Method of operating hard disk drives, corresponding hard disk drive and processing device

A first voice coil motor (VCM) control circuit, comprising:

• a first finite state machine (FSM) configured to be coupled to a second VCM control circuit over a communication line, the first FSM configured to sense signals indicative of a first sequence of retract steps performed at a second VCM over the communication line;
• and
• a second FSM coupled to the first FSM and having outputs configured to be coupled to the first VCM at a drive output, the second FSM configured to drive a second sequence of retract steps at the drive output, wherein the second sequence of retract steps is performed in a timed relationship to the first sequence of retract steps performed at the second VCM.