I was googling for the proper spec earlier but so far haven't been able
to find it :-( (presumably because it's not something hobbyists ever
really messed with)
--
This has been discussed several times in the past year on cctalk.
The best overview was published by National when they were building
disc controller chips.
Unfortunately, cctalk's archive is out of sync with what Google thinks.
Look for "disc simuatlors" as the topic, but look at the cached copy
of the page.
Here is what I wrote the last time:
A good overview of disc formats can be found in two National app notes
http://www.national.com/apnotes/Others__v17.html
AN-413
AN-501 describes the SMD interface, but National doesn't have it on line
any more. It can be found at:
http://manuales.elo.utfsm.cl/datasheet/national/pdf/nsc04334.pdf
There are lots of other related app notes there related to using their
disc chipsets which would be handy as well