Do you get any error messages from the kernel as it fails to see the hd? What is the hard drive make and model? I had a problem once after upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu (intrepid?) not being able to see my sata cd-rom drive; apparently it did not respond fast enough to a polling for it to be detected or something like that. A firmware upgrade fixed that.
Makes you wonder how many times he was thwarted by
As this person sadly found out the hard way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MytfhzcSF-Y
Although their is a lot of stabbings and muggings, and their citizens regularly get shot by police, you don't see much gun crime by criminals in Britain now a days, do you?
Is there anything similar to fail2ban for other things such as remote desktop? I use ubuntu, which doesn't allow you to set complex passwords for remote desktop, so right now I am just blocking the port off with my router, and then logging into that and unblocking it if I need to use it.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." - Bert Lantz