Calibration of tracking error signal gain in a tracking servo system

1. A method of calibrating a tracking error signal gain in a tracking servo system of an optical disk drive, comprising:

initializing the tracking error signal gain;

determining a peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal with tracking open;

calculating a gain factor from the peak-to-peak value;

resetting the tracking error signal gain based on the gain factor; and

checking to determine if the gain factor is approximately one.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including

arranging that the tracking servo system is open; and

arranging that a focus servo system is closed.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein arranging that focus is closed includes presenting an error message if focus is open.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein arranging that tracking is open includes opening tracking if tracking is closed.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal includes measuring the maximum and minimum values of the tracking error signal as an optical pick-up unit passes over tracks on an optical medium.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining a peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal further includes moving the optical pick-up unit to a predetermined position over the optical medium.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined position is over a particular zone.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined position is over a premastered portion of the optical medium.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined position is over a writeable portion of the optical medium.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating a gain factor includes

setting the gain factor proportional to a ratio between a reference value and the peak-to-peak value; and

ensuring that the gain factor is between a lower limit and an upper limit.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the lower limit is about 0.25 and the upper limit is about 4.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein ensuring that the gain factor is within a lower limit and an upper limit includes setting the gain factor to a specified value if the gain factor is not between the lower limit and the upper limit.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the specified value is the lower limit if the gain factor is below the lower limit and the lower limit is the upper limit if the gain factor is above the upper limit.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein resetting the tracking error signal gain based on the gain factor includes

replacing the tracking error signal gain by a value proportional to the tracking error signal gain multiplied by the gain factor; and

ensuring that the tracking error signal gain is within a range of values.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the range of values is between about −128 and 127.

16. The method of claim 1 , further including,

returning the tracking error signal gain if the gain value is approximately one; and

recalculating the tracking error signal gain if the gain value is not approximately one.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein recalculating the tracking error signal gain includes

determining a peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal with tracking open;

calculating a gain factor from the peak-to-peak value;

resetting the tracking error signal gain based on the gain factor; and

checking to determine if the gain factor is approximately one.

18. An optical disk drive, comprising:

an optical pick-up unit;

an analog processor coupled to receive signals from detectors in the optical pick-up unit and provide digital signals;

at least one processor coupled to receive the digital signals, the at least one processor calculating a control signal; and

a driver coupled to control a tracking position of the optical pick-up unit in response to the control signal,

wherein the at least one processor executes an algorithm that

initializes a tracking error signal gain,

determines a peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal with tracking open,

calculates a gain factor from the peak-to-peak value,

resets the tracking error signal gain based on the gain factor, and

checks to determine if the gain factor is approximately one.

19. The drive of claim 18 , wherein the at least one processor continues to recalculate the tracking error signal gain until the gain factor is approximately one.