A method is disclosed for configuring a disk drive to support a targeted storage format for at least one surface of a disk on the disk drive, wherein the disk drive comprises a disk drive control system for executing a first firmware code image corresponding to the targeted storage format. The method includes receiving in the control system a format-selection parameter relating to a format-specific code portion selected from a plurality of format-specific sub-portions wherein each sub-portion corresponds to a specific storage format. The method further includes configuring the firmware code image by the control system from the selected format-specific sub-portion and a second code portion wherein the second code portion is executable by the control system for each of the format-specific sub-portions; and executing the configured firmware code image by the control system wherein the executing configures the control system to support the targeted storage format.