modprobe options not recognized at startup

[Mario Frasca <mfrasca@zonnet.nl>]

Hallo everybody,

I had posted this on comp.os.linux.setup but got no reply, so I try
again on this more dedicated forum.

the problem is quite strange.  I boot my system (Debian sarge
with kernel 2.6.8 on iMac), with my ImageMate SDDR-75, it is a
USB smartmedia (sdb) and compactflash (sda) card reader,
connected to the usb port on the keyboard.  I try to mount
/dev/sdb1 and nothing happens.  in /etc/modprobe.d I have the
following file(s):

kruiskruid:~# ls -l /etc/modprobe.d/usb-storage /etc/modprobe.d/s*_mod
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 28 Oct 13 22:58 /etc/modprobe.d/scsi_mod
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root root  8 Oct 14 18:39 /etc/modprobe.d/sd_mod ->
scsi_mod
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root root  8 Oct 14 18:39 /etc/modprobe.d/usb-storage ->
scsi_mod

kruiskruid:~# cat /etc/modprobe.d/usb-storage 
options scsi_mod max_luns=2

trying to analyze the problem, I go to look into
/var/log/kern.log and I open a xterm with tail -f on that
file.

I disconnect the device and connect it back and see: 

Oct 15 18:32:04 kruiskruid kernel: usb 1-1.2: USB disconnect, address 4
Oct 15 18:32:08 kruiskruid kernel: usb 1-1.2: new full speed USB device
using address 6
Oct 15 18:32:09 kruiskruid kernel: scsi1 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass
Storage devices
Oct 15 18:32:09 kruiskruid kernel:   Vendor: SanDisk   Model: ImageMate
CF-SM   Rev: 0100
Oct 15 18:32:09 kruiskruid kernel:   Type:   Direct-Access
ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Oct 15 18:32:10 kruiskruid kernel: Attached scsi removable disk sda at
scsi1, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Oct 15 18:32:10 kruiskruid kernel: USB Mass Storage device found at 6

as you can see, no sdb is loaded.

then I brutally unload the modules...
kruiskruid:~# rmmod usb-storage sd_mod scsi_mod

disconnect and reconnect the device and, magic!
Oct 15 18:32:56 kruiskruid kernel: usbcore: deregistering driver
usb-storage
Oct 15 18:33:02 kruiskruid kernel: usb 1-1.2: new full speed USB device
using address 7
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: SCSI subsystem initialized
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: Initializing USB Mass Storage
driver...
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass
Storage devices
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel:   Vendor: SanDisk   Model: ImageMate
CF-SM   Rev: 0100
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel:   Type:   Direct-Access
ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel:   Vendor: SanDisk   Model: ImageMate
CF-SM   Rev: 0100
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel:   Type:   Direct-Access
ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: USB Mass Storage device found at 7
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: usbcore: registered new driver
usb-storage
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: USB Mass Storage support registered.
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: Attached scsi removable disk sda at
scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Oct 15 18:33:04 kruiskruid kernel: Attached scsi removable disk sdb at
scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 1

anyone knows what is going on???

how do I convince the system to read the options at boot time?

thanks in advance,
Mario