for use. WITE 1.26 corrects this problem: any head that is present is usable.

Known bugs in WITE 1.26

Some bugs were found too late to be fixed for the 1.26 release and will be fixed in a later release. This section contains all known bugs that a customer is likely to encounter. A bug’s presence here means that we are aware of the problem and actively working to solve it. If you encounter a problem not on this list, please report it to Guzik customer support.

• The MR impedance test may fail to apply calibration factors. Inaccuracies of approximately 5-15% have been observed.
• If WITE is aborted under some error conditions, it will leave modules running. Re-running WITE will result in immediate failure to load some modules. To solve this problem, restart the PC and run WITE again.
• Buttons on some forms (e.g. the zone change buttons on the dashboard) are enabled when other operations are still in progress. Pressing these buttons while an operation is pending can cause problems. To avoid these problems, always wait until previous operations are completed before starting new operations.
• TAA positive and negative asymmetry are calculated and reported correctly, but they are not displayed on the saturation test plot.
• The TAA asymmetry test results are correct, but they are incorrectly displayed with the unit of measurement as mA rather than mV.
• The "retest with next setup" option in the Production | Grd/Norm menu does not register results to the database after the first setup. It should not be used.
• The spectrum analyzer test always sets the system overwrite filter to filter #1 after testing. You should either use overwrite filter 1, or change the overwrite filter value in the Control | Filter menu (available from the dashboard) after running the spectrum analyzer test.