Can't boot with USB flash reader connected

[Jeffrey Ross]

On a Fedora Core 4 system I have a combination floppy drive(using the on 
board floppy controller) and a USB 2.0 card reader.  If I have the USB 
cable connected for the Card reader portion of the drive and no flash 
card in the drive, the system will hang on bootup, specifically here:

    initrd /initrd-2.6.14-1.1656_FC4.img
       [Linux-initrd @ 0x2fc9200, 0x19df7a bytes]

however inserting any flashcard and the system will boot normally.

Disconnecting the flash drive is really not an option as the connector 
is internal to the case.  Leaving a flashcard in the reader is a risky 
proposition in the event that the system needs to (or is forced to) 
reload and a card wasn't left in the reader.

suggestions?

TIA

Jeff