Method for calculating a format specific parameter in a disk drive having differing surface formats

A method is disclosed for selecting format specific parameters in a disk drive comprising a control system and a plurality of disk surfaces each having a surface format for storing data, wherein at least one surface format is different than other surface formats. The method includes initializing the disk drive for operation, receiving a data transfer command, and selecting a disk surface for performing data transfer operations based on the received data transfer command. The method further includes selecting a format specific data structure corresponding to the selected disk surface, calculating a format specific variable using the selected format specific data structure, and performing the data transfer operations by the control system based on the calculated variable.