diff -urNp --exclude CVS --exclude BitKeeper xx-ref/kernel/softirq.c xx/kernel/softirq.c
--- xx-ref/kernel/softirq.c	2002-11-29 02:23:18.000000000 +0100
+++ xx/kernel/softirq.c	2003-05-27 04:56:57.000000000 +0200
@@ -58,12 +58,32 @@ static inline void wakeup_softirqd(unsig
 		wake_up_process(tsk);
 }
 
+static inline int softirqd_is_waken(unsigned cpu)
+{
+	struct task_struct * tsk = ksoftirqd_task(cpu);
+
+	return tsk && tsk->state == TASK_RUNNING;
+}
+
+/*
+ * the higher this number the less likely ksoftirqd will be waken by
+ * a short irq flood peak, but the higher unfariness the softirq load
+ * will generate against the regular scheduler tasks.
+ * Each loop will allow one more block to pass through to the
+ * higher layer. If further blocks keeps arriving we giveup and we
+ * offload the work in a scheduler friendly way. After ksoftirqd
+ * is started we will stop wasting time here, so under attack
+ * we're still competely fair.
+ */
+#define MAX_SOFTIRQ_LOOPS 8
+
 asmlinkage void do_softirq()
 {
 	int cpu = smp_processor_id();
 	__u32 pending;
 	unsigned long flags;
 	__u32 mask;
+	int loops;
 
 	if (in_interrupt())
 		return;
@@ -72,6 +92,7 @@ asmlinkage void do_softirq()
 
 	pending = softirq_pending(cpu);
 
+	loops = 0;
 	if (pending) {
 		struct softirq_action *h;
 
@@ -101,8 +122,16 @@ restart:
 		}
 		__local_bh_enable();
 
-		if (pending)
-			wakeup_softirqd(cpu);
+		if (!softirqd_is_waken(cpu)) {
+			if (unlikely(++loops >= MAX_SOFTIRQ_LOOPS)) {
+				if (pending)
+					wakeup_softirqd(cpu);
+			} else {
+				mask = ~pending;
+				local_bh_disable();
+				goto restart;
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	local_irq_restore(flags);