USB causes kernel crashes...

[Peter King]

About a week ago, gentoo proclaimed 2.6.38-r6 "stable" for all architectures.
So I went through the usual: downloaded the package, copied my old .config file
and ran make .oldconfig, installed the new binary, and rebooted with the new
kernel. Plugged in a USB flash drive and boom, kernel panic. Reboot, and ever
after, kernel panic/crash during the boot sequence.

So I went up to the "unstable" 2.6.39 kernel, compiled it, copied the .config
file, etc. and rebooted. It ran fine for two days until I plugged in my Sansa
Fuze music player. Boom, kernel panic. Reboot, and cannot boot into that kernel
again: freeze during the boot sequence right after detecting my USB keyboard.

Okay, gentoo certified 2.6.31-r1 as "stable" today. The usual, and booted into
it successfully. Plugged in my two-drive external SATA drive enclosure. Once
more, boom, kernel panic, and I can't boot into that kernel again: a panic/crash
during the boot sequence.

When I say "I can't boot into that kernel again" I mean: I can't boot from the
installed image. But I ran make clean && make mrproper, built a fresh new kernel
from the same source code, and installed that. No difference; still crashes or
freezes on booting up.

I've dropped back to 2.6.37-r4, which seems to work, and I'm not plugging in any
USB devices for the moment. But what is going on here? There were reports of a
race condition affecting USB flash drives when plugged in, but that was supposed
to be fixed in 2.6.39-r1. And I haven't seen any discussion of the continued 
inability to boot up once a crash or two on USB devices has occurred.

Any ideas? Suggestions? The kernel is normally rock-solid, and this is a very
disquieting experience.

-- 
Peter King			 	peter.king-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org
Department of Philosophy
170 St. George Street #521
The University of Toronto		    (416)-978-4951 ofc
Toronto, ON  M5R 2M8
       CANADA

http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/

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