diff --git a/drivers/block/cciss.c b/drivers/block/cciss.c
index d2cb67b61176..b5a061114630 100644
--- a/drivers/block/cciss.c
+++ b/drivers/block/cciss.c
@@ -3611,11 +3611,15 @@ static int __devinit cciss_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev,
 		schedule_timeout_uninterruptible(30*HZ);
 
 		/* Now try to get the controller to respond to a no-op */
-		for (i=0; i<12; i++) {
+		for (i=0; i<30; i++) {
 			if (cciss_noop(pdev) == 0)
 				break;
-			else
-				printk("cciss: no-op failed%s\n", (i < 11 ? "; re-trying" : ""));
+
+			schedule_timeout_uninterruptible(HZ);
+		}
+		if (i == 30) {
+			printk(KERN_ERR "cciss: controller seems dead\n");
+			return -EBUSY;
 		}
 	}