Disk drive having one or more partial servo wedges that includes a short servo sync mark that is different than the servo sync word of full servo wedges

A method of reading a magnetic disk of a disk drive, the method comprising the sequential steps of:

• reading a first full servo wedge disposed along a first track, the first full servo wedge defining a leading end and a trailing end and having, between leading and trailing ends, a preamble, a servo sync word, a track ID, and a plurality of servo positioning burst fields;
• reading first user data from first user addressable data locations disposed along the track after the first full servo wedge;
• reading a first partial servo wedge disposed along the first track after the first user addressable locations, the first partial servo wedge being devoid of preamble, track ID and wedge ID and including a short servo sync mark that is different from the servo sync word, the servo sync mark defining a predetermined bit pattern that is immediately followed by a plurality of servo bursts;
• reading second user data from second user addressable data locations disposed along the track after the first partial servo wedge, and
• reading a second full servo wedge disposed along a first track after the second user addressable data locations, the second full servo wedge defining a leading end and a trailing end and having, between leading and trailing ends, a preamble, a servo sync word, a track ID, and a plurality of servo positioning burst fields.