Works like a champ in Gentoo 2005.0 following the documentation on www.gentoo.org for setting up USB and enabling hotplug and coldplug. Device is assign a scsi node like /dev/sda1 and it's all ready to go. Just be sure to mount as vfat and not auto if it moves between Windows and Linux otherwise you only get 8.3 names

I have the same problem under Debian 2.6.15-1-486 for the Kingston data traveler. When the device is pluged in
immediately /dev/sdb1 is added, but under dmesg
one gets

sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
sdb: [CUMANA/ADFS] sdb1<5>sd 14:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdb
usb-storage: device scan complete
printk: 14 messages suppressed.
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378384
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378384
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378412
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378412
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378412
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378412
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378412
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378412
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378405
Buffer I/O error on device sdb1, logical block 508378405
usb 5-8: USB disconnect, address 12

Thus I do not see how this device can be made to work under Debian. The device works fine under Redhat on the same machine. (I have easy-swap hard drives, so I can go in between two operating systems.)