A method for self-servo writing a disk drive includes the steps of transferring a servo reference pattern by magnetic printing onto at least one storage surface of a disk; assembling the disk drive including installing the disk into the disk drive and enclosing the disk and the data transducers within a housing sealed against particulate contamination from an eternal ambient environment; reading the servo reference pattern from the disk via transducer heads; using head position and timing information in the pattern to precisely position and maintain the data transducers at concentric track locations of disk storage surfaces; and self-writing disk drive servo patterns onto the storage surfaces at the concentric track locations with the data transducers in accordance with the disk drive servo pattern features. In one example, the reference pattern includes servo clock information providing transducer head circumferential relative position information, and a servo position information pattern having coarse position information for providing transducer head coarse radial relative position information, and fine position information for providing transducer head fine radial relative position information. The printed reference pattern features have a resolution lower than a disk drive servo pattern features proportional to head gap widths of data transducer heads included in the disk drive.