disclosed are a method and apparatus for detecting disk drive start - up failure under disparate temperature conditions by employing a temperature sensor to measure the temperature of the disk drive at start - up . a controller selects , in response to the measured temperature , a start - up failure timing corresponding to that measured temperature . the controller then detects whether the disk drive reaches operational speed within the selected start - up failure timing . preferably , the temperature sensor is digital . the temperature sensor may be mounted on the drive electronics card , or on electronics in the disk enclosure . the controller may have a stored lookup table relating various temperatures to start - up failure timings for selecting a start - up failure timing corresponding to the measured temperature . this method allows selection of a motor torque constant that does not compromise normal operating performance based on cold start conditions .