Problems with USB Scanner in 2.6.11.12 kernel

[John M Collins <jmc@xisl.com>]

Please CC to me at jmc AT xisl.com as I'm not subscribed - thanks

I recently (well about 3 weeks ago) upgraded the kernel on one of our
machines to 2.6.11.12 at the time the "latest and greatest".

However since then I've been having problems with a USB Scanner I'm
using. It seems to die after a couple of pages have been scanned with
the following message sequence in /var/log/messages:

Jul  3 13:19:22 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64,
error -19
Jul  3 13:19:22 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: USB disconnect, address 3

(note the messages either side of this happened without me doing
anything and the entry disappeared from /proc/bus/usb/003/003 and
appeared in /proc/bus/usb/003/004).

Jul  3 13:19:22 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using
uhci_hc
d and address 4
Jul  3 13:21:35 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: reset full speed USB device
using uhci_
hcd and address 4
Jul  3 13:22:39 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: reset full speed USB device
using uhci_
hcd and address 4
Jul  3 13:23:43 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: reset full speed USB device
using uhci_
hcd and address 4
Jul  3 13:24:53 caveman last message repeated 2 times
Jul  3 13:25:23 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: reset full speed USB device
using uhci_
hcd and address 4
Jul  3 13:25:41 caveman kernel: hub 3-0:1.0: port 1 disabled by hub
(EMI?), re-e
nabling...
Jul  3 13:25:41 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: reset full speed USB device
using uhci_
hcd and address 4
Jul  3 13:25:41 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64,
error -19
Jul  3 13:25:41 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64,
error -19
Jul  3 13:25:41 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: reset full speed USB device
using uhci_
hcd and address 4
Jul  3 13:25:42 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64,
error -19
Jul  3 13:25:42 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64,
error -19
Jul  3 13:25:42 caveman kernel: usb 3-1: USB disconnect, address 4

After which it doesn't appear anywhere in /proc/bus/usb

I've tried swapping usb ports - there are several on the machine.
I've tried swapping scanners (they're both Epson ones, different
models).

It seems OK with previous versions of the kernel on other machines.

I see we're now on 2.6.12.2 and there have been mods to bits of the USB
but I don't see anything directly related but I might have missed
something.

I'd be grateful for any advice you could give - thanks.

-- 
John Collins Xi Software Ltd jmc AT xisl.com