First strange mouse problems, then boot not possible: Kernel panic!

[joneall]

First, to show the gravity of this problem, I have to use Windows to report it. Says enuf!

All of a sudden, my mouse will not work under 10.04. I can select a window or select the start button (launcher) with the left button, and I can select things with the right button. But as soon as I want to select something within a window, such as the launcher window, nothing happens. It may be that the battery was low on my mouse, but now I have plugged in a non-battery Logitech mouse and still have the same problem.

I can use keys to get into System Settings and Mouse. There, I get the cryptic message

"You have a Logitech Mouse connected, and libusb was found at compile time, but it was not possible to access this mouse. This is probably caused by a permissions problem - you should consult the manual on how to fix this."

I have no idea what this means. I have found entries via Google and still have no idea what it means. Maybe it is not the problem. I am certainty not trying to change the mouse.

It works with Windows.

Help, please.

[joneall]

Re: Really strange mouse problems - getting worse!

Now I cannot boot Linux at all.

I have an sda with Windows in sda1 and Linux in sda6. I also have a second disk with Linux on sdb1. I cannot boot either Linux system, but Windows works fine.

What the Sam Hill is happening?

Sometimes at boot, I get the terrifying message (equivalent to a Windows Blue Screen of Death)

"run-init - making initramfs controls; directory not empty"

then

"Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!"

And that's it.