diff -u -ur linux-vanille/drivers/scsi/sd.c linux/drivers/scsi/sd.c
--- linux-vanille/drivers/scsi/sd.c	Sat Oct 31 21:38:18 1998
+++ linux/drivers/scsi/sd.c	Sat Oct 31 21:29:35 1998
@@ -102,6 +102,54 @@
 static int sd_detect(Scsi_Device *);
 static void sd_detach(Scsi_Device *);
 
+/*
+ * handle spinup of idle disks
+ */
+
+static void sd_start_done (Scsi_Cmnd * SCpnt)
+{
+    int result = SCpnt->result;
+    
+    if (result) {
+        printk("SCSI disk error : host %d channel %d id %d lun %d return code = %x\n",
+              rscsi_disks[DEVICE_NR(SCpnt->request.rq_dev)].device->host->host_no,
+              rscsi_disks[DEVICE_NR(SCpnt->request.rq_dev)].device->channel,
+              rscsi_disks[DEVICE_NR(SCpnt->request.rq_dev)].device->id,
+              rscsi_disks[DEVICE_NR(SCpnt->request.rq_dev)].device->lun, result);
+       
+       if (driver_byte(result) & DRIVER_SENSE)
+           print_sense("sd", SCpnt);
+       SCpnt = end_scsi_request(SCpnt, 0, SCpnt->request.current_nr_sectors);
+       requeue_sd_request(SCpnt);
+       return;
+    }
+    
+    /* Retry the operation */
+    requeue_sd_request(SCpnt);
+    return;
+}
+
+static void sd_start (Scsi_Cmnd * SCpnt)
+{
+    unsigned char cmd[12];
+    int dev, old_use_sg = SCpnt->use_sg, oldbufflen = SCpnt->bufflen;
+    
+    dev = DEVICE_NR(SCpnt->request.rq_dev);
+    
+    cmd[0] = START_STOP;
+    cmd[1] = (rscsi_disks[dev].device->lun << 5);
+    cmd[2] = cmd[3] = cmd[5] = 0;
+    cmd[4] = 1;
+    
+    SCpnt->use_sg  = 0;                /* No scatter/gather for START_STOP */
+    SCpnt->bufflen = 0;                /* No response for START_STOP */
+    scsi_do_cmd(SCpnt, cmd, NULL, 0, sd_start_done,
+		60 * HZ, MAX_RETRIES);
+    SCpnt->use_sg  = old_use_sg;
+    SCpnt->bufflen = oldbufflen;
+}
+
+
 static void sd_devname(unsigned int disknum, char * buffer)
 {
     if( disknum < 26 )
@@ -505,6 +553,13 @@
 	    requeue_sd_request(SCpnt);
 	    return;
 	 }
+
+        /* Try to restart the drive if it's idle */
+        if ((SCpnt->sense_buffer[2] & 0x0f) == 0x02)
+        {
+            sd_start(SCpnt);
+            return;
+        }
     }  /* driver byte != 0 */
     if (result) {
 	printk("SCSI disk error : host %d channel %d id %d lun %d return code = %x\n",
@@ -678,6 +733,9 @@
 	goto repeat;
     }
 
+    /* Update idle-since time */
+    rscsi_disks[dev].idle = jiffies;
+
     block += sd[devm].start_sect;
 
     if (rscsi_disks[dev].device->changed)
@@ -1744,6 +1802,7 @@
 	    sd_template.dev_noticed--;
 	    sd_template.nr_dev--;
 	    SD_GENDISK(start).nr_real--;
+	    dpnt->idle = 0;     /* has been idle forever */
 	    return;
 	}
     return;
diff -u -ur linux-vanille/drivers/scsi/sd.h linux/drivers/scsi/sd.h
--- linux-vanille/drivers/scsi/sd.h	Sat Oct 31 21:36:01 1998
+++ linux/drivers/scsi/sd.h	Sat Oct 31 21:20:44 1998
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
     unsigned ten:1;		    /* support ten byte read / write */
     unsigned remap:1;		    /* support remapping  */
     unsigned has_part_table:1;	    /* has partition table */
+    unsigned long idle;	    /* has been idle since */
 } Scsi_Disk;
 
 extern Scsi_Disk * rscsi_disks;
diff -u -ur linux-vanille/drivers/scsi/sd_ioctl.c linux/drivers/scsi/sd_ioctl.c
--- linux-vanille/drivers/scsi/sd_ioctl.c	Sat Oct 31 21:36:01 1998
+++ linux/drivers/scsi/sd_ioctl.c	Sat Oct 31 21:20:44 1998
@@ -103,6 +103,15 @@
 	invalidate_buffers(inode->i_rdev);
 	return 0;
 	
+#define SD_IOCTL_IDLE 4746     /* get idle time */
+    case SD_IOCTL_IDLE:
+       if (!arg)  return -EINVAL;
+       if (!inode->i_rdev) return -EINVAL;
+        if (rscsi_disks[MINOR(dev) >> 4].idle)
+            return (jiffies - rscsi_disks[MINOR(dev) >> 4].idle) / HZ + 1;
+        else
+            return 0;
+
     case BLKRRPART: /* Re-read partition tables */
         if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN))
                 return -EACCES;