I'm using Kubuntu for some time now, and i have a problem:
when i plug in any usb device, nothing happens. I'm not asked what to do with it, and it doesn't mount the device.

I've messed with the system services earlier, so maybe that is the reason, but i cant find any service that might be responsible for that.
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What should i do?

You just need HAL running.
Run "kcontrol" and check your settings under peripherals/storage media, in the "advanced" tab. HAL support should be ticked in.

It is enabled. Something else maybe?
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Ummm... no. This and HAL running should be enough, unless you have messed around with your udev rules or HAL policies manually.
Can you see the device at the konqueror devices' tab when powered on?
If not- what about thunar+thunar-volman, or Nautilus? Is the drive visible?

After some reading in Ubuntu and Kubuntu forums and trying things i discovered the following:

- if i add "irqpoll" option to grub boot entry, the usb works as it should, but the system stalls after a minute or so
- if i remove "acpi=force" & "irqpoll" option from grub entry, usb works fine but the system hangs on shutdown (the hds are turned off though, i hear it)
- adding "acpi=off noacpi" option doesn't improve the shutdown process

So i guess i should remove any kernel options that i have added previously ("acpi=force") and add something else that will allow my pc to shutdown properly. What might it be?

Have you checked the logs yet? /var/log /messages (Me thinks that is what it uses). Plug it in and check the log - make sure it sees the darn thing first.

At least from the info on the log (if it sees it) you can manually mount the darn thing.

Just an FYI -

I installed Kubuntu and the auto usb mount worked. After a few days and installing Gnome and Xfce it stopped working. I also now get an error saying HAL failed to initialize when I start gnome. /etc/init.d/hal restart says OK but it still gives me the error.

So it seems you are not alone.

Kubuntu gets crazy for me only after updates.
I stopped trying to fix it, got PCLinuxOS instead and everything is fine there...

lol - yea. Im stuck between Mandriva and PClinux right now. I prefer PCLinux's synaptic instead of urpmi - but like how Mandy has more of a package selection.

Like kernels - PCLinux is a 1 size fits all but Mandy has a selection to choose from in the repos.

Sorry - I went OT

Yep, mandriva has a lot more packages, but is relatively buggy, and the last version (2008) doesn't like my hardware so much.
About kernels: does mandy have more than one? How can i chose the one i need? Where do i get them, from urpmi mirrors?

You may try the following:
1. get sure your gnome-volume-manager version is up/to/date, not buggy.
2. Stop first hal, and then udev as well.
3. Delete the folder /media, incuding the included ".hal-mtab" entries.
4. Restart first udev, and then hal. Now plug in your USB device. Is it OK?
If not, stop hal and udev again, and do as root

(no need to edit that empty file)
I have encountered it two times. One time ist was a buggy gnome-volume-manager, and the other one was the stupid "ntfs-config" utility.

Good info - Ill try it when I rebuild my computer. It decided to do a magic trick and turn into a very large brick.