The detection, removal and reinsertion of possibly malfunctioning devices from an arbitrated loop is disclosed. When a new device is first connected to a storage switch and a loop is formed and begins initialization, a LOOP_DOWN event is sent to a processor and a loop down timer is started for each port in the loop. If initialization is successful, a LOOP_UP event is sent to the processor and the loop down timer is reset for each port in the loop. However, if one of the loop down timers times out, a problem occurred during the initialization. The port associated with the timed out timer is bypassed so that the devices in the remainder of the loop can continue trying to complete the initialization. The processor initiates a PTBI event on the bypassed device. If the bypassed device is operating properly, it is re-inserted back into the loop.