Hotplug works, Reboot works, Cold Start - no work

Sorry for the long post.  I'm a bit of a linux newbie (1 year) and I didn't know
how much information to provide.

I'm using the at76c503-rfmd driver with a Belkin F5D6050 (0xd5c/0xa002)
on SUSE9.0.  I've configured the interface with YaST which created a file
called ifcfg-wlan-usb.  My system is a Gateway `Fedora` m/board with a 
Pentium III 933MHz processor and 515MBytes RAM.

When I start my PC from cold, the WLAN interface fails to be started, and
my PC is networkless.  As it doubles as a file/print server for the family
laptop, this is not optimal.

A typical output from /var/log/messages at a failure follows

========================================
Jan 11 15:20:08 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.rc[838]: loaded HCD: uhci
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: usb.c: registered new driver hub
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: uhci.c: USB Universal Host Controller Interfaceriver v1.1
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0xef40, IRQ 3
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: hub.c: USB hub found
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0xef80, IRQ 9
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: hub.c: USB hub found
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: hub.c: new USB device 00:1f.2-1, assigned address 2
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: usb.c: USB device not responding, giving up (error=-110)
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: hub.c: new USB device 00:1f.2-1, assigned address 3
Jan 11 15:20:13 linux kernel: usb.c: USB device not responding, giving up (error=-110)
=========================================

Unsurprisingly the none of the Atmel drivers are loaded, and usbview doesn't
see the device at all.

If I immediately reboot the PC, either cold or warm, I am rewarded with a fully
configured wlan0 interface, as desired.  This time /var/log/messages looks like this:

==========================================
Jan 11 15:24:27 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.rc[838]: loaded HCD: uhci
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: usb.c: registered new driver hub
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: uhci.c: USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v1.1
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: PCI: Setting latency timer of device 00:1f.2 to 64
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0xef40, IRQ 3
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: hub.c: USB hub found
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0xef80, IRQ 9
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: hub.c: USB hub found
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: hub.c: new USB device 00:1f.2-1, assigned address 2
Jan 11 15:24:32 linux kernel: usb.c: USB device 2 (vend/prod 0xd5c/0xa002) is not claimed by any active driver.
Jan 11 15:24:37 linux kernel: usbdfu.c: USB Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) handler v0.11
Jan 11 15:24:37 linux kernel: usb.c: registered new driver usbdfu
Jan 11 15:24:37 linux insmod: Using /lib/modules/2.4.21-166-default/kernel/drivers/usb/usbdfu.o
Jan 11 15:24:37 linux insmod: Symbol version prefix ''
Jan 11 15:24:37 linux kernel: at76c503.c: Generic Atmel at76c503/at76c505 routines v0.11
Jan 11 15:24:38 linux kernel: at76c503-rfmd.c: Atmel at76c503 (RFMD) Wireless LAN Driver v0.11
Jan 11 15:24:38 linux kernel: usbdfu.c: Downloading firmware for USB device 2...
Jan 11 15:24:38 linux insmod: Using /lib/modules/2.4.21-166-default/kernel/drivers/usb/at76c503.o
Jan 11 15:24:38 linux insmod: Symbol version prefix ''
Jan 11 15:24:38 linux insmod: Using /lib/modules/2.4.21-166-default/kernel/drivers/usb/at76c503-rfmd.o
Jan 11 15:24:38 linux kernel: usb.c: registered new driver at76c503-rfmd
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux kernel: usbdevfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed dev 2 rqt 128 rq 6 len 18 ret -84
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.agent[1236]: cannot get config descriptor: Invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux kernel: usbdevfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed dev 2 rqt 128 rq 6 len 18 ret -110
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux last message repeated 49 times
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.agent[1236]: cannot get config descriptor: Connection timed out
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux kernel: usbdevfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed dev 2 rqt 128 rq 6 len 18 ret -110
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux last message repeated 49 times
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.agent[1236]: cannot get config descriptor: Connection timed out
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux kernel: usbdevfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed dev 2 rqt 128 rq 6 len 18 ret -110
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux last message repeated 49 times
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.agent[1236]: cannot get config descriptor: Connection timed out
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux kernel: usbdevfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed dev 2 rqt 128 rq 6 len 18 ret -110
Jan 11 15:24:39 linux last message repeated 32 times
Jan 11 15:24:40 linux /etc/hotplug/usb.agent[1236]: writing usb-1-2 to /var/run/hotplug/net
Jan 11 15:24:40 linux /etc/hotplug/net.agent[1310]: Using HW description sit-usb-1-2
Jan 11 15:24:40 linux ifup: No configuration found for sit-usb-1-2 sit0
Jan 11 15:24:41 linux kernel: at76c503.c: $Id: at76c503.c,v 1.35 2003/07/30 06:31:51 jal2 Exp $ compiled Jan 10 2004 17:43:39
Jan 11 15:24:41 linux kernel: at76c503.c: firmware version 1.101.2 #84 (fcs_len 4)
Jan 11 15:24:41 linux kernel: at76c503.c: device's MAC 00:30:bd:63:e3:02, regulatory domain ETSI (Europe - (Spain+France) (id 48)
Jan 11 15:24:41 linux kernel: at76c503.c: registered wlan0
=============================================

Strangely, I don't actually have to reboot to restore connectivity, as just
unplugging and replugging the usb cable causes the appropriate `beep-beep`
and I'm once again reconnected.  Unfortunately it doesn't restart nmb, which
I then have to do manually.

I've applied the latest kernel patch via you, and upgraded from the supplied
version 0.10 to the latest stable 0.11 which compiled and installed with no errors.

I tried using usb-uhci with Version 0.10, but the frequent system lock-ups
at or shortly after downloading the firmware encouraged me to stick with
the uhci driver.

I don't know where to look next, and I'm not 100% certain whether it is a fault
with my USB controller, SUSE's kernel or a problem with the USB device
itself.  I'm hoping someone has run into this before and can suggest a solution.

Thanks in advance.
-- 

David Haggett