Comment 11 for bug 220573

I had a variation of the same problem when doing a clean install of Ubuntu 8.04 on my Linux Certified Laptop (after a messed-up upgrade). The first stick I inserted wouldn't mount, but the second one would (as long as the first was still in), as /dev/sdc1. I found a line in /etc/fstab for /dev/sdb as a CD-ROM drive, commented it out, and now the first USB stick automounts as /dev/sdb1 with no trouble. In fact, I can mount two USB sticks at once.