I'm receiving messages like these at boot:
hda: task_in_intr: status=0x59 { DriveReady SeekComplete DataRequest Error }
hda: task_in_intr: error=0x04 { DriveStatusError }
ide: failed opcode was: unknown
I'm assuming this is a hardware failure. The last time I had this problem it was the drive.
Any suggestions besides buying a new drive? I think my DVDRW is going to crap out soon, too. And hardware is so expensive!