Stopping INNODB monitor

Hi all,

I'm running mysql 4.0.20 (on a Mandrake 10.1 Linux) installed from an RPM.
I'm trying to stop the innodb monitor writing a status file every 15
seconds or so (so my disk can spin down). According to this page:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/innodb-monitor.html

I can stop the monitor by dropping the innodb_monitor table with:
DROP TABLE innodb_monitor;

This doesn't work! I'm not sure if I should expect to see the table with
SHOW but I don't:

mysql> use mysql
Database changed

mysql> show tables;
+-----------------+
| Tables_in_mysql |
+-----------------+
| columns_priv |
| db |
| func |
| host |
| tables_priv |
| user |
+-----------------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> DROP TABLE innodb_monitor;
ERROR 1051: Unknown table 'innodb_monitor'


Not really surprising that it doesn't work! Still, I get files like:
/var/lib/mysql/innodb.status.4354
updated every 15 seconds with the similar output you get when issuing the
command:
mysql> SHOW INNODB STATUS\G

Any ideas anyone? I get the feeling I'm missing something very simple?

Many thanks,

Justin