Usb device connected on boot up problem

[N.Pauli <npauli@st-johns.org.uk>]

Dear All,

I'm using Debian GNU/Linux testing/unstable and I've found that if I make the mistake of having any kind of usb device (scanner, camera so far) connected during boot up or even plugged in after gdm starts and before I log in that I have slowness problems.

The boot up process hangs for long [20 secs to several minutes] with the hard drive light glowing constantly between stages. Once I've logged on complex apps like Quanta or Mozilla can take 3 or 4 minutes to start up. It's no use removing the possibly offending device as the behaviour will continue. The only cure is to re-boot with nothing plugged in.

df and du and top show that there are no immendiately obvious problems. Can anyone cast light on this?

Thanks,
Nigel 

-- 
Nigel Pauli
Network Manager
St. John's School, Northwood