If manually loading the driver later works, then fine. It's a quick and easy solution.

It crashed 2 out of 2 attempts for me (manually loading USB1.1 ohci-hcd after usb-storage).

Anyway, I have another problem with Knoppix 4.0.2: It freezes at the line "Checking for for USB" (that's a typo in linuxrc).
It seems that:
1. It only occurs if a USB 1.1 multi-chip flash reader is installed, and only about 50% of the time.
2. It only occurs with Knoppix 4.0.2: kernel 2.6.12, not with Knoppix 3.6 kernel 2.4.27 or 2.6.7, and not wtih Ubuntu 5.10 kernel 2.6.12.10

Could it be that an interrupt is raised by this type of hardware soon after the driver is loaded, and maybe at a critical time before the usb-storage module is ready to handle it?

Any tips on debugging this problem would be most appreciated.

Hardware: Asus A7N266: onboard ohci USB; 4 in 1 chip reader permanently connected.