diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
index 12717fa5e888..a7950885d18e 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
@@ -3304,35 +3304,6 @@ int sata_phy_resume(struct ata_port *ap, const unsigned long *params,
 	return sata_phy_debounce(ap, params, deadline);
 }
 
-static void ata_wait_spinup(struct ata_port *ap, unsigned long deadline)
-{
-	struct ata_eh_context *ehc = &ap->eh_context;
-	unsigned long end, secs;
-	int rc;
-
-	/* first, debounce phy if SATA */
-	if (ap->cbl == ATA_CBL_SATA) {
-		rc = sata_phy_debounce(ap, sata_deb_timing_hotplug, deadline);
-
-		/* if debounced successfully and offline, no need to wait */
-		if ((rc == 0 || rc == -EOPNOTSUPP) && ata_port_offline(ap))
-			return;
-	}
-
-	/* okay, let's give the drive time to spin up */
-	end = ehc->i.hotplug_timestamp + ATA_SPINUP_WAIT * HZ / 1000;
-	secs = ((end - jiffies) + HZ - 1) / HZ;
-
-	if (time_after(jiffies, end))
-		return;
-
-	if (secs > 5)
-		ata_port_printk(ap, KERN_INFO, "waiting for device to spin up "
-				"(%lu secs)\n", secs);
-
-	schedule_timeout_uninterruptible(end - jiffies);
-}
-
 /**
  *	ata_std_prereset - prepare for reset
  *	@ap: ATA port to be reset
@@ -3356,15 +3327,11 @@ int ata_std_prereset(struct ata_port *ap, unsigned long deadline)
 	const unsigned long *timing = sata_ehc_deb_timing(ehc);
 	int rc;
 
-	/* handle link resume & hotplug spinup */
+	/* handle link resume */
 	if ((ehc->i.flags & ATA_EHI_RESUME_LINK) &&
 	    (ap->flags & ATA_FLAG_HRST_TO_RESUME))
 		ehc->i.action |= ATA_EH_HARDRESET;
 
-	if ((ehc->i.flags & ATA_EHI_HOTPLUGGED) &&
-	    (ap->flags & ATA_FLAG_SKIP_D2H_BSY))
-		ata_wait_spinup(ap, deadline);
-
 	/* if we're about to do hardreset, nothing more to do */
 	if (ehc->i.action & ATA_EH_HARDRESET)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c b/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
index b3f7d3c8ae60..8256655ce7d9 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
@@ -50,6 +50,28 @@ enum {
 	ATA_EH_SPDN_FALLBACK_TO_PIO	= (1 << 2),
 };
 
+/* Waiting in ->prereset can never be reliable.  It's sometimes nice
+ * to wait there but it can't be depended upon; otherwise, we wouldn't
+ * be resetting.  Just give it enough time for most drives to spin up.
+ */
+enum {
+	ATA_EH_PRERESET_TIMEOUT		= 10 * HZ,
+};
+
+/* The following table determines how we sequence resets.  Each entry
+ * represents timeout for that try.  The first try can be soft or
+ * hardreset.  All others are hardreset if available.  In most cases
+ * the first reset w/ 10sec timeout should succeed.  Following entries
+ * are mostly for error handling, hotplug and retarded devices.
+ */
+static const unsigned long ata_eh_reset_timeouts[] = {
+	10 * HZ,	/* most drives spin up by 10sec */
+	10 * HZ,	/* > 99% working drives spin up before 20sec */
+	35 * HZ,	/* give > 30 secs of idleness for retarded devices */
+	5 * HZ,		/* and sweet one last chance */
+	/* > 1 min has elapsed, give up */
+};
+
 static void __ata_port_freeze(struct ata_port *ap);
 static void ata_eh_finish(struct ata_port *ap);
 #ifdef CONFIG_PM
@@ -1603,8 +1625,9 @@ static int ata_eh_reset(struct ata_port *ap, int classify,
 {
 	struct ata_eh_context *ehc = &ap->eh_context;
 	unsigned int *classes = ehc->classes;
-	int tries = ATA_EH_RESET_TRIES;
 	int verbose = !(ehc->i.flags & ATA_EHI_QUIET);
+	int try = 0;
+	unsigned long deadline;
 	unsigned int action;
 	ata_reset_fn_t reset;
 	int i, did_followup_srst, rc;
@@ -1624,7 +1647,7 @@ static int ata_eh_reset(struct ata_port *ap, int classify,
 		ehc->i.action |= ATA_EH_HARDRESET;
 
 	if (prereset) {
-		rc = prereset(ap, jiffies + 40 * HZ);
+		rc = prereset(ap, jiffies + ATA_EH_PRERESET_TIMEOUT);
 		if (rc) {
 			if (rc == -ENOENT) {
 				ata_port_printk(ap, KERN_DEBUG,
@@ -1665,6 +1688,8 @@ static int ata_eh_reset(struct ata_port *ap, int classify,
 	}
 
  retry:
+	deadline = jiffies + ata_eh_reset_timeouts[try++];
+
 	/* shut up during boot probing */
 	if (verbose)
 		ata_port_printk(ap, KERN_INFO, "%s resetting port\n",
@@ -1676,7 +1701,7 @@ static int ata_eh_reset(struct ata_port *ap, int classify,
 	else
 		ehc->i.flags |= ATA_EHI_DID_SOFTRESET;
 
