Mechanisms are provided to receive encoded header information stored on a tape of a tape drive, wherein the encoded header information has been generated by: generating, for a plurality of tracks of the tape of the tape drive, a header information in a plurality of symbols, wherein the plurality of symbols is comprised of a first set of symbols and a second set of symbols, wherein the first set of symbols include identical information across all tracks of the plurality of tracks, and wherein the second set of symbols are configurable to include different information across all tracks of the plurality of tracks; and modifying, for writing to the tape of the tape drive, the first set of symbols of the plurality of tracks to include parity information corresponding to information included in the second set of symbols of the plurality of tracks. The received encoded header information is decoded.

Provided are a method, system, and computer program product in which mechanisms are provided to generate, for a plurality of tracks of a tape of a tape drive, a header information in a plurality of symbols, wherein the plurality of symbols is comprised of a first set of symbols and a second set of symbols, wherein the first set of symbols include identical information across all tracks of the plurality of tracks, and wherein the second set of symbols are configurable to include different information across all tracks of the plurality of track. A modification is made, for writing to the tape of the tape drive, of the first set of symbols of the plurality of tracks to include parity information corresponding to information included in the second set of symbols of the plurality of tracks.

Mechanisms are provided to receive encoded header information stored on a tape of a tape drive, wherein the encoded header information has been generated by: generating, for a plurality of tracks of the tape of the tape drive, a header information in a plurality of symbols, wherein the plurality of symbols is comprised of a first set of symbols and a second set of symbols, wherein the first set of symbols include identical information across all tracks of the plurality of tracks, and wherein the second set of symbols are configurable to include different information across all tracks of the plurality of tracks; and modifying, for writing to the tape of the tape drive, the first set of symbols of the plurality of tracks to include parity information corresponding to information included in the second set of symbols of the plurality of tracks. The received encoded header information is decoded.

Example systems, data storage devices, testers, and methods for storage device configuration using mutual information are described. A data storage device may include channel circuit configuration settings for the encoding and decoding of data written to a non-volatile storage medium. Mutual information metrics may be calculated based on a multi-bit symbol size to compensate for inter-symbol interference and compared to mutual information thresholds to determine the configuration settings, such as bit and track densities, error correction codes, and modulation codes. Mutual information metrics may be used to characterize heads and media independent of the configuration settings.

Example systems, data storage devices, testers, and methods for storage device configuration using symbol context mutual information are described. A data storage device may include channel circuit configuration settings for the encoding and decoding of data written to a non-volatile storage medium. The configuration settings may be determined by determining a known pattern for a sector, determining a series of symbol contexts, determining mutual information for each symbol context, and using the symbol context mutual information to determine relationships among configuration settings, such as bit size, error correction code rate, and modulation code. Once determined, the configuration settings may be used to configure the modulation code and ECC rate for the channel circuit of the data storage device.

Example systems, data storage devices, testers, and methods for storage device configuration using symbol context mutual information are described. A data storage device may include channel circuit configuration settings for the encoding and decoding of data written to a non-volatile storage medium. The configuration settings may be determined by determining a known pattern for a sector, determining a series of symbol contexts, determining mutual information for each symbol context, and using the symbol context mutual information to determine relationships among configuration settings, such as bit size, error correction code rate, and modulation code. Once determined, the configuration settings may be used to configure the modulation code and ECC rate for the channel circuit of the data storage device.

Example systems, data storage devices, testers, and methods for storage device configuration using mutual information are described. A data storage device may include channel circuit configuration settings for the encoding and decoding of data written to a non-volatile storage medium. Mutual information metrics may be calculated based on a multi-bit symbol size to compensate for inter-symbol interference and compared to mutual information thresholds to determine the configuration settings, such as bit and track densities, error correction codes, and modulation codes. Mutual information metrics may be used to characterize heads and media independent of the configuration settings.