I have a IBM R40e Thinkpad(LAPTOP) and I installed Debian 3.0 (Woody) on it. I install it clean that is without any applications. The Woody version is running an 2.2 kernel that does not support USB and thus I upgraded my kernel to 2.4.27(the latest stable version) and added support for USB and USB 2.0 as descriped in this article "tlug.up.ac.za/csslug/usb_devices.html"

When I add the USB and USB 2.0 support the kernel upgrade works fine but the system does not detect when I plug in my USB 2.0 memorystick - I have to load the modules manully:
% modprobe usbcore
% modprobe usb-storage
% modprobe usb-ohci

And then the USB memorystick is detected but the keyboard(LAPTOP) goes dead!

I have also tried installing RedHat 8.0 (which is using a 2.4.18 kernel and the USB works like a charm on that installation. I have even tried to copy the Kernel Configuration file from RedHat and used it when I upgrade to the 2.4.27 kernel and the keyboard always goes dead after the upgrade as soon as the USB is enabled.

* Any ideas what the problem might be?
* Is the RedHat installation smart enaugh to detect that the computer is a laptop and the debian installation fails do do so?

humm can't tell u, but if u like 2 install FC3 (bit off topic, i know) then remember to pass ACPI=OFF as kernel parameter on your R40e.

Otherwise the install routing hangs on FC3 (and RH8 too i guess)