diff -ruN dist-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide.c cobalt-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide.c
--- dist-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide.c	Tue May  1 16:05:00 2001
+++ cobalt-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide.c	Thu Jun 21 15:32:31 2001
@@ -161,6 +162,9 @@
 #include <linux/kmod.h>
 #endif /* CONFIG_KMOD */
 
+/* default maximum number of failures */
+#define IDE_DEFAULT_MAX_FAILURES 	1
+
 static const byte ide_hwif_to_major[] = { IDE0_MAJOR, IDE1_MAJOR, IDE2_MAJOR, IDE3_MAJOR, IDE4_MAJOR, IDE5_MAJOR, IDE6_MAJOR, IDE7_MAJOR, IDE8_MAJOR, IDE9_MAJOR };
 
 static int	idebus_parameter; /* holds the "idebus=" parameter */
@@ -262,6 +267,7 @@
 		drive->name[0]			= 'h';
 		drive->name[1]			= 'd';
 		drive->name[2]			= 'a' + (index * MAX_DRIVES) + unit;
+		drive->max_failures		= IDE_DEFAULT_MAX_FAILURES;
 		init_waitqueue_head(&drive->wqueue);
 	}
 }
@@ -636,11 +642,14 @@
 			return ide_started;	/* continue polling */
 		}
 		printk("%s: reset timed-out, status=0x%02x\n", hwif->name, tmp);
+		drive->failures++;
 	} else  {
 		printk("%s: reset: ", hwif->name);
-		if ((tmp = GET_ERR()) == 1)
+		if ((tmp = GET_ERR()) == 1) {
 			printk("success\n");
-		else {
+			drive->failures = 0;
+		} else {
+			drive->failures++;
 #if FANCY_STATUS_DUMPS
 			printk("master: ");
 			switch (tmp & 0x7f) {
@@ -1048,6 +1057,12 @@
 	int i;
 	unsigned long flags;
  
+	/* bail early if we've exceeded max_failures */
+	if (drive->max_failures && (drive->failures > drive->max_failures)) {
+		*startstop = ide_stopped;
+		return 1;
+	}
+
 	udelay(1);	/* spec allows drive 400ns to assert "BUSY" */
 	if ((stat = GET_STAT()) & BUSY_STAT) {
 		__save_flags(flags);	/* local CPU only */
@@ -1144,6 +1159,11 @@
 #ifdef DEBUG
 	printk("%s: start_request: current=0x%08lx\n", hwif->name, (unsigned long) rq);
 #endif
+	/* bail early if we've exceeded max_failures */
+	if (drive->max_failures && (drive->failures > drive->max_failures)) {
+		goto kill_rq;
+	}
+
 	if (unit >= MAX_DRIVES) {
 		printk("%s: bad device number: %s\n", hwif->name, kdevname(rq->rq_dev));
 		goto kill_rq;
diff -ruN dist-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide-disk.c cobalt-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide-disk.c
--- dist-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide-disk.c	Fri Feb  9 11:30:23 2001
+++ cobalt-2.4.6/drivers/ide/ide-disk.c	Tue Jun 26 14:29:44 2001
@@ -692,6 +692,8 @@
 	ide_add_setting(drive,	"file_readahead",	SETTING_RW,					BLKFRAGET,		BLKFRASET,		TYPE_INTA,	0,	INT_MAX,			1,	1024,	&max_readahead[major][minor],	NULL);
 	ide_add_setting(drive,	"max_kb_per_request",	SETTING_RW,					BLKSECTGET,		BLKSECTSET,		TYPE_INTA,	1,	255,				1,	2,	&max_sectors[major][minor],	NULL);
 	ide_add_setting(drive,	"lun",			SETTING_RW,					-1,			-1,			TYPE_INT,	0,	7,				1,	1,	&drive->lun,			NULL);
+	ide_add_setting(drive,	"failures",		SETTING_RW,					-1,			-1,			TYPE_INT,	0,	65535,				1,	1,	&drive->failures,		NULL);
+	ide_add_setting(drive,	"max_failures",		SETTING_RW,					-1,			-1,			TYPE_INT,	0,	65535,				1,	1,	&drive->max_failures,		NULL);
 }
 
 /*
diff -ruN dist-2.4.6/include/linux/ide.h cobalt-2.4.6/include/linux/ide.h
--- dist-2.4.6/include/linux/ide.h	Tue Jul  3 15:44:16 2001
+++ cobalt-2.4.6/include/linux/ide.h	Mon Jul  9 15:56:19 2001
@@ -349,6 +350,8 @@
 	byte		init_speed;	/* transfer rate set at boot */
 	byte		current_speed;	/* current transfer rate set */
 	byte		dn;		/* now wide spread use */
+	unsigned int	failures;	/* current failure count */
+	unsigned int	max_failures;	/* maximum allowed failure count */
 } ide_drive_t;
 
 /*