ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/hedrick/ contains some patches to 2.2.x kernels. They add extra chipset support for motherboards that don't normally work too well under 2.2.x, including the Aladdin V. This boosts EIDE performance by offering better motherboard compatiblity.

Install the patches in the usual way ( i.e., cd /usr/src/; gzip -dc ide.2.2.12.19991014.patch.gz | patch -p0 ), select "Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers" in "Code maturity level options" and then various new kernel compile options appear in the "General Setup" section.