Methods and arrangements to remap degraded storage blocks on, e.g., IDE/ATA drives are disclosed. Embodiments may comprise a host and/or a data storage device for, e.g., a handheld device. The host may comprise remapping logic. In many embodiments, the remapping logic may track degraded storage blocks as indicated by the data storage device. In several embodiments, the host may remap data from degraded storage blocks in response to indications from the data storage device that the degraded storage blocks have degraded to a point at which further use may risk loss of data. The data storage device may execute error correction code to acquire valid data and if error correction measures exceed a threshold, or are otherwise determined to be excessive, the data storage device may communicate the degradation of the storage block to the host. Other embodiments may be disclosed and claimed.