I did this to get usb working after 7-26-03 hdinstall.

mkdir /mnt/sda1 (only if sda1 doesn't exist)

edited the /etc/fstab file by adding:

/dev/sda1/ /mnt/sda1 vfat noauto,users,exec,unmask 0 0

Do this if don't know to edit: sudo kwrite file:/etc/fstab

Make Usb icon on desktop and click to view usb drive.