Unnecessary rant - Was: Re: USB networking in Ubuntu

[arne anka]

> The problem I now have is that I am unable to get usb0 recognized as an
> interface by ifconfig.
>
> The command:
> ifconfig usb0 192.168.0.200
>
> results in
> SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
> usb0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

fr is plugged in and powered on? no suspend?
if so, unplug it from the host pc, open a konsole/shell and do

sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog

have a look at the shell and plug in the fr again.
any messages?
there was a bug in one of the last u-boots, that broke about 50% of usb  
connections -- rebooting (the fr or the pc, couldn't figure out which, try  
fr first) is supposed to help.
the lattest u-boots are supposed to fix that.