-	rc = ata_do_reset(ap, reset, classes, jiffies + 40 * HZ);
+	rc = ata_do_reset(ap, reset, classes, deadline);
 
 	did_followup_srst = 0;
 	if (reset == hardreset &&
@@ -1693,7 +1718,7 @@ static int ata_eh_reset(struct ata_port *ap, int classify,
 		}
 
 		ata_eh_about_to_do(ap, NULL, ATA_EH_RESET_MASK);
-		rc = ata_do_reset(ap, reset, classes, jiffies + 40 * HZ);
+		rc = ata_do_reset(ap, reset, classes, deadline);
 
 		if (rc == 0 && classify &&
 		    classes[0] == ATA_DEV_UNKNOWN) {
@@ -1703,22 +1728,21 @@ static int ata_eh_reset(struct ata_port *ap, int classify,
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (rc && --tries) {
-		const char *type;
+	if (rc && try < ARRAY_SIZE(ata_eh_reset_timeouts)) {
+		unsigned long now = jiffies;
 
-		if (reset == softreset) {
-			if (did_followup_srst)
-				type = "follow-up soft";
-			else
-				type = "soft";
-		} else
-			type = "hard";
+		if (time_before(now, deadline)) {
+			unsigned long delta = deadline - jiffies;
 
-		ata_port_printk(ap, KERN_WARNING,
-				"%sreset failed, retrying in 5 secs\n", type);
-		ssleep(5);
+			ata_port_printk(ap, KERN_WARNING, "reset failed "
+				"(errno=%d), retrying in %u secs\n",
+				rc, (jiffies_to_msecs(delta) + 999) / 1000);
 
-		if (reset == hardreset)
+			schedule_timeout_uninterruptible(delta);
+		}
+
+		if (reset == hardreset &&
+		    try == ARRAY_SIZE(ata_eh_reset_timeouts) - 1)
 			sata_down_spd_limit(ap);
 		if (hardreset)
 			reset = hardreset;
diff --git a/include/linux/libata.h b/include/linux/libata.h
index 69fc1b8a9215..7906d750aa77 100644
--- a/include/linux/libata.h
+++ b/include/linux/libata.h
@@ -296,18 +296,8 @@ enum {
 
 	/* how hard are we gonna try to probe/recover devices */
 	ATA_PROBE_MAX_TRIES	= 3,
-	ATA_EH_RESET_TRIES	= 3,
 	ATA_EH_DEV_TRIES	= 3,
 
-	/* Drive spinup time (time from power-on to the first D2H FIS)
-	 * in msecs - 8s currently.  Failing to get ready in this time
-	 * isn't critical.  It will result in reset failure for
-	 * controllers which can't wait for the first D2H FIS.  libata
-	 * will retry, so it just has to be long enough to spin up
-	 * most devices.
-	 */
-	ATA_SPINUP_WAIT		= 8000,
-
 	/* Horkage types. May be set by libata or controller on drives
 	   (some horkage may be drive/controller pair dependant */
 
@@ -495,7 +485,6 @@ struct ata_eh_info {
 	unsigned int		dev_action[ATA_MAX_DEVICES]; /* dev EH action */
 	unsigned int		flags;		/* ATA_EHI_* flags */
 
-	unsigned long		hotplug_timestamp;
 	unsigned int		probe_mask;
 
 	char			desc[ATA_EH_DESC_LEN];
@@ -925,12 +914,7 @@ extern void ata_do_eh(struct ata_port *ap, ata_prereset_fn_t prereset,
 
 static inline void __ata_ehi_hotplugged(struct ata_eh_info *ehi)
 {
-	if (ehi->flags & ATA_EHI_HOTPLUGGED)
-		return;
-
 	ehi->flags |= ATA_EHI_HOTPLUGGED | ATA_EHI_RESUME_LINK;
-	ehi->hotplug_timestamp = jiffies;
-
 	ehi->action |= ATA_EH_SOFTRESET;
 	ehi->probe_mask |= (1 << ATA_MAX_DEVICES) - 1;
 }