--- a/etc/init.d/hdparm	2012-12-24 00:32:51.375277569 +0100
+++ a/etc/init.d/hdparm	2012-12-24 00:32:55.435277497 +0100
@@ -43,11 +43,27 @@ 
 		case ${errmsg} in
 		    *": No medium found") nomed=0;;
 		esac
+		args=""
 		if [ -b "${device}" ] && [ "${status}" = "0" -o "${nomed}" = "0" ] ; then
 			local conf_var="${device##*/}_args"
 			eval args=\$${conf_var}
-			do_hdparm
 		fi
+
+		# allows a disk to be configured using its id (override above)
+		# we replace all dashes by underscores
+		for alias in /dev/disk/by-id/* ; do
+			if [ "${alias}" -ef "${device}" ] ; then
+				eval args_tmp=\$"$(basename "${alias}" | sed 's/-/_/g')"_args
+				if [ -n "${args_tmp}" ]; then
+					args="${args_tmp}"
+				fi
+				break
+			fi
+		done
+
+		if [ -n "$args" ]; then
+			do_hdparm
+		fi;
 	done
 